It’s well-known that Malaysians purchase vehicles based mostly on value, not segments, and any car that strays too removed from the shopping for public’s perceived pricing barrier tends to have a tough time. That hasn’t stopped Volkswagen from making an attempt with the Arteon, which has aspirations larger than its Passat underpinnings counsel.
The svelte five-door fastback is priced fairly a bit greater than its sibling, placing it properly inside premium model territory. And for 2022, the Arteon is more expensive than ever – at RM258,019, it prices extra than even the very succesful BMW 330e. That takes some severe cojones.
But the Arteon theoretically has some benefits to make up for it. Apart from its dramatic coupé-like styling and frameless home windows, the VW can also be full of equipment, driver help techniques however. And in its newest facelifted guise, it packs some severe firepower – 280 PS and 350 Nm of torque, to be precise, fired by a 2.0 litre turbo four-cylinder to all 4 wheels through a seven-speed moist DSG dual-clutch transmission.
You don’t drive vehicles on paper, nevertheless, so does the Arteon actually have the substance to carry its personal towards a sea of enticing premium metallic from Munich, Stuttgart and additional afield? And does the dearth of even probably the most primary autonomous emergency braking system dock off any factors (spoiler alert: it does)? Watch Matthew Tong take a swing at Wolfsburg’s new pretender in our video review above.
