volks 1970

The original VW Passat was launched in 1973. The body types offered originally were 2- and 4-door sedans and similar looking three- and five-door versions. Externally all four shared a modern fastback style design, styled by the Italian designer Giorgetto Giugiaro. In essence, the first Passat was a fastback version of the mechanically identical Audi 80. All the versions sharing the same external design was unusual, since two of the models were traditional sedans with a separate trunk (boot). A five-door station wagon/estate was introduced in 1974. The Passat was effectively a version of the Audi 80 (Fox) sedan which had been introduced a year earlier and which had a more conservative notchback body style, so that the Audi and Volkswagen models had distinct body styles and image. In Europe, the Passat was equipped with 2 rectangular, 2 round 7", or 4 round 5.5" headlights depending on specification.
In North America, the car was called the Dasher, and was only available with round DOT-spec lights. The three-door hatchback model was launched in North America for the 1974 model year.
The Passat was one of the most modern European family cars at the time, and was intended as a replacement for the aging Volkswagen Type 3 and Type 4, and as a contemporary rival for popular Ford Taunus/Cortina and Opel Ascona/Vauxhall Cavalier. The Passat was Wheels magazine's Car of the Year for 1974 and its sister model Audi 80 was nominated car of the year by the European motor press a year earlier. The platform was named B1.
The Passat used the 4 cylinder OHC 1.3 l, 1.5 l, and 1.6 l petrol engines, also used in the Audi 80—longitudinally mounted with front-wheel drive, in Audi tradition, with either a 4-speed manual transmission or 3-speed automatic. It had a MacPherson strut front suspension with a solid axle/coil spring setup at the rear.
The SOHC 1.5 produced 75 PS (55 kW) and was enlarged to 1.6 l for 1975. The larger engine included tighter emissions controls, so power output dropped to 70 PS (52 kW). Bosch fuel injection on the 1.6 was introduced in 1976 and brought power up to 78 PS (57 kW).
The whole range received a facelift in 1977 (launched 1978 outside Europe), featuring an interior upgrade and subtly revised styling including repositioned indicators and depending on model, either 4 round or 2 rectangular headlights. This generation was sold in Brazil well into the 1980s and extensively exported to Iraq, where many are still on the road. It was also assembled in Nigeria.
1979 saw the introduction of the Volkswagen Golf's 1.5 l diesel engine, which produced just 48 PS (35 kW) in the 1130 kg (2500 lb) car. 0–100 km/h time for the Diesel was 19.4 seconds, 6.2 seconds slower than the gasoline (petrol) engine. All gasoline engines were dropped for North America in 1981 in preparation for the next generation.
In Brazil, the Passat itself was produced from 1975-1988. In 1986 many improvements from the B2 platform where introduced, like its 1.6 and 1.8 engines and the 5-speed gearbox. A sports version, named Passat GTS 1.8, even on the twilight of the car, saw some popularity with its very good performance.

The Volkswagen Scirocco is a sport compact produced by German automaker Volkswagen from 1974 through 1992. The model was highly successful, and helped bolster VW's reputation. It will be revived with a third generation in 2008. Volkswagen began work on the car during the early 1970s as the replacement for the aging Karmann Ghia coupe, and designated it the Type 53 internally. As a cost-saving method, VW choose to use the A1 chassis shared with the Rabbit and Jetta to underpin the new Scirocco, although most every part of the car was re-engineered in favor of a sporty-drive, and the model's all-new styling, penned by Giorgetto Giugiaro, was sleeker and sportier than that of either the Golf (Rabbit) or Jetta. The model went on sale in Europe in 1974 and in North America in 1975.
A heavily re-designed "MKII" variant went on sale in 1982, although it remained on the MKI platform and a more mild, mid-cycle redesign occurred in 1984, which included few outward changes over the 82' model. A leather interior, power windows and mirrors, air conditioning, and a manual sunroof were options for all years. In mid-1986 a 16V model was released in the United States and Canada, which included a full body skirt to distinguish it from other MKII 8V models.
