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One of the things I love most about these 10K posts is the breadth of selections and ideas that I dream up to try to pull together. Today’s thought was about practical performance – what’s the most your can buy for $10,000? As a result, we have quite a diverse selection to make it through today, ranging from a 2.0 TDi gas sipper through a 5.5 liter, twin-turbocharged V12 torque monster. In their respective ways, each is a great car (at least, in premise) and probably defines its category. What’s your favorite of this group?
Before the Touareg’s efficiency-minded V6 diesel, Volkswagen put their bonkers 5.0 liter V10 TDI in the family jellybean, a move that garnered little fanfare other than a brief internet stardom at the expense of a Chevy 2500 HD’s pride. With 313hp and 553lb-ft of torque, a small V10 TDI badge was the only indication that a monster lurked within. Today’s example comes in a quiet grey on grey, all the better to surprise the stump when you rip it out of the ground, or pull an unsuspecting 747 like the one a V10 TDI towed in 2006. I miss the gorgeous saddle brown leather of the last Touareg I wrote up , but this one is priced exactly where that one ended and has 30k fewer miles. It’s still well above Blue Book, but clearly there are diesel enthusiasts out there ready to pay for MOAR POWAH.
Yesterday, the blog Daily Turismo wrote up a 2003 Volkswagen Passat W8 Variant 6-speed, the very car I wrote up about 10 months ago here. In looking back at my original article, I suggested that at under $8,000 I’d be interested, but that part of that interest was going to be setting aside enough money to do a TDI motor swap when the inevitable problems popped up with the W8 mill. I find the idea of a performance oriented chassis with a fuel-sipping TDi swap intriguing; the exterior of the W8 just looks that little bit better than the normal Passat with a few small details that make a big difference, but the complexity and inability to use the power of the engine means day-to-day, and for the long run, the TDi would probably be a better engine choice for me. I’m not alone in thinking this, apparently – though the VR6 isn’t known as being as finicky as the W8, here’s a 1995 Passat GLX VR6 Variant that’s undergone the swap I propose:
Not that long ago, if you were at a gathering of automobile enthusiasts and said you had a diesel race car, you would likely have been laughed out of the group. And if I’m completely honest, I probably would have been one of those laughing. The term “diesel” coupled with “performance” just were two words at opposite ends of the spectrum to me even as recently as the mid 1990s. I recall that I had a friend who was very excited about the then relatively new TDi Golf and Jetta, reciting from carefully memorized brochures the fuel economy figures in any given situation. But then, something strange happened. I grew up and got a job where I had to drive – a lot – and was footing my own gas bill. Suddenly, the concept of 50 m.p.g. and having something a little different than the typical performance cars made sense to me. I was contemplating all sorts of weird permutations, generally into the cars I owned. For example, I thought the concept of swapping a diesel motor into the V8 quattro chassis was an interesting one, or for that matter an Audi S6 – the look of performance, but the mileage and run-for-eternity longevity of a diesel motor. Then Volkswagen did us all a favor and started bringing over performance versions of their TDi cars, starting with the Jetta TDi Cup Edition. An effective homologation of their one-make race series, the TDi Cups were essentially a GLi with the TDi powerplant – and offer performance in corners to make things fun coupled to fuel economy that makes life more practical:
In the realm of desirable German cars, the Volkswagen Passat scores remarkably low – undermining what a great car it truly is. There have been a few generations now, some based upon Audis and some based upon modified Golf platforms. Each platform has it’s own stars; the B2 saw the Audi Quattro-based GL5 Synro. For B3 fans, the 16V G60 Syncro Variant turned things up a notch, even if it wasn’t available in the U.S.. And the B5.5 saw the development version of the “W” engine platform, with one of the most highly sought after Passats in the form of the W8 4Motion Variant 6-speed manual. But while the B4 had no such enthusiast notables, there were two very competent versions of the mid-90s Passats available. First was the sporty VR6 model, especially desirable in Variant form since we didn’t receive the 4-door GTi or Golf Variant on these shores. But for the budget-minded mega-milers, one of the true hidden gems of the water-cooled community was produced – the TDi Variant. Available only for a short time and in limited numbers, these cars are easily capable of a Prius-crushing 50 m.p.g. and have room for the family. Like many of the Audi/Volkswagen products, they have a loyal community that follows them and enthusiastically cares for them, no matter how many miles pop up. Recently we saw one of these TDi Variants top $13,000 in similar condition – about as strong as money gets for any of the pre-2000 watercooled Volkswagen products outside of the camper vans:
