Have you heard of the W8?

liquidboss · #1 09-13-2006, 05:28 PM

I recently bought a 2003 VW Passat W8 and I'm wondering if the general public even knows about this car. It's basically an A4 with VW logos and their special W8 engine. It was only made for a few years, before VW came out with the Phaeton as their top of the line luxury sedan. The only thing that sets it apart on the outside is the little W8 symbol on the front and back, and the chrome tipped quad exhaust. Once you get inside, it's obvious that it is not your normal Passat, leather and wood everywhere, every option known to man, but I see regular Passats all the time and I wonder if I just get lumped in with all those cars or if people actually know I'm driving at $40k german engineered luxury sedan.

How many of you have heard of the Passat W8?

n.s. · #2 09-13-2006, 09:22 PM

Sorry duder, we all just think yer another pleb in a passat. You better get some vinyl graphics across the top of the your windshield to make it more obvious what a baller you are. Maybe something like "W8 - $40K!". Or one of those license plate frames that says "This car costs more than you made last year, officer!"

coolhandluke · #3 09-13-2006, 11:34 PM

thought you meant the vector, now THATS a car.

blinden84 · #4 09-14-2006, 12:57 PM

W12 is my fancy, W8, I've heard of it, and I'm not impressed with it.

Heavy, low gasmilage, not impressive power numbers, slow, just generally not a good cost to performance ratio, no, I don't lump you in with a 'normal' passat driver, more like the sucker group.

Vince. · #5 09-14-2006, 03:22 PM

I've heard of the W8, but if you're going to spend 40K why not get something that stands out a little more recognizable like an A4 or BMW 3?

Jameso · #6 09-14-2006, 06:56 PM

[ QUOTE ]
I recently bought a 2003 VW Passat W8 and I'm wondering if the general public even knows about this car. It's basically an A4 with VW logos and their special W8 engine. It was only made for a few years, before VW came out with the Phaeton as their top of the line luxury sedan. The only thing that sets it apart on the outside is the little W8 symbol on the front and back, and the chrome tipped quad exhaust. Once you get inside, it's obvious that it is not your normal Passat, leather and wood everywhere, every option known to man, but I see regular Passats all the time and I wonder if I just get lumped in with all those cars or if people actually know I'm driving at $40k german engineered luxury sedan.

How many of you have heard of the Passat W8?

[/ QUOTE ]

Haven't heard of it and I'm not a big fan of German cars. My M.O. is to take a halfassed look at it and assume that you're some punk who spent a ton of cash to make their Passat look fancy. I have been very surprised at the performance of a few cars that I took this attitude with and have been very aware of them after that. The Chevy Typhoon comes to mind--thought it was some crappy two-door version of the S-10 Blazer until the road test. Most folks think you bought a Passat and "fixed it up". Sorry.

liquidboss · #7 09-15-2006, 01:12 PM

Right on, I wasn't really looking for people to know what I spent on it, I just wondered if Joe Public had even heard of it, or recognizes it as something different than a regular Passat. I don't buy the idea that people would think I "fixed-up" a Passat. What, did I rip out the whole interior, drop a new engine in it, add 4-motion, and get special chrome symbols for it? For what it's worth, I really like the car, nice power, fun to drive, and comfortable.

Jameso · #8 09-17-2006, 02:34 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Right on, I wasn't really looking for people to know what I spent on it, I just wondered if Joe Public had even heard of it, or recognizes it as something different than a regular Passat. I don't buy the idea that people would think I "fixed-up" a Passat. What, did I rip out the whole interior, drop a new engine in it, add 4-motion, and get special chrome symbols for it? For what it's worth, I really like the car, nice power, fun to drive, and comfortable.

[/ QUOTE ]

Nobody knows what's under the hood, nor can they see your bitchin' interior. The average person out there thinks 4-motion is the boy band that you're in to. So yeah, people really do take a 2-second glimpse of your ride and assume that you "fixed it up".

pig4bill · #9 09-17-2006, 04:50 PM

You buy a car based on what other people will think of it? Sad.

Dump it and get a 10 year old Mercedes.

liquidboss · #10 09-17-2006, 06:09 PM

[ QUOTE ]
You buy a car based on what other people will think of it? Sad.

Dump it and get a 10 year old Mercedes.

[/ QUOTE ]

No, you seem to have missed the point. I already bought the car not knowing (or caring) what other people think of it. I bought it because I like it. I was just curious if other people had heard of it because it's not very common. There is a difference between buying a car because of what people think of it and wondering what people know about a semi-unique car that you already own.