MKI models featured a range of four-cylinder engines with displacements from 1.1 to 1.7 litres, all featuring a single-overhead camshaft and 2-valves per cylinder. The MKII generation (Type 53B) brought with it a new 1.3 litre base engine and an optional 1.8 litre, double overhead camshaft motor featuring 4-valves per cylinder. Although the 16-valve 1.8 brought added performance to the range, it proved a somewhat questionable choice, as late A2 Golf GTIs were available with a more powerful 16-valve 2.0 litre motor. This was, however, not questionable at the time since the 2.0 litre 16V motor did not show up in America until 1990, two years after the demise of the Scirocco in the US. Still, the European 1.8 16v that was fitted into the Scirocco GTX 16v model developed 139 BHP, surpassed only by the A3 generation 2.0 16v with 150 BHP.
Scirocco sales continued until 1988 in the United States, 1989 in Canada, and 1992 in Germany.
In June of 2006, VW officially announced production of a new Scirocco model at the Autoeuropa assembly plant in Palmela, Portugal. Volume is expected to be 100,000 cars per year, with the first Scirocco rolling off the line in 2008.
A concept of the 2008 Scirocco was shown at the 2006 Paris Auto Show, called the Iroc, which was then renamed Scirocco. It is said to share more in spirit and name rather than form with the original design. The 2008 Scirocco will receive the option of two gasoline engines: Volkswagen's TSI twincharged straight-4 producing 168 hp, and the 200 hp 2.0T FSI engine currently featured in the MkV Golf GTI, the Passat and Jetta.
In April 2007, VW America's vice president, Adrian Hallmark, stated that they did not want to bring the Scirocco to North America since it would likely have a negative effect on GTI sales. It was later stated that the final decision would be made in 2008 by Martin Winterkorn (Volkswagen's CEO), not Volkswagen of America.

The Volkswagen Golf (Mark 1 and Mark 5 badged as Volkswagen Rabbit in the United States and Canada, Caribe in Mexico) is a compact car / small family car that Volkswagen manufactures. The front-wheel drive Golf was Volkswagen's first successful replacement for the air-cooled Volkswagen Beetle. Historically, it is Volkswagen's best-selling model and the world's third best-selling model, with more than 25 million built by 2007.
Most production of the Golf has been in the 3-door hatchback style. Other variants include a 5-door hatchback, station wagon (estate / Variant), convertible (Cabrio), and a 4-door Volkswagen Jetta saloon (sedan). A touring (wagon) version of the Jetta has also been available. They have filled many market segments from basic personal cars to high-performance hot hatches.
The Golf's success popularised the use of the hatchback in the C segment of cars and began the entire Golf class.
Like its predecessor the Volkswagen Beetle, the Golf has proved to be influential. In continuous production since 1974, the Golf was one of the first widely successful front wheel drive hatchbacks. In the USA, the Rabbit would spark another generation of VW-alike American compacts, such as the Omni, Escort and Cavalier in the 1980s, just as the Beetle inspired Falcon and Corvair in 1960s and subcompact Vega and Pinto in the 1970s. The Golf's performance also defined the hot hatch before youth started tuning their imports.
Replacing the Beetle was a vital goal for Volkswagen's continued survival. By the early 1970s, the company had fallen into financial woe. The novelty of the Beetle had worn thin. Sales were in terminal decline. The front-engine, rear drive small cars like the Toyota Corolla were refined enough to woo customers away from Volkswagen's noisy underpowered engines and dated styling. The Type 3 and Type 4 fastback and squareback failed to attract much interest, whilst the NSU-developed K70 was a failure.
The solution arrived with Auto Union. They had attracted a small following with their technologically advanced Audi front wheel drive medium sedans. Volkswagen had acquired the Ingolstadt-based company in 1964 from Daimler-Benz. Audi's expertise in water-cooled engines and front-wheel drive would be essential in developing a new generation of Volkswagens. FWD offered more performance with lighter weight and more room in a smaller package. The Audi technology in the Golf would regain for Volkswagen the engineering lead over rear drive cars that Ferdinand Porsche had bestowed on the original Beetle over its large conventional peers. The small Golf had to succeed in replacing the high volume Volkswagen sedan. The upmarket Dasher/Passat would be VW's first front wheel drive car, and it was relatively well received for its lower volume market. The Golf would adopt an efficient "two-box" layout with a steep hatch rather than a formal trunk, which would be later added in the Jetta. The water-cooled engine would be mounted transversely in the front. Work on the Golf began in 1969, shortly after Kurt Lotz became head of Volkswagen.
