Ever wonder why you drive a 鈥渟edan鈥� while the neighbour has a 鈥渃oup茅鈥� or perhaps a 鈥渃abriolet鈥�?
By and large, the nomenclature of automotive body styling comes from the terminology of horse-drawn carriages 鈥� cabriolet, for instance, comes from the French cabrioler (to prance or caper), and describes a lightweight two-seater with a folding roof.
Over the years, these horsey traditions transformed into the traditions of horsepower, adding specific terms like roadster and speedster, and a rare favourite, such as the 鈥渟hooting-brake.鈥� While grey areas and overlap exist, for the most part, these descriptors are absolutes: a coupe has two doors; a sedan has four.
However, with auto manufacturers always striving to entice the buying dollar with something fresh, something new, something avant-garde, all the rules have gone out the window. Mercedes now makes a four-door shooting-brake that鈥檚 really a cramped wagon. BMW builds a 鈥淕ran Coupe鈥� that鈥檚 a low-roofed four-door 鈥� with 6-series pricing.
The purist recoils, but then so must those long-lost horse-and-carriage types have been horrified at the noisy, loud and dangerous contraptions that came speeding along the formerly quiet and leafy lanes. How, then, to properly react to this, the Passat鈥檚 sleeker cousin?
Volkswagen has dubbed it the CC for 鈥淐omfort Coupe.鈥� The question: Is it a handsome cab, or merely a hackneyed cash grab?
Cast your eye along VW鈥檚 current lineup of sedans, and don鈥檛 be alarmed if you come away feeling less than inspired. Taking a page from the early BMW playbook, Volkswagen has kept their three-box offerings Teutonically plain, squared-off and conservative to a fault.
Into this off-the-peg environment, the CC sashays up like a tailored Italian suit. It still speaks the same corporate language, but the shape now flows like higher-cost German pseudo-coupes.
While the CC shares a wheelbase with the Passat, it鈥檚 longer, lower and wider by just an inch or so.
As an update for 2013, it now also shares its more conservative cousin鈥檚 three-row, broadened grille treatment, flanked by bi-xenon headlights with standard LED running lights 鈥� a feature stolen from Audi.
There鈥檚 a smoothing out of the front bumper and hood, a re-sculpting of the side-skirts and a slightly less rounded treatment for the rear taillights.
VW nuts might notice the differences; everybody else will simply ask, 鈥渁re you sure that鈥檚 a Volkswagen?鈥�
Popping open the frameless-windowed door (roll down the windows and the front doors at least are coupe-like), the inside of the CC is quite clearly differentiated from the North American market Passat. Remember, VW recently pumped up the volume for Canadian and American consumers, making their mid-size sedan bigger than its European counterpart.
The interior of the CC, on the other hand, is a more direct link to the high-precision Germanic build quality VW enthusiasts know and love. The cabin is very well put-together, Audi-eque in build quality and in materials. The two-tone seats are particularly nice (with deep side-bolsters, which may not be everyone鈥檚 cup of tea), as is the effort made to employ plenty of aluminum-style trim.
Naturally, shaving inches off the roofline results in somewhat lowered headroom, but not that you鈥檇 notice up front. In back there鈥檚 enough space for those up to the five-foot-ten mark (and not much beyond), but not if you have to plum yourself in the middle seat. Incidentally, that is a change for the CC this year: Previous models were four-seaters only, and the new 2013 models will be all five-seaters for the Canadian market.
Trunk space is also excellent 鈥� really, there鈥檚 not much to find fault with over the larger Passat. It might be cosier inside the CC due to its smaller footprint, but a more cockpit-like feel is surely desirable in a sports sedan.
One minor irritation: the chunky key which must be slotted into the dash to start the car 鈥� at this price point, where is the dratted pushbutton starter? Actually, two minor irritations: I can鈥檛 say I鈥檓 a fan of the new VW group craze for the electric parking brake.
Underneath my tester鈥檚 tweaked hood lies the ubiquitous four-cylinder two-litre turbocharged engine that VW crams into everything from the GTi to the Tiguan to the coffee machine in the Wolfsburg factory break room.
If you鈥檝e experienced one, you鈥檝e experienced them all: gutsy, grumbly, charming if not particularly smooth.
Stuffing a 200 h.p. four-pot underneath the nose of an admittedly swoopy mid-size sedan doesn鈥檛 seem like a recipe for thrills in these heady days of 270+ h.p. Toyota Camrys. However, the numbers only tell half the story.
Like the Jetta GLi, the CC drives like a much smaller car than it actually is. Slot the quick-shifting DSG gearbox into sport, and the car wakes up and grips through the corners with a surprising amount of zip.
If you鈥檙e wondering, the more-powerful V-6 model isn鈥檛 half as much fun 鈥� the joy here is in the perfect pairing of lightweight four-cylinder turbo and snappy transmission.
Of course, there are limits to the fun. Despite feeling very well-sorted indeed, the CC is no GTi nor GLi. Even so, it drives well enough to justify the price premium over the regular Passat 鈥� think of it as getting the more stylish interior and exterior thrown in for free.
Both the $35,125 Sportline and next-step-up-the-rung $39,975 Highline are available with the 2.0T engine. Standard features include Bluetooth handsfree, bi-xenon headlamps with adaptive curve-following, iPod connectivity and a rearview backup camera.
The Highline alone can be spec鈥檇 up with the 280-h.p. V-6 engine, though you lose the dual-clutch DSG in favour of a regular automatic transmission which is serviceable but not as quick-witted. A six-speed manual is also available for both, rare in these automatic-happy days.
Bumping up to the Highline also adds attractive turbine-style 18-inch alloys, proper leather seat insets, and has a panoramic sunroof as standard (this is a $1,400 option on the Sportline). A $2,200 Technology package incorporates touch-screen navigation and a 10-speaker, 600-watt Dynaudio premium sound system.
The top-of-the-range V-6 Highline hits the scales at $48,475 and includes all previous options as standard, along with that 3.6-litre powerhouse. Fuel economy is officially 10.2聽litres/100 kilometres city and 6.4 l/100 km on the highway. Observed real-world figures were reasonably close, particularly for highway consumption, but it should be noted that premium fuel is recommended.
In short: This is the Euro-style VW sedan you always wanted.
