Today at the Beijing Motor Show Volkswagen revealed the new facelifted version of their Phaeton luxury sedan. The direct rival of Audi A8, Mercedes S-class, and BMW 7er gets a new face and lots of new technologies for 2011, while retaining its major advantages which are superb build quality, flawless engineering and better value.
The 2011 Phaeton features a new face with redesigned bumper, grille and bi-xenon headlights, plus a sleeker bonnet and of course LED daytime running lights and some chrome detailing. Also at the back you get a new apron with taillights which looks the same as before but are full of LEDs, and new tailpipes . There’s also a new set of wheels to complete the new style.
The interior of the car is also significantly upgraded. Although the layout of the dashboard remains the same, but the mid-console and the instrument panels are redesigned and now look much nicer and high-tech. The quality of the leather upholstery and the wood trims are just amazing and it’s as lux as it gets!
Also like the old model, the new one too has the same advanced air conditioning system with the same cool features like the wooden cover for the vents and the anti mist system. The W12 models get a very advanced 4Zone climate control system is designed to be capable of maintaining a steady interior temperature of 22 degrees Celsius while the vehicle is at a constant speed of 186 mph in an ambient temperature of 50 degrees.
The Phaeton is actually one of the most over engineered cars in the market today. All of the car’s features like the climate control systems, aerodynamics, brakes, suspension, steering system and even wipers have been designed to cope with speeds far exceeding the norm of 0-155 mph.
The 2011 VW Phaeton will be available in two normal and long wheelbase models, which is 120mm longer, and two engines including a 3.0-litre V6 TDI diesel developing 240 PS and a 6.0-litre W12 petrol engine producing 450 PS. They do not offer a V8 model which is kinda odd!
Standard equipments of the 2011 Phaeton include 4MOTION all-wheel drive, Continuous Damping Control (CDC) adjustable air suspension, leather trim, satellite navigation, 18-way adjustable electric seats, a laminated finish to all glass areas and a total of eight airbags.
So there you go, a very nice and feature-rich luxury saloon which offers much better value than all of its rivals for less money. As far as we see the Phaeton;s only drawback is its VW badge, which to be honest is very luxurious! The car goes on sale this August while pricing is yet to be announced.
