The 2016 Volkswagen Passat is a gorgeous, chiseled, grown-up, high tech playground on wheels. 

I had a major crush on this beauty at first sight.

A ridiculous, giddy, all-reason-out-the-window kind of crush. She was gorgeous, this bright blue sassafrass of a car; not navy, not cerulean, not midnight – just blue. Like she owned blue from the start.

But would this beauty have the same substance inside and out? Let's take a closer peek at the 2016 Volkswagen Passat.

2016 Volkswagen Passat

The 2016 Volkswagen Passat is slightly more sophisticated in design than its predecessors. The 2016 body of this sedan is more of a reflection of its European roots, with a less sloped hood, more chiseled front fender and bumpers, and 16" alloy wheels. This year's model also offers LED headlights and taillights.

You have two main options with this year's model:

• The 1.8T, which comes with a 1.8L engine, 170 horsepower, and gets 25 MPG in the city and 38 MPG on the highway.
• The V6, which comes with a 3.6L engine, has 280 horsepower, and gets 20 MPG in the city and 28 on the highway.

The 1.8T starts at $22,440 and the V6 starts at $36,835.

Interior & Safety

The 2016 model was completely redesigned inside and offers Climatronic® dual-zone climate control on all models, as well as the option for heated front and rear seats. I haven't seen a heated rear seat option in many vehicles, and think it's a smart addition. Why should just the driver and front passenger have all the comfort, right?

The sporty steering wheel offers multi-function options at your fingertips without overwhelming you from your main duties as the driver. As someone who drives 30-60 miles each day, I appreciate this; there seems to be a trend to place more functions on the steering wheel itself and I can't help but think that's more of a hazard as drivers look down and struggle to figure out which of the 20 buttons to push.

There's a rearview camera as seems to be standard on almost all 2016 vehicles, as well as available features such as blind spot monitoring, which, as you know if you follow my car reviews, is my favorite safety feature and I believe all newer vehicles should have this feature. Other optional features include a rear traffic alert, lane departure warning, park distance control pilot, and parking steering assistance.

Technology

The Volkswagen folks are perhaps most excited about the technology upgrades that the 2016 Passat has to offer. App-Connect is an available feature which allows you to access your phone, text messages, music, podcasts, maps, and other apps right on your dash. Currently, this works with both iPhone and most Android phones. 

Here's a quick video example of the messaging system in use:

Space   

The interior of the 2016 Volkswagen Passat is spacious, with plenty of legroom in both the front & passenger seats and the back passenger seats.

The backseat middle storage compartment folds down for comfort during long drives, and the back actually releases so you can place your skis in there when you head up to the mountains. 

The trunk space is ample in this sedan. There are no additional underneath storage compartments as other newer model vehicles seem to have, but there's plenty of room for lots of luggage, sports equipment, and so on.

Final thoughts

I only had the opportunity to test drive the 2016 Volkswagen Passat for less than 20 minutes, so I can't speak to its full performance. It seems like it would be comfortable enough for daily travel, as well as shorter road trips. It has all of the standard safety features you would want in a family sedan, along with a host of optional safety features. It drives well in the city, but I'd love to see how it takes on steep hills and rugged terrain.

It is most definitely a beautiful car. This is one crush-at-first-sight that I'd love to spend more time with, and think you would too.

Thanks to Volkswagen for the opportunity to test drive the 2016 VW Passat before its official release to the public. All opinions and photos are, as always, my own.