The first Golf (VW internal designation Typ 17) began production in 1974, although it was marketed in the United States and Canada from 1975 to 1984 as the Volkswagen Rabbit and in Latin America as the Volkswagen Caribe. It featured the water-cooled, front wheel drive design with the addition of a hatchback. The Golf was Wheels magazine's Car of the Year for 1975. The name is short for Golf-Strom, German for Gulf Stream; it was named for that oceanic current to reflect its international character.
The Golf was designed by Italian automobile architect / designer Giorgetto Giugiaro, of the ItalDesign design studio.
In 1978, Volkswagen began producing the North American "Rabbit" version of the Mark 1 Golf in New Stanton, Pennsylvania, thus becoming the first European car manufacturer in modern times to produce a vehicle in the United States. (The plant was called Westmoreland because New Stanton was in Pennsylvania's Westmoreland County.) Former Chevrolet executive James McLernon was chosen to run the factory, which was built to lower the cost of the Rabbit in North America by producing it locally. Unfortunately, McLernon tried to "Americanise" the Golf/Rabbit by softening the suspension and using cheaper materials for the interior. VW purists in America and company executives in Germany were displeased, and for the 1983 model year the Pennsylvania plant went back to using stiffer shocks and suspension with higher-quality interior trim. The plant also began producing the GTI for the North American market. ('Rabbits' were built in Pennsylvania until 1984.) The first VW Caddy pick-up, based on the Mark 1 Golf, was also created at the Pennsylvania plant. The GTI version, launched in Europe in 1976 and in the U.S. in 1983, virtually created the hot hatch genre overnight, and many other manufacturers since have created special sports models of their regular volume-selling small hatchbacks. The idea behind was rather straightforward - take a basic-transportation economy car and give it a high-performance package, making it practical and sporty. It was one of the first small cars to adopt fuel injection for its sports version, which raised power output of the 1588 cc engine to 110 PS (81 kW/108 hp). In 2004, Sports Car International declared the Golf GTI Mark 1 to be the 3rd best car of the 1980s.
There was a minor facelift in 1980 which saw the adoption of larger rear lamp clusters (more in line with Giugiaro's original concepts), revised bumpers, a new dashboard with a more modern-looking instrument display, and for US versions square headlights.
The convertible version, named the Golf Cabriolet (or Typ 155), was sold from 1980 to 1993 (a convertible version of the Mark 2 Golf was not made, so the Mark 1 Cabrio with slight modification was produced until the introduction of the Mark 3 Cabrio). It had a reinforced body, transverse roll bar, and a high level of trim, and interestingly kept the pre-1980 style of rear lamp clusters. The Mark 1 Cabriolet is of unibody construction built entirely at the factory of Karmann, from stamping to final assembly; Volkswagen supplied the engine, suspension, interior, etc. for Karmann to install. The vinyl or cloth tops were insulated and manually or automatic operated, with a heated glass rear window.
As of 2006, Volkswagen of South Africa still manufactures two variants of the Mark 1 Golf, the five-door Citi Golf and the Volkswagen Caddy pickup. On September 22, 2006 in order to celebrate the continued success of the Mark 1 based Citi Golf in South Africa, Volkswagen SA announced the limited edition Citi R which is powered by a 90KW (120HP/123PS) 1.8L fuel injected engine with a five-speed manual transmission as well as a GTI trademark red outlined front grill.
There was a special version, named LX with 1.1L engine, which produced more power than 1.3L. This version had a tuned GTI-like front grill, four front headlights, spoiler, alloy wheels and Recaro seats.
VW South Africa currently (2007) manufacture a large range of Mk1 variants, namely the Citi Golf range. The range starts with a standard Citi Golf, in either 1.4 or 1.6 litre fuel injected models. Many variants of the standard version are/were available with different extras packages, which included the Citi Rythm, Citi.com and so on. The current range topper is the VeloCiti, also available in 1.4i and 1.6i, made as sportier versions of the standard Citi to replace the previous sports version, the Citi Life. The latest Citi Golfs produced feature modern features, such as a new dashboard adapted from a VW Polo, and minor body "facelifts" such as revised tail-light clusters. The Citi Golf is still one of the best-selling and most popular small cars in South Africa.
