2006 Volkswagen Passat Front

The only family sedan on the every-8-years plan gets some drastic changes for 2006. Dimensions increase by a tad, power by a ton. The 4-cylinder is now VW's turbocharged direct-fuel-injection 2.0-liter with 200 horsepower, and the former 190-horsepower 2.8 V6, weakest in class, got replaced by a 3.6-liter V6 making all of 280, knocking Nissan's 250 HP Altima to a distant second place. Unlike the wealth of choice like before, for now only the 4-cylinder can have a manual transmission and only the V6 can get 4Motion all-wheel-drive. A station wagon will likely return; the W8 engine definitely won't. Like the new Jetta, electro-mechanical steering and a multilink rear suspension adorn all new models, and the trunk is absolutely enormous. Passats continue the Volkswagen tradition of being about $5,000 overpriced, as a Passat 4-cylinder automatic Value Edition starts at $24,640 and a V6 at $30,565.