Used 2014 Volkswagen CC 4dr Sdn DSG Executive Review

We are driving the Volkswagen CC and by now you know that this is the stylish sedan in the Volkswagen lineup because the Jetta and the Passat certainly can’t claim that it’s as good as it ever was, but the competition keeps moving. We’ll get on with that in a minute though. Let’s talk about what’s still powering the cc, and that is Volkswagen’s excellent as ever.

Two-liter turbo, four-cylinder. And this, believe it or not, is more or less the original version, 200 horsepower and 207 pound-feet of torque. Although we don’t believe either of those numbers, this thing feels so much stronger than that in the mid-range when the turbo helps out smooth as ever, all the way to the red line.

Just great power never seems to drop off and 200 horsepower. This makes the case that you really don’t need it anymore. You never feel short-changed when you’re driving a car with this engine. So we’re glad to see that on board. Now in this model, we have the six-feed DSG dual-clutch transmission.

And that is, as ever a fun transmission, crisp shifts quite capable in fully automatic mode, but really the sport automatic mode is where you really would like to leave it. It’ll hold shifts out nicely. It’s quick to downshift. And it is just pretty good at anticipating what an enthusiast driver would be doing on their.

And there is the manual gate if you want full control. But in this executive model, which is higher in the trim line it’s probably the transmission to get, you can get a six speed manual and do it yourself in the base model. And that could be a lot of fun too, but not what we’re driving this week.

The CC though still looks good A few years on. I had a little refresh last year, 2013. Holding up pretty well. Overall it is still a good looker and still a very handsome cabin actually too. I think you can see in this two tone interior we have here in the executive trim. Just very nice materials, nice colors stitching detail.

Materials on the doors are excellent. We like the souping cutout on the dash. Kinda gives it a floating dash pad to look and overall ergonomically quite sound. Everything’s with an easy reach here. Climate controls, all that stuff’s getting straightforward, nice cup holders. The navigation system is pretty comprehensive, but I said to another editor that I feel it’s powered by the CPU of a calculator.

It just, it has a leg a one to two second leg on almost everything it feels like. And it’s just so annoying in practice, even adjusting the volume to get the graphic to change on to show you your new volume level. It’s a second or two delay and I, I can’t understand it. Volkswagen really needs to fix that.

Other than that, it’s pretty capable. There are problems, really on this test car, which is virtually brand new. We’re looking now at about 600 miles on the odometer. And yet we had a terrible rattle coming from the back that took us a few hours to figure out what was causing it. Thought it was in the folding back seat.

Turned out to be one of the anchors on the top shelf back there. One of the Pacific Child seat anchors was rattling in. Prop that up to stop that also in this door and certain sounds. Or at certain volumes and certain musical tones, you get a rattle. There’s something loose in this door or speaker and that’s a bit of a surprise as well.

So we’re a little disappointed with the overall initial quality of this low mileage vehicle. Blind spot, of course, is not great with that swooping rear C pillar, but outside of those things you can live with that it’s a very comfortable, upscale place to be and I like that about the cc. Now, on top of that, Volkswagen has also done a nice job tuning the ride.

The ride is very smooth and compliant. Even on the low profile big tires that we have on this model most of most of Michigan’s pavement irregularities are taken care of in dispatched. I like that. Now, on the other hand a car that looks this low, long, and sleek. You’d expect to be quite sporty, and it does.

The steering is quite direct. We like that. But there’s no real feedback or any really information coming through it. But reflexes are good enough to pass this sporty. The suspension itself though, especially the front suspension seem to be a bit loose though a little more than you would.

Spec and you get some kind of undulations in the road that kind of just cause a little more bob and weave in the front end than you’d like. Break feel is not bad. We like a little more bite initially and they’d be pretty much right there with what we’d want in a mid-size sporty sedan like we’ve got.

The CC as is started off really as one of the earliest four-door coops in that whole craze that has just exploded. And it’s still a handsome car, certainly in a lineup of the Jetta and the Passat. Something like this is almost necessary to keep Volkswagen from being the butt of a lot of.

Now the backseat is a bit of the issue when it comes to the cc. You wanna make sure that you’re not buying this vehicle if. Anticipate carrying adults often because it can get a little tight back here. Now I’m six foot and my, technically my hair isn’t touching the headliner, but it’s really close.

And over here with the seats adjusted for me to drive my, now my knee. Do brush the front seat and it’s just tight. But certainly it would work for free teens. But like I said, if you’re commuting the Passat is where you wanna look. The Passat has li-like leg room in the backseat, and you’ve really gotta duck to get out of this thing.

So try to keep that in mind, whatever your purpose is gonna be. Now, this is cool too. This technology’s starting to be seen a little more, but I will now open the trunk with my hands up. All I have to do is wave my foot and then the trunk opens all the way up. I could load my groceries or what. Pretty neat little simple piece of technology that I think will continue to spread.

Also, they’ve done a nice job here. You can, the trunk’s only about 13 and a half cubic feet. It’s a little narrow, but if you’ve got oversized things, we got handles on both sides here. You just simply pull the handle and the seat flops down, which also opens up cargo room quite.

And it’s a one-touch lever operation, pretty slick in our opinion, and increases the capabilities of what is otherwise a pretty tidy car. Really. Those are all the facts if you will. Now, like we said, that two liter turbo is fun to drive. Plenty punchy. However, it’s pretty thirsty for a two liter engine.

You’re only looking at 22 miles per gallon in the city, 31 miles per gallon on the highway. And we got a lot of competition doing better than that. Now with a more powerful V sixs, I’m thinking, the Chrysler 300 other competition here, you’ve, I’d put this up against a Buick Lacrosse.

Volkswagen actually likes to aim for a little smaller cars, things like the Acura TSX. I think this would. And, but I think more in the style, in the luxury and the price point. I think it competes with the Buick Lacrosse, other stylish sedans in that price range. And I think it’ll hold its own. You just have to remember that it’s limited. It’s pretty thirsty. It’s not any more powerful on paper than those ones. And really, it drives comfortably. The ride is very nice.

But it’s not a sporty ride. It really could be it could be tied down a little better, but on the other hand, a lot of people will like the fact that this is not in everybody’s driveway. And so bonus points for having something that your neighbor doesn’t. So if you’re looking for a little unique take on the sedan market, I think the Volkswagen CC is probably worth a look.

It’s got a few rough edges. We’d like a Volkswagen to polish up before we. Can fully recommend it though.