It’s a sedan! No, it’s coupe. What is this thing!? The four-door coupe concept has been out for almost 15 years now. Changing a sedan to a four-door coupe isn’t difficult. All you need to do is transform your regular coupe or sedan with changes to the exterior, suspension, and making it look sporty. This may not come as a surprise, but four-door coupes don’t exactly sell well. They’re obviously not a hatchback-on-stilts crossover and have interior compromises. Who would want one!?
Me. I love four-door coupes. They combine most of the interior and trunk space of their sedan counterparts while wearing a more handsome body. One example of this: Volkswagen. When you walk into a Volkswagen dealership, you may see two vehicles that seem similar. The first one is the bland Passat which isn’t the top of the litter compared to a Honda Accord or Mazda6. If you’re lucky enough, you’ll see Volkswagen’s four-door coupe called the Arteon. The successor to the CC, the Arteon is Volkswagen’s flagship vehicle. Does the Arteon live up to be a flagship?
At first, the design of the exterior would say yes. The Arteon has the boldest front end of the entire Volkswagen lineup and looks even better than a few Audis. Moving to the side, the SEL Premium R-Line has a bolder appearance with that R-Line option. Although you can get an Arteon with 18” wheels, this top-of-the-line model has massive 20” wheels that look fantastic. The Pyrite Silver Metallic paint is a good contrast to the wheels. Moving to the side, you can see it’s a four-door coupe, but the rear is a bit generic.
Although the exterior is handsome, the interior is pure Volkswagen. Most of the interior features such as the steering wheel, digital display, infotainment system, and more are poached from lesser Volkswagen. There is a premium feeling inside with the vents looking like the striking grille. Other than that, it’s business as usual. The steering wheel has your controls for the infotainment and cruise control and is simple to use. The digital dash is easy to use as well as the navigation system, but the lack of physical buttons means there are a ton of smudges. I miss physical buttons