The VW Quantum (Passat B2) received two new engines in 1983: the 2.2 L five borrowed directly from Audi, and the brand new (and first) turbo-diesel four. The GL5 model, which came loaded (for the times) and in automatic only, was clearly intended to position VW in a new category, up against the established premiun German brands. This was something new from VW; the beginning of their relentless upmarket push that would peak with their ill-fated Phaeton.
R&T gets it wrong about the commonality between the Quantum/Passat (B2) and the Audi 80: “Today the two designs have little in common…” I beg to differ. Except for a 10cm longer wheelbase on the Quantum/Passat, under their now different skins they were very much kissing cousins. And their sharing of engines (all EA827 family members) was just another aspect of that. A simple way of putting it was that the Quantum GL5 was a direct shot at the upper end of the Audi 4000 (80) and low end of the 5000 (100).
The 2.2 L five made 100hp and 90 lb.ft of torque. That makes an interesting comparison to the other new engine, the turbo-diesel four with 68 hp but a whopping 98 lb.ft. of torque. This was the beginning of the diesel golden age.
The Quantum’s excellent interior design is noted, a reflection of Germanic detail to every element. Handling was good, even better in rear-world driving than on the skid pad, which always tended to favor cars with stiff springs and thick sway bars.
Frankly, if offered the choice in 1983 between the automatic 2.2 L five and the 1.6 L turbo -diesel four teamed with the 5-0speed manual, I know which I’d have taken: the latter. My FIL bought an early gen1 Jetta with this engine, and I was mightily impressed, with its nice fat torque curve and decently smooth running. Yes, diesels can be fun to drive.
The Quantum was not exactly a big hit in the US. American buyers still thought of VW as cheap cars, and would rather have a premium brand for the money being asked. It was a problem that VW only recently gave up trying to fix, and decided that chasing Toyota made more sense.
These really make my head scratch in that, at least for 1984, the Quantum and it’s cousin the Audi 4000S, had the exact same base MSRP, nearly exactly the same equipment (both had A/C, cruise, and power windows/locks), but had different engines. 1.8 injected four for the Audi, the 2.2 five for VW. Except one big caveat; the Audi’s warranty was twice as long… Yuppies and DINKs want the VW badge over the Audi? Yeah, no…
Yes diesels can be fun to drive, double the VWs hp and torque is what is in my daily drive coupled with superb comfort and roadholding its a nice place to sit, VW started something then ran into problems they didnt want to solve properly and now diesels have a bad name.
VW owners of the 1960’s were surprised to discover that the excellent quality control of their Type 1 model was not continued in the 1980’s.
More than a few became Toyota owners in the late 1980’s/early 1990’s after owning & repairing this generation of VW cars.
Agree totally I had a gen 1 Rabbit that was fun but crude it was obvious VW was falling behind Honda and Toyota in both reliability and comfort (esp in automatics)by the mid 80s I bought an Accord in 1985 followed by a Corolla in 2003 then a bargain ’14 Jetta TDI last year which I really like
American buyers still thought of VW as cheap cars, and would rather have a premium brand for the money being asked.
Ferdinand Piëch didn’t seem to have gotten this hint when he proposed Phaeton as to push Volkswagen higher on the totem pole. Phaeton was a dismal failure in the United States and an expensive folly.
My dad had a 1986 Jetta GL Turbo Diesel and it was a really fun car to drive. The torque curve was flat and the car never felt slow.
This was dad’s last car. He never kept a car more than five years, but he kept the Jetta until his death in 1997. The car had 500,000 km on it by then. They drove it to Reno many, many times.
By 500,000 km it needed valve guides. That’s it.
Have that on my 86 Jetta GL (302k miles) on original gas 1.8 engine. 5 speed trans also untouched, along with original steering rack and pump. The cloth interior, similar to the Quantum, had yet to get its first tear, dash still has no cracks. There is a hole in the drivers floor mat and carpet from the heel of my shoe, though. 30 years, bought it from original owner. Doesn’t have the power it once had, struggles to hit 4000 RPM, might still (barely) hit 90, used to top out about 105 (MPH). Not using oil, never has. Only use it around town now, it’s replacement is sitting in my driveway. Every 30 years I replace my vehicles whether I need to or not. Even the paint still looks decent.
The chart comparing the Quantum, Saab 900, and the Peugeot 505STX made me want the Saab more than the others.
I had a Quantum turbodiesel some years ago. I bought it when I had to drive 30 miles to work, gas prices were spiking, and there was no way to know that shale oil would come on line in a few years. The drivetrain’s agricultural nature was clear even on the test drive, but I felt I needed to go for maximum fuel economy.
I don’t think it was inherently a bad car, but by the time I got it, it was tired, and it gave me a lot of trouble. I also had some difficulty getting parts. From the standpoint of parts availability, I should have gotten a Golf or Jetta.
My least favorite car of the 11 I’ve owned, by a landslide. Writing a full COAL about it would be just too depressing.
This is the car that made the Maxima popular. Expensive, weak engine even for the dim days of 1983, dubious VW quality, stepping all over the toes of its Audi brother, it offered . . . no compelling reasons to purchase it over anything. The Maxima had a slight Eurosedan flavour and compelling Datsun quality and was large and luxurious enough to be a great alternative to floppy K cars and buggy A cars. I don’t know what the inline 6 in the Maxima made in 1983, but I’m sure it bested 98 hp, and it would have been similarly priced. This was one of the participants in the infamous C/D trip to Baja test. I think it turned in an undistinguished performance. What did people who had bought a 1978 Rabbit think when the dealer tried to upsell them into this thing when they returned in 1983?
VW struggled in the US after the Rabbit as a lot of better made, less expensive, roomier Rabbit clones appeared. VW nearly disappeared in the 90s due to collapsing sales. Apparently the quality has gotten better and they have some more competitive CUVs and the Audis are nice and a compelling alternative to a loaded Honda CR-V.
Piech’s move to move VW upscale made absolutely no sense. Roger Smith blundered and had dumb ideas, but Piech had incredibly bad ideas like the Phaeton. Anyone who wanted an upscale VW already had it in the Audi. Whatever Mr. Bucksup Reichfahrende wants in a car, it starts with Badge and does not extend to extreme mechanical complexity and clever W8 engine packaging which I’m betting results in insane repair costs and complexity. For a VW? Really? Stuffing W8 engines into Passats was a cute idea from an engineering standpoint of “Look what we can do!” but did it fundamentally improve the car? Hyundai and Kia came back from the dead in the early 2000s by offering a longer warranty on cars which were not quite up to the competition in driving manners, but the quality was there and the price was right. Now most people have forgiven and forgotten the early excels and sephias and the Telluride and Palisade are setting records. VW didn’t learn anything from the late 70’s/early 80s debacle when American buyers found out Corollas and Accords and Camrys may not have had that solid Germanic thunk of the door or superb handling, but they went 150K with oil changes and little else. Making already unreliable cars more expensive and complex was a terrible idea.
Yeah, the Maxima of this era was no great shakes. Here are C&D’s conclusions of it from the test you referenced:
Datsun Maxima
Optional Star Wars instrument panel and synthesized voice wowed local cops but irked test drivers. Cramped interior, too many colors, too many plastic pieces, numb steering. Least sure-footed (with Toyota) of all eight, required more attention to go fast and stay between ditches. Seats comfortable, transmission worked well, but lacked feeling of well-integrated, “whole” car.
https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/comparison-test/a15112441/escape-from-baja-mexican-sports-sedan-torture-test-archived-comparison-test/
Here’s what they said about the Quantum:
Volkswagen Quantum
A sleeper. Superficially unimpressive, but grew on drivers as miles piled up. Slowest car of group. Low performance, and automatic gearbox, forced drivers to press hard all the time to keep up. Interior simple and reasonably comfortable, though confined. Instrument panel refreshingly free of “Tokyo by Night” gimcracks. A nice car that inspires no superlatives.
It wasn’t until a couple of generations later that the Maxima developed into a driver’s car, notably well AFTER it went FWD.
The Quantum is yet another example of the mothership not understanding what the US market wants. The Passat (Quantum at home) was always a very popular vehicle in Europe, especially in wagon form.
Interestingly it’s the Maxima that’s generally panned these days and has been for the last decade and a half.
You cite a lot of VW’s missteps…These really only affected the American market….VW is the second largest car manufacturer in the world with no sign of faltering
Yes, diesels can be fun. I love driving our Kubota BX24 tractor with its front bucket and rear mounted backhoe. A mere 25HP can do a LOT of work. But these VWs? Not so much.
“The 2.2 L five made 100hp and 90 lb.ft of torque. ” The chart shows it making 112 lb-ft of torque unless I’m misreading it.
The 90lb-ft figure I believe was in reference to the older 1.8l I-4 that the 2.2l I-5 replaced in the lineup.
“Today the two designs have little in common…”….Yes R&T over reached, but I think they may have been implying that VW really attempted to differentiate The Quantum from the mechanically shared Audi 80…I remember getting in an Audi Fox and the interior was almost identical to the Dasher…Everything forward of the B-pillar was very similar. The Quantum shared no sheet metal and almost no interior items with the Audi.
I remember these cars when they came out….I bought a new 1980 Scirocco in May 1981 off the lot at Jim Kelly’s Volkswagen in Buffalo. Just a few months later they started receiving the Quantums. I especially liking the big two door, unfortunately powered by the 74hp, 1717cc engine.
@ Jim; despite c/d opinions, people looking for an upscale imported family sedan or wagon bought the maxima and not the quantum. The maxima REALLY took off with the 84? 85? Fwd model which hilariously took full bordello to a level even Detroit couldn’t imagine. The maxima button tufted velour and gadgetry was crazy over the top. It’s . . . Interesting how fast datsun and vw went from peddling really super economy stripper cars to full luxoboat (by 1983 standards) cars. Said datsun shopper may have been trading in a 1977 b210 and the contrast must have been unfathomable.
I had my ’78 Scirocco 2 years when this was written; still haven’t left the VW fold as I have a ’00 Golf as my only car. Never graduated to the B platform; had an A1, A2, and now A4.
My Uncle later had a ’98 Passat, but a year after this was written bought an ’84 Audi 4000, which he’s mentioned as the favorite of all the cars he has owned. I kind of wish VW still made cars like this, with high mounted controls (not down on the center stack which pretty much every car does these days), with airy compartment with nice fabric seats (instead of the vinyl they offer now). I used to think I was within VW’s target audience, but haven’t felt that way for awhile….don’t think has been me that has changed (much) but more so VW. Makes me wonder what my next car will be, I don’t think I’d have that as a question 21 years ago when I bought my Golf (maybe VW doesn’t care to sell to people who don’t buy cars often?).