Photograph copyright © 2004, Eddie Wren

The Phaeton of the Opera -- Hitting all the High Notes

Introduction

I had to laugh.

I had only been driving the Phaeton for a few minutes when two songs were played by my favorite, relatively local radio station, over the border in Toronto.

"Sweet dreams are made of this.... Who am I to disagree...." came as an Eighties oldie, from the Eurythmics. And that was immediately followed by Shania Twain's "That don't impress me much," which includes apposite lines about a girl having to take off her shoes before being allowed into the guy's car!

Both songs touched on my immediate impression of the Phaeton. 

I'd only sat in one of these top-of-the line Volkswagens on one previous occasion, at the press days for an international auto show, so this was the first time I'd driven one. And it was good!

The other thing that has made me laugh -- ever since that first time I'd seen a Phaeton -- is the ludicrous snobbery that has gone into several auto journalists' claims that people wouldn't pay such a high price for any car bearing a VW badge.

Oh, really? And why not, pray? Are those journalists immune to the fact that VW has produced some extremely well engineered cars for a very long time indeed? Are they oblivious to the fact that since 1998 Volkswagen have owned Bentley, and have undoubtedly looked towards the standards of Bentley when making the Phaeton?

Don't get me wrong: I'm not for one minute trying to pretend that the Phaeton is any sort of Bentley by another name; it is not. But it is unarguably a superb car and anyone who rejects it, out of hand, simply "because it has a VW badge," is a bit of an idiot.

Does the Phaeton look as glamorous or as expensive as its competitors in the $80,000 to $90,000 price bracket? Well, that is for the individual buyer to decide. But one could also argue that many people enjoy classy possessions more if they are not too ostentatious, so this argument could go either way.

Appearance

Even allowing for that saying about the eye of the beholder, it is hard to see how anyone could not find the Phaeton to be a  good looking car.

The lines are sleek yet functional, "fast" and yet conservative. Click on the above three "exterior" thumbnail photographs and take a closer look. Even the back end of this big car avoids having one of those ugly, "elephant's rump" rear ends that spoil so many autos at present, despite the fact that the back of the Phaeton conceals a truly cavernous trunk -- no pun intended.

And yet despite the physical size of this car, it hides its bulk well and we found that people only realized how big it was when they looked inside and saw the spacious interior and excellent leg room.

Controls

The W12 is fitted with a 5-speed automatic transmission with Tiptronic, Dynamic Shift Program (DSP), and sport mode, but even without the latter this car will pick up its heels and move off briskly, with great smoothness. (The power is transferred through the rubber to the road via the 4MOTION™ permanent all-wheel drive system with Torsen sensing center differential.)

The central display contains the  Infotainment System and a multi-function onboard computer: The color display features adjustable settings for climate controls, navigation, audio, vehicle settings, trip computer, air suspension settings, and tire pressure monitoring system.

The steering wheel carries controls for cruise control and the audio system, and -- importantly -- the horn control, on the central boss, is easy to operate with one thumb while keeping the rest of the hand on the rim of the wheel.

One other important point about the controls is that the large, front center armrest (with a storage compartment underneath) does not impinge upon free and vigorous arm movement in the event of an urgent maneuver. This is more important than many people realize, yet it is a factor that can make a major difference in a crisis.

View Out

Visibility forwards and to the sides is very good, and the exterior mirrors give an adequate view to the rear.

One thing very worthy of mention in terms of the view out of the interior mirror is that the two rear, outboard head restraints in the Phaeton are connected to an 'intelligent' system that senses whether there is anybody occupying the seats in question. If a seat is in use, the relevant head restraint electronically rises to provide maximum protection in the event of the Phaeton being hit from behind by another vehicle. If the seat is unoccupied the head restraint automatically goes down to its lowest position and gives the driver some additional view out of the rear window.

The central rear head restraint is raised and lowered manually, and for the above reason should always be kept in the 'down' position if not in actual use.

Drivability and Performance

On a small, private circuit to which I have occasional access I was able to play with the acceleration and, more importantly, to really try out the brakes.

In both cases -- given the fact that this car weighs 5,400 pounds -- the results were impressive.

