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The New, the Fast and the Luxurious... The Motoring Guide! |
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The Volkswagen Phaeton
 In a transparent factory in Dresden, workers wearing white gloves carefully assemble Volkswagen’s new luxury saloon.
The Phaeton has everything you’d expect from a car in this class. It pushes the boundaries of refinement. And is outstandingly built. But, the Phaeton also has a few things you wouldn’t expect.
The powerful 6 litre W12 engine propels the car to 62 mph in 6.1 seconds and, where the law permits, reaches 150 mph (limited). And yet it remains silky smooth because our engineers have found new ways to minimize even the slightest vibration.
There are around 100 patents integrated into the new Phaeton. In fact, the only feature you’ll recognise is the Volkswagen logo.
The world’s most powerful diesel car engine V10 Phaeton accelerates to 62 mph in just 6.9 seconds, reaching a maximum speed of 155 mph. As little as 2000 rpm is enough to produce the maximum torque of 750 Nm. The V10 had to have the torque artificially reduced to stop the engine ripping the car chassis apart.
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The body development of the Phaeton was centred around three goals; the car must have the best values in body vibration, superior driving comfort and all aspects of passive safety. All the steel used in the body of the Phaeton is fully galvanised and 57% of it is ‘high strength’, which makes it possible to achieve the highest possible body stiffness.
The lines of the Phaeton emphasise the extremely precise fit of the doors, bonnet, boot and body panels. The narrow gap dimensions are realised as fine, graphic lines on the surface of the body. This extra attention to detail is consistent over the Phaeton’s entire exterior, from the xenon headlamps to the twin exhaust.
GQ, W12 road test – Jason Barlow (May 2003)
‘Inside, the Phaeton is as exquisitely put together as any car I’ve sat in’ ‘It’s difficult not to love an engine like this’ Auto Express, V10 TDI road test (9 April 2003) ‘One of the most effortlessly fast luxury cars ever’ ‘…no matter how good the statistics look on paper, on-the-road performance actually feels faster’
Published Summer 2005. All information correct at time of print
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