The Volkswagen Rabbit GTI, the North American version of the high-performance Golf GTI, debuted in Canada in 1979 and in the United States for 1983 model year. Assembled from parts made in Mexico, Canada, Germany and the U.S. in Volkswagen's Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania assembly plant, it had the same Mark 1 chassis, and the same A1 body type as the Mark 1 Golf GTI that had been on sale in Europe since 1976, with a few exceptions. Key distinct features of the Rabbit GTI were its squared front end styling, and its alloy "snowflake" wheels. The interior came in red or blue felt and leatherette trim. The squared styling of the front end, particularly the wraparound direction indicator lights, gave it added safety and slight improvement in performance. Under the hood, the engine was a JH 1.8 liter 4-cylinder petrol engine that ran on unleaded fuel. The JH 1.8l was transversely mounted, and it would peak in stock condition at 90 HP, delivered through a close-ratio five-speed transmission. Claims for gas mileage of near-perfectly tuned Rabbit GTIs range between 25 and 30 miles per gallon.
When the Rabbit GTI first appeared in Canada, it featured the 1.6l engine and five-speed transmission. It was initially available in red, white, and black. These Canadian cars were German-built and were nearly identical in bodyshell and interior appearance to the 110hp Golfs built in Europe. Unfortunately for enthusiasts, the entire driveline and running gear was identical to the other Canadian versions. Five-MPH bumpers were fitted as well as anti-intrusion bars within the doors. The integral towing eye fitted to the front of the European car was deleted as the crashworthy bumpers had towing facilities as part of their design and the car had been crash-tested for Canada with the North American front apron. The car was very attractive but drove no better or worse than a Rabbit of the same era. Only with the arrival of the American GTI was a faster Golf available in Canada, and it was down 22 horsepower compared to the 1.8 litre Golf GTI Mark I.

The Volkswagen Polo is a supermini manufactured by Volkswagen of Germany. It is sold mainly in Europe, but available in most export markets. It is most widely seen as a hatchback but there have also been saloon and so-called coupé and estate variants. There have been four separate series of the Polo, designated Mark I to Mark IV. Each generation was facelifted mid way through its production, with the updated versions known by an addition of the letter F to the model number, e.g. Mark IIF.
The body style has been varied through the life of the car, but the most widely available form has always been a hatchback; indeed the Mark I saloon was branded as a Volkswagen Derby.
Volkswagen's products are not the same in all territories and a number of different models have been sold under the Polo name. For example the Volkswagen Polo Playa hatchback sold in Southern Africa in the late 1990s was a rebadged SEAT Ibiza which was quite different to the Mk III Polo sold in Europe at the same time. The current saloon is only available in China, Latin America and South Africa and other Southern Africa countries.
On its introduction in 1975, the Polo was Volkswagen's second front wheel drive hatchback model, fitting into the range beneath the Golf, which had been launched the previous year. It remained the smallest model in the Vokswagen range until 1998, when the Volkswagen Lupo was introduced. The Polo is still Volkswagen's second smallest model, larger than the Fox and smaller than the Golf. (In North America, the Golf – now sold there as the Rabbit – is the smallest Volkswagen available, the Polo never having been sold in this territory.)
Over the generations, as with many other long-lived car brands, the Polo's size has increased, and the latest incarnation of the Polo is actually larger than the original Golf Mark I.
The current version is mechanically very similar to the SEAT Ibiza and Škoda Fabia, being based on a standard VW Group chassis used for a large number of models.
Volkswagen pioneered the so-called hot hatch genre of high performance hatchbacks with the Golf GTI in 1975, and has produced a number of performance versions of the Polo. The first of these was the Polo GT version of the Mark IF.
The Mark II and IIF were available as supercharged G40 models. The GT G40 with its 1.3-litre 85 kW (115 bhp) could reach 100 km/h (62 mph) in 8.1 s from standstill and had a maximum speed of 196 km/h (122 mph). It was used by Volkswagen to set a number of world endurance speed records, such as the 1.3-litre class records for speed over 24 hours and speed over a distance of 5000 km.
The fastest version of the Mark III on the UK market was the 16-valve h 100 PS model. A 120 PS (88 kW) GTI model was also produced, but only in a limited edition in Germany, and this was the first time the GTI label had been used for a Polo. A GTI version of the Mark IIIF Polo, with a 125 bhp (92 kW) 1.6-litre petrol engine was also produced.
In 2004 Volkswagen Individual, a specialist division of Volkswagen, produced a limited number of (Mark IV Polo) Club Sports with a 1.8T 180 hp/132 kW engine. Available only in Germany, this was based on the one-make racing series Polo Cup Racer hatchback. The Club Sport came with a roll cage inside the vehicle and Recaro racing seats as standard.
A GTI version of the current Polo Mk IVF was launched in 2006. This features styling similar to that of the contemporary Golf GTI and a turbocharged 20-valve 150 bhp 1.8-litre petrol engine. It has a 0-60 mph time of 8.2 s and a top speed of 134 mph.
Volkswagen Individual have also engineered an even faster Polo called the Polo GTI Cup Edition. Available with the same 1.8T engine, albeit with 180 bhp (130 kW), its claimed 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) is 7.5 s and it has a claimed top speed of 225 km/h.
Volkswagen Racing in South Africa rallied a four-wheel drive Mark IVF Polo which shared some components with its sister World Rally Championship (WRC) Skoda Fabia; the S2000 has a 2.0 L 191 kW (260 bhp) engine.
Mark IV Polos have been entered into the Junior World Rally Championship (JWRC).
There have been a number of one make race series for the Polo, starting with the Volkswagen Polo G40 Cup for MkII and MkIIF G60 versions. The current Polo Cup championship for 105 bhp cars is a support race at rounds of the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. The first Polo was effectively a rebadged version of the Audi 50, which was discontinued in 1978 as Audi concentrated on larger luxury models. The Mark I and Mark II versions of the Polo were then standalone models in the Volkswagen range.
With the expansion of the Volkswagen Group in the 1990s SEAT and Škoda were aqquired, and the platform used for the Polo was shared with other models.
The Mark III Polo shared its platform with the Mark 2 SEAT Ibiza. The Ibiza was actually launched before the Polo, and shared essentially all its mechanicals, the dashboard and other interior components, although there were no body panels shared between the two cars. The saloon and estate versions of the Mark III Polo were actually re-badged SEAT Córdoba models, and had no body panels in common with the Polo hatchback. The SEAT Inca and Volkswagen Caddy vans were also based on this model. The Volkswagen Lupo and SEAT Arosa were also based on a shortened version of the Mark III Polo platform.
The Mark IV Polo continued this trend of platform sharing, with the Škoda Fabia and SEAT Ibiza Mark III both being developed on the same platform and featuring several of the same engines.
The first Polos were hatchbacks, with the saloon being marketed as the Volkswagen Derby.
On the arrival of the Mark II model the saloon was renamed the Volkswagen Polo Classic and the hatchback style was renamed as a coupé, the Volkswagen Polo Coupé. A new estate shape became, unusually for an estate, the commonest model of the range in European markets. In some markets it was referred to as the Volkswagen Polo Wagon, but some reviewers at the time considered it to be shaped "like a van".
From the Mark III onwards, the range was more straightforwardly conventional, including unambiguous saloon, hatchback and estate models.
The Polo is a compact car, with a traditional transversely mounted engine and front wheel drive. Mark I Polos only came with four-cylinder petrol engines, but for the Mark II a diesel engine was offered for the first time, although only in certain markets, others having to wait until the launch of the Mark III. The current range includes a variety of three- and four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines.
Early versions used four speed manual transmission, whilst the current car is available with either five-speed manual or four-speed automatic transmission. The suspension system on all models uses a fully independent MacPherson strut front suspension, and a Twist-beam rear suspension. Most models use disc brakes at the front and rear drum brakes, although some recent models have all round disc brakes.
The first Polo, a rebadged version of the Audi 50, was introduced in 1975 and was produced until October 1981 with over 500,000 Polos sold worldwide.
The differences between the Audi and Volkswagen models were minor, with the Polo being cheaper and much more basic. The two cars were initially sold alongside each other, but the Audi 50 never sold as well, and was withdrawn in 1978. The Polo was manufactured at the Volkswagen plant in Wolfsburg.
In 1977, the Derby saloon was released, which was simply a Polo, identical to the hatchback from the C-pillar forward, with a large boot attached (an Audi proposal, but which was never sold by them).
Different levels of compression were used on each size to achieve different power outputs, and the variations are numerous, often differing depending on the country of sale, ranging from 35 to 60 PS (26 to 44 kW). The Mark I Polo and Derby were facelifted in 1979 (to Mark IF) with plastic bumpers, a different front grille and a revised dashboard. The round headlights of the Derby were replaced with square ones, bringing it into line with the similar (but larger) Golf-based Jetta saloon.

The Volkswagen Jetta is an automobile produced by German automaker Volkswagen since 1980. Depending on the model year and location, it is sometimes known as the Atlantic, Fox, Vento, Bora, or Sagitar. It is essentially the saloon / sedan version of the compact car / small family car Volkswagen Golf, and spans five generations. The Jetta name was derived from the Jet stream, following Volkswagen's long tradition of naming cars for various winds.
The Jetta bodystyle was developed due in part to the Volkswagen marketing group's observation that the North American market leaned more towards sedans as opposed to the Golf's hatchback configuration. The new saloon variant was marketed as a more upscale car than its tailgated brethren, with nicer interior trim and a higher price. This proved to be a wise move on Volkswagen's part, as the Jetta became the best-selling European car in the United States and Canada, Over the years, the car has been offered in two and four-door sedan and five-door station wagon variants. As of 2005, over 6.6 million cars have been sold worldwide, with over 2.2 million alone sold in the United States. Since the original version in 1980, the car has grown in size and power with each successive generation. The Jetta was introduced to the world at the 1979 Frankfurt Auto Show. Production of the first generation began in September 1979 at the Wolfsburg plant. In some markets, such as in Mexico, the Mark 1 was known as the "Volkswagen Atlantic", whilst it was known as the "Volkswagen Fox" in South Africa. The car was available as a two-door coupe and four-door sedan body styles, both of which shared a three box shape. Like the Golf, its angular styling was penned at ItalDesign, by Giorgetto Giugiaro. Styling differences could be found depending on the market. In most of the world, the car was available with composite headlights, while in the USA, it was only available with rectangular sealed beam lamps due to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 108. The suspension setup was identical to the Golf and consisted of a MacPherson strut setup in front and a Twist-beam rear suspension in the rear. It shared its 2.4 meter (94.5 in) wheelbase with its hatchback counterpart although overall length was up by 38 centimeters (15 in). The capacity of the luggage compartment was 377 liters (13.3 ft3), making the Jetta reasonably practical. To distinguish the car from the Golf, interiors were made more upscale in all markets. This included velour seating and color coordinated sill to sill carpeting.
Engine choices varied considerably depending on the local market. Most were based on 827 engines of the era. Choices in Spark-ignition engines ranged from a 1.1 L four-cylinder engine producing 37 kilowatts (50 hp) to a 1.8 L I4 which made 67 kilowatts (90 hp) and 142 Newton metres (105 ft·lb) of torque. Some cars were equipped with Carburetors, while others were fuel injected using K or KE Jetronic supplied by Robert Bosch GmbH. Diesel engine choices included a 1.6 L making 37 kilowatts (50 hp) and a turbocharged version of the same engine which produced 50 kilowatts (68 hp) and 130 Newton metres (96 ft·lb) of torque.
Volkswagen briefly considered producing the Jetta in a plant located in Sterling Heights, Michigan in the USA. However, due to declining sales in North America, the decision was postponed and finally scrapped in 1982. The site was subsequently sold to Chrysler in 1983 and is still in operation as of 2007.
Volkswagen was an early adopter of passive restraint systems. The first generation cars could be equipped with an "automatic" shoulder belt mounted to the door. The idea was to always have the belt buckled thereby doing away with the requirement that the driver and passenger remember to buckle up. Instead of a lap belt, the dashboard was designed with an integrated knee bar to prevent submarining underneath the shoulder belt.
In crash tests conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Mark 1 received five out of five stars in a 56 km/h (35 mph) frontal crash test for both driver and passenger protection. The first generation was met with generally positive reviews. Testers found the car handled precisely, however the lack of power steering contributed to heavy steering when parking. The brakes worked well for a car of the day, but some brake fade was evident. The ride was taut but firm in the typical style of German cars, with large bumps being well absorbed by the suspension but smaller undulations coming through. Reviews differed on noise levels, some found the car fairly quiet, while others thought the engine contributed to higher noise levels. Critics found the seating comfortable, but noted that the rear seat lacked sufficient head room. Most major controls and displays such as the speedometer and climate controls were well liked, but some secondary switches were not well placed or intuitive. The aforementioned automatic seat belts in some markets that were attached to the door frame made it impossible to forget to buckle the belt, but it was difficult to enter the car with a package in hand. Writers liked that the luggage space was generous, especially for a car of its size. Additionally, numerous storage areas also gave practicality to the sedan. In one test, the car scored nearly as high as the more expensive Passat/Dasher and the Audi 80/4000.