The 4Motion all-wheel-drive gave excellent grip and handling, though -- to be fair -- I had neither the opportunity nor any good reason to take the Phaeton anywhere near its limits. The key element of DSA test drives is that we focus on the safety aspects of the vehicles we receive so is against our ethos to subject those vehicles to any risk. Crash testing centers and specialist engineering reviewers can tell the world what happens at and beyond a vehicle's limits; they are exclusively the experts on such matters and we leave it to them.

The turning circle for the Phaeton is a whisker under 40 feet, wall-to-wall, but it is an easy car to maneuver.

If, for any reason, you wish to tow a trailer with a Phaeton then you must not get a W12. For technical reasons, the Phaeton with a W12 gasoline engine is not certified for trailer towing.'  Doing so would damage the engine and transmission and it would not be covered by the warranty. With other Phaeton models the maximum trailer weights are: 2,000 lbs with brakes fitted, and 1650 lbs without brakes.

Interior and Comfort

	In a word, it is luxurious. The driver is cosseted in an eighteen-way power adjustable seat (although the poor passenger has to "get by" with mere 16-way adjustments!). The seats are ventilated with air conditioning or heat, as appropriate, and include a massage facility, power adjustable lumbar support, power adjustable seatbelt, power adjustable head restraints, and a three-person memory function for the driver's seat that includes the settings for the exterior mirrors, interior rearview mirror, and steering column.   The backrests on both front seats are actually hinged around shoulder-blade level and this gives not only excellent shoulder support but also allows truly superb positioning of the head restraints -- an often-overlooked safety issue.   Exterior sound level suppression and temperature comfort are both aided greatly by dual-pane glass in the windows.
Click images to enlarge

And for interior "noise," the 270 watt sound system with 12 speakers, a 12 channel amplifier, sub woofer, Digital Sound Processing (DSP), dynamic sound compression, AM/FM, and a glove box mounted 6-disc CD changer do a particularly enjoyable job. The result was total clarity in a wide range of music, without having to resort to high volumes to overcome any ambient noise.

As far as temperature is concerned, the four-zone climate control worked perfectly. The driver, front passenger and rear passengers are able to adjust settings for the automatic climate control system that operates from the multi-function onboard computer.

Exterior Lights

At night, the road ahead is very adequately lit by Xenon, High Intensity Gas-discharge headlamps.

The front indicators take up the entire length of each headlight unit and create very conspicuous signals. Similarly, repeater flashers are fitted along the entire underside of each exterior mirror (though not in a way that would distract the driver of the Phaeton) and again greatly aid conspicuity.

The rear indicators were a minor disappointment to us, however, as VW have adopted the less-than-perfect American system of having red rear flashers, instead of the mandatory yellow/amber that is used in Europe where the car originates. No doubt this seems like a trivial point to many drivers, but think about it:

On a grim, winter morning when there is rain and maybe some fog, and you are driving in heavy traffic, everybody brakes. All you can see is red lights, made worse by reflections off wet cars and the road surface. Does a flashing red indicator stand out in among all of that? Matters are even worse if it is one of those ridiculous indicators which is actually just a brake light flashing on and off (so those cars lose half of their brake light efficiency, too!).

Granted, VW doesn't fall into the trap of "stealing" a brake light to double as a flasher but given that this car has Daytime Running Lights, to aid conspicuity, we find it hard to comprehend why a European car maker would take a retrograde step and actually reduce conspicuity on the rear indicators.

This was all the more puzzling when one considers that the VW Touareg we had on test, just one week earlier, had yellow rear flashers.

Front fog lights are fitted to the Phaeton, as one would expect, but sadly there are no high-intensity rear fog lights on the car. That absence is undoubtedly due to some very short-sighted American legislation although it should be added that the Range Rover we reviewed, immediately before the Touareg, did have rear fog lights, albeit somewhat less powerful than European units.

The Center, High-Mounted Stop Light (CHiMSeL) is fitted at the base of the rear window and has very little effect on the view out, via the interior mirror.

Safety Aspects

Getting full-blown crash-test results for very expensive cars can prove impossible, not only because they are rather too expensive to be smashed up but also because crash testing is rarely done on vehicles that sell in low quantities (which often relates to those higher price tags).

There is no doubt whatsoever, though, that the Phaeton is a very capable car indeed when it comes to occupant protection.

One feature commonly found in safe cars is that they have at least eight air bags, as follows:

     --  front airbags for the driver and front-seat passenger;

     --  side (torso) airbags for the driver, front-seat passenger and both 'outboard' rear seat passengers;

     --  side curtain or other head airbags for the same four seats;

     and the Phaeton has all of these.

