Some of us have noticed the Passat is a bit sluggish to start in cold ambient temperatures - but that's less a fault of the car, and more a product of us learning to live with a diesel engine again.

The Passat's only major road trip came courtesy of senior editor Todd Lassa, who used it to trek to the Chicago Auto Show. "The Passat has no pretense of being a 'sport sedan,' but that makes it a ...