Even though it is not a sports sedan, its character is certainly athletic. The ride tends to be firm but it is not as uncompromising as a high-performance car. It carves up turns eagerly and would be even more responsive with aggressive tires in place of the all-weather ones fitted to our test car. Inside, there are surprises galore. Soft-touch rubber on the back of the inside door handles sends the subtle message that you are grabbing hold of a much more expensive car, and the texture used on the top of the dash and door panels looks rich and elegant.
Power windows are one-touch down, and the fronts also go up in one touch.
Front seats grab hold of you firmly, with good support in all the right places. The steering wheel tilts and telescopes so you can find just the right position. Gauges are high-quality, and one of the only signs that this is a VW and not an Audi can be found in the plain and simple layout of the heating and radio controls. Side airbags are mounted in the seats, and the seatbelts have retractors which pull them tight in a crash. Guests who rode in the back seat were generally complimentary.