Autoblog

The formerly described "Passat 4-door 'Coupe'" is now just the Volkswagen Coupe. A teaser site has been launched that doesn't reveal too much, except, frankly, a car that looks in detail much like a Phaeton. It's reported that the engine choices to start with will number exactly two: a 1.8-liter 160-HP unit, and a 300-HP unit. Other engines are expected online in the Fall of '08.

We don't know how much the car will weigh, but if this really is a luxury car that will come with a luxurious -- for VW -- price tag, we can't figure out what kind of reasoning concluded that a 160-HP engine would be acceptable. It sounds like a recipe for a slow, expensive -- again, for a VW -- car. And that sounds like a Phaeton with less giddy-up and rear headroom. We have no crystal balls, however, so we look forward to being surprised.

In case you've been wondering what would happen if a VW Eos and a Mercedes CLS were left in a garage overnight with some oysters and an open bottle of Spanish Fly, VW has your answer: the Passat 4-door-coupe. It's essentially got the new Mercedes tri-sectioned face with Eos overtones, and a CLS body reworked to VW proportions. Neither parent is really flattered in the mash-up. If nothing else, it is supposed to raise the stakes in VW's interior quality campaign.

Motors will start at the 1.4-liter TSI that also appears in the Golf and Tiguan, with diesels to include the 2.0-liter common rail variant. The car is scheduled to bow next year, perhaps at Geneva, and be in showrooms by the end of '08. Here's to hoping the sketch artists didn't get it quite right.

[Source: Auto Express]