The gap between a person's head and their head restraint, when that person is seated normally, is another important safety factor. The Phaeton has five adjustable head restraints and the 'crash active' front head restraints are particularly good. 

If ever the worst comes to the worst, the car has Volkswagen Telematics provided by OnStar^®, an 'Intelligent Crash Response System'. Once a certain severity of crash is detected, all doors automatically unlock, the battery terminal is automatically disconnected from the alternator cable, fuel supply is automatically shut off, and high consumption electrical components are automatically shut off.

One other safety feature on the Phaeton is much more important than many people realize until it is too late. Over thirty children have been killed in the USA alone when left to play in an ostensibly parked car and they have deliberately or accidentally triggered a power window while they have been leaning through the gap. But the Phaeton has power windows with 'pinch protection', which will stop if they hit an obstruction. Thank you, Volkswagen. The consciences of all automakers should dictate that this feature be fitted to all cars, but unfortunately the lust for profit, ruled by the 'need' for competitiveness, means that most manufacturers are avoiding this simple, life-saving step that costs a mere fifty-dollars per vehicle [NHTSA figure]. What value a child's life?

Other features that are part safety and part convenience include:

--     a tire pressure monitor, built into the onboard computer;

--     heated and auto-dimming exterior mirrors (the heated bit is a real boon during severe winter conditions);

--     a passenger-side exterior mirror that lowers when reverse gear is selected, to give a better view when backing up;

--     Electronic Parking Assistance -- front and rear.

For those who carry children in their car,  LATCH is installed -- Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children. 

Do we have any quibbles on the safety front?

Yes, two; but they are both relatively minor.

The first is that aforementioned point that the rear indicators have red lenses rather than 'yellow' (i.e. amber). See above.

The second relates to all Daytime Running Lights (DRLs), not just the ones fitted to the Phaeton. There is no doubt that DRLs do prevent many crashes and thereby prevent injuries and deaths. I simply wish that rather than wiring DRLs to operate when the engine is running and the parking brake is released, manufacturers would rig them to come on only when the engine is running and a forward gear is selected. The result would be that at night we would all sometimes be spared the inconvenience of driving towards bright lights on a vehicle that has stopped at the curb/kerb (and may even be unoccupied, with the engine running, in winter), where the driver has actually been considerate enough to switch from headlights to position/side/parking lights. As things stand, bright DRLs will not go off unless a driver applies the parking brake, and regrettably -- here in America -- that is a stunningly rare event, even when a car is parked overnight or is left with the engine running, as mentioned.

Load Carrying

Moving house? Use a Phaeton!

Okay, I'm obviously exaggerating, but the trunk in this car disappears forwards like a cavern. It holds 17.65 cubic feet, but very few people can conceptualize volume by means of cubic anything, so lets revert to a more commonly used method:

With so many new cars, the makers boast that the trunk will hold a set of golf clubs, or maybe two sets.  The Phaeton will hold four sets and their caddy cars. Going on holiday?  Invite the neighbors to come along; their suitcases will probably fit in, alongside your own.

The trunk also has a fluorescent escape handle, in case anyone gets trapped inside.

As mentioned above, you must not tow a trailer with a W12 Phaeton.

A Few, Key Technical Specifications

The W12 has a 6 liter engine that generates 420 hp at 6,000 rpm, and 405 ft. lbs. at 3,000 to 4250 rpm. Power distribution is regulated via a 4MOTION™ permanent all-wheel drive system with Torsen sensing center differential.

The 0-60 mph time -- for a 2.7 ton vehicle -- is a very impressive 5.9 seconds

The Phaeton is 17 feet (5.18 metres) long and 6 feet 3 inches (1.9 metres) wide.

As with any powerful vehicle, an ability to accelerate hard is positively deadly unless accompanied by an equal or greater ability to stop quickly. In this department, the Phaeton has 360 mm power assisted, vented front brake discs and 310 mm vented rear discs. These are complemented by Electronic Brake Force Distribution (EBD) and Electronic Stabilization Program with brake assist (ESP).

Conclusion

Volkswagen provide a list of other luxury sedans/saloons with which to compare the Phaeton. For the W12, these are:

To view the comparison charts, click here.

For the VW USA home page click here

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