For the style-conscious corporate executive with big miles to cover, there’s not much to criticise about the new Volkswagen Arteon. It has all the style, technology and luxury required to take on premium-badged rivals like the Audi A5 Sportback or BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe, coupled with low running costs and reasonable company car tax bills. OK, so it doesn’t provide quite as many thrills behind the wheel as a BMW might, and the VW badge doesn’t have the cachet of some rivals, but the high-end cabin is beautifully built and covered in premium materials. Like all its style-led coupe-inspired rivals, the Arteon suffers from a lack of headroom in the back, but its generally refined ride and rakish styling will make it a winning choice.
Most of the Volkswagen line-up looks a little homogenous from the styling perspective, but that certainly isn’t an accusation you can throw at the Arteon. It has visual panache and dynamism to compete with the best the premium marques can throw at it.
The fun starts at the front, with a broad deep grille that flows into the headlamps, while deep contours run up the bonnet, above powerful front wings with crisp wheelarches. The side profile is rakish, with frameless windows and the ‘uplighter’ effect of scuplted lower door panels, while the swoopy rear end has equally muscular arches and a very contemporary-looking rebate detail running the full width of the car beneath the taillights.
The interior is a little less exotic, but still very stylish for a VW family product. The most eye-catching styling element is the ventilation slot that runs the full width of the dash, which is shaped to mimic the Arteon’s front grille. Other interior features include VW’s Active Info display, which takes the place of traditional analogue instruments. You can set the system up to show a variety of information, including the sat-nav mapping – which otherwise is displayed on the big eight-inch display screen at the top of the centre console.
While the interior look and feel is lavish but not flashy, there’s certainly an impressive amount of technology on offer. One of the highlights is a Driver Assist package that brings a ‘predictive’ function to the cruise control and driving lights – the former reduces speed for impending corners or speed limit changes, while the lights set themselves up for corners before you arrive at them.
Sat-nav, stereo and infotainment
The standard sat-nav is the Discover system which comes with DAB radio, Bluetooth, an SD card reader and an eight-speaker audio set-up providing 80 Watts of sound. You can upgrade to Discover Navgation Pro for around £900, which brings a bigger 9.2-inch touchscreen, increased functionality including voice activation, DVD and a 64 GB hard drive. Another £1,000 will update the sound system with a 16-channel amplifier, 11 speakers plus subwoofer, and 700 Watts output.
On the road, the Arteon is a little softer than its aggressive styling might suggest, but it really excels as a long distance motorway cruiser. The Passat is already supremely efficient in this regard, and the extra cabin luxury and slippery body-styling of the Arteon mean it’s even more comfortable, quiet and refined on long hauls.
If you want driving thrills, there’s no doubt a BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe provides a more responsive experience. The Arteon’s steering offers little road feel, and switching the DCC adaptive dampers to Sport mode reins in the body roll but at the noticeable expense of ride comfort. We ended up leaving the DCC system in Comfort – which can feel occasionally floaty – or Normal, most of the time. This last setting works very well, with a decent balance between ride comfort and body control, but it’s an acknowledgement that being a good all rounder is the Arteon’s strongest suit.
Engines
The Arteon engine line-up starts with the 148bhp 2.0 TDI that does 0-62mph in 9.1 seconds and 138mph flat out. The performance figures are all-but identical whether you pick the six-speed manual or seven-speed DSG gearbox. A 187bhp 2.0 TDI engine will launch with or without 4MOTION all-wheel drive, though for now the only other diesel is the fastest twin-turbo BiTDI which offers 237bhp. It comes with 4MOTION only and does 0-62mph in 6.5 seconds with a 152mph maximum speed.
The petrol engine range is limited to two options presently, starting with the 187bhp 2.0 TSI. It’s available only with a DSG automatic gearbox, does 0-62mph in 7.7 seconds and 147mph. Otherwise you’re looking at the 276bhp 2.0 TSI which also adds standard 4MOTION. It’s the hottest Arteon with a 5.6 second sprint from 0-62mph and a 155mph maximum.
While it looks thoroughly contemporary from the outside, there’s plenty of shared engineering under the skin of the Arteon, all of which suggests it shouldn’t provide too many headaches on the reliability front. Aside from the shared Passat/MBQ platform, all the Arteon’s engines are established in the VW Group line-up, and the same applies to tech such as the Active Info dash and Discover Nav systems.
Some of the more advanced electronics systems are a bit more novel, but many of them are related to safety systems and we’d hope that the most rigorous test and development regimes have been applied.
On the safety front, the Arteon has passed the Euro NCAP independent crash tests with excellent results – including the best pedestrian protection rating in the executive car sector, scoring 85 per cent. Adult occupant and child occupant ratings of 96 per cent and 85 per cent are admirable too, and the Arteon comes with an array of standard fit safety kit such as Lane Departure Warning and Brake Assist. If you want to splash out on the options list, you can add Emergency Assist that stops the car slowly in the left lane should the driver be incapacitated, while front, rear and side cameras, a head-up display and traffic sign recognition are also on the menu.
Warranty
The VW Arteon comes with Volkswagen’s standard three-year/60,000-mile warranty. This used to be standard fare, but BMW and Mercedes both offer three years cover with unlimited mileage.
Servicing
You can expect lengthy service intervals if you drive an Arteon. The 2.0 TDI models are especially impressive, with no service requirement for three years or 37,000 miles.
It may not feel nearly as spacious as the limo-like Passat, but there’s no doubting the Arteon provides a great deal of comfort for its occupants. It rides smoothly even on the biggest diameter (20-inch) wheels, at least until you hit major imperfections on the road surface which can upset the serenity with a jolt. There’s also an additional comfort setting in the driving modes, but we think it adds a little too much ‘wallow’ and not enough extra smoothness. Engine noise is very well damped, and the car slips through the air quietly too.
There’s loads of seat adjustment, especially with the 14-way electric seat option, to ensure you’ll find a comfortable seating position. Once ensconced, the standard leather upholstery, three-zone climate control, great infotainment and lavish feel of the fit and finish should ensure the journey is relaxing.
Size
The Arteon is large car at 4862mm long and 1,871mm wide, but it’s only 1,450mm from the tarmac to the roof. That compares with the VW Passat saloon which comes in at 4,767mm x 1,832mm x 1,476mm.
Leg room, head room & passenger space
The Arteon has a relatively long wheelbase, which means there’s plenty of legroom in the back. However that sloping rear three-quarter profile impacts badly on headroom, and taller passengers will feel pretty hard done by. The R-Line gets a dark ‘sporty’ headlining too, which can emphasise the lack of space in the rear by adding a slightly claustrophobic feel.
Boot
There’s a decent-sized boot lurking beneath the Arteon’s svelte tail. At 563 litres it’s down on the Passat by 23 litres, which isn’t much at all. The hatchback tailgate opens wide for good access, and if you want to maximise the luggage capacity you can fold down the back seats to reveal a relatively cavernous 1,557-litre load area.
The 148bhp 2.0 TDI diesel is expected to be the mainstay of Arteon sales in the UK, and it offers pretty impressive claimed economy of 65.7mpg on the combined cycle, while C02 emissions of 112g/km mean it’s reasonably efficient from a company car tax perspective too. Expect a Benefit-in-Kind rate of 24 per cent, which means a tax bill of £3,138 for higher rate taxpayers.
The forthcoming 187bhp 2.0 TDI 4MOTION with DSG will do 55.4mpg, while CO2 emissions of 134g/km and a higher price means a 28 per cent tax charge and an annual ‘higher rate’ bill of £4,141. The 187bhp 2.0 TSI petrol (front-wheel drive only) returns 47.1mpg and emits 135g/km, with an annual company car tax charge of £3,458.
The worst case scenario currently from the company car tax perspective, is the 237bhp 2.0 BiTDI diesel in R-Line trim. It will cost a company driver £5,043 annually – pipping the 276bhp 2.0 TSI petrol owner by a couple of hundred pounds.
All Arteon models will cost at least £140 a year for road tax, but if you buy one of the pricier models then you’ll need to watch out for options that could easily take you over the £40,000 price threshold. You’ll be liable for an extra £310 per year in road tax until the car’s sixth birthday.
Insurance groups
Insurance groups for the Volkswagen Arteon range from Group 22 for the 148bhp diesel, up to Group 32 for the hottest petrol model.
Depreciation
Like any big executive car, the Volkswagen Arteon’s depreciation figures are likely to hit the wallet quite hard. Pick a low range diesel model at around the £33k mark and after three years and 30,000 miles you should expect to get close to £14k back at resale time. Go for the most expensive petrol model – the 276bhp 2.0 TSI 4MOTION – at nearer £40k, and you’re looking at a three-year/30k mile residual value of around £15k, we reckon.
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