2004 Volkswagen Phaeton

Volkwagen's Phaeton is a luxury car for people who prefer to wear their designer labels on the inside of their clothing. If you can afford a hand-built luxury car but don't need to go around with a three-pointed star or a leaping cat or a flying lady hood ornament to proclaim your arrival, then you may find that this VW more than meets your needs.We use the word "more" because the Phaeton offers a luxury car with a 12-cylinder engine for about the price of a V8-powered Mercedes-Benz S-Class. Phaeton comes standard with features such as a navigation system for about what you'd pay for a basic short-wheelbase 7 Series BMW.

Volkswagen is moving upscale and the Phaeton is its new luxury sedan, the flagship of a fleet that in the North American market includes the Golf, New Beetle, Jetta, Eurovan, Passat, and the new Touareg sport-utility. In 1999, the Volkswagen Group ranked sixth in worldwide sales, but subsequently has overtaken Renault/Nissan and DaimlerChrysler and trails only General Motors, Ford and Toyota. The term phaeton dates back to days of horse-drawn carriages, and then was applied for special, coach-built touring cars with custom features. In the case of the Volkswagen Phaeton, most of those custom features are included as standard equipment.

Rumors of the Phaeton being little more than a so-called Passat Plus are unfounded. Nor does the new Volkswagen look like a warmed over Audi A8. The new car has its own design, and that's clear from the moment you see the wide, trapezoidal and chromed grille with six horizontal bars aligned in three couplets as a stage for the large VW emblem.

The V8 has 317 pound-feet of torque while the W12 provides 406, and provides maximum power all the way from 3000 to 4750 rpm. Still, we thought the V8 had a more pleasing exhaust note for those who like to hear their car while it's accelerating from a stoplight. Not that you hear very much sound inside the Phaeton, at least not until you reach speeds of around 110 mph on the autobahn, where you start to get some wind noise around the car's rear view mirrors.

The Phaeton's all-wheel-drive system is shared with Audi's large sedans (not with VW's Touareg SUV) and is designed for on-road traction and safety. The system features a Torsen center differential that normally divides power 50:50 between front and rear axles, but can shift as much as 67 percent of power to the wheels with the greatest grip.

But if you're a small town dentist or banker, you likely can afford a car with a three-pointed star or a blue-and-white propeller emblem, but perhaps you can't afford to be seen driving one, lest your patients think they're being overcharged or your depositors worry that their accounts are being skimmed. Or maybe you're an entrepreneur or executive who has made it, but doesn't need to flaunt it.

© Source: carmax
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