I looked at a Passat for sale here, 2.0ltr petrol, shocked to find it was RWD...

 

Now if only i could get a RWD Superb i might be tempted not to buy a XF

Passats are just like our Superbs - the only way to get any drive to the rear wheels is is to buy the 4WD version.

 

I've heard of specialist conversions of VW 4-motion cars to RWD....... but I think it would be cheaper to just drive everywhere in reverse.

 

 

 

 

That doesn't make sense.  Surely its a typo or did you actually see the car?

i saw the car... it was about a 2005 or a earlier

 

deffo RWD and petrol 2lt

i know its been sold/gone, i went to look because the engine wasnt east-west

maybe it was 4wd... the engine wasnt transverse though

It's FWD - Same as a first gen Superb, which was built on the Passat platform - North/South engine, FWD - The same as all non Quattro Audis.

 

Among others, Alfa 33/AlfaSuds ran the same layout - Albeit with boxer engines.

Edited 2 June, 20179 yr by Alfashark

There has never been a RWD Passat from the factory. The B1, B2 and B5 generation Passats had longitudinal engines but were still FWD. All of these were shared with Audi who had a tradition of longitudinal mount FWD. In the case of the B2 and B5, Audi offered the Torsen Quattro system as an option, which demanded a longitudinal engine installation. The Passat on these platforms also got this 4WD system as an option under the Syncro/4Motion trademark.

Yes. Although the engine is N/S its still FWD. An odd layout that meant room in the footwells was cramped and I hated driving them. Superb Mk1 didn't seem to suffer the same for some reason.

On 6/2/2017 at 10:09, lichfielddriver said:

i saw the car... it was about a 2005 or a earlier

 

deffo RWD and petrol 2lt

 

On 6/2/2017 at 10:17, lichfielddriver said:

maybe it was 4wd... the engine wasnt transverse though

 

Audi's (80/A4 & bigger) have had a N/S engine (ie not transverse) for decades where most are FWD (none RWD - some 4WD). This arrangement was carried over to B1,B2 & B5 Passats as well as the Skoda Superb I 

 

 

Edited 3 June, 20179 yr by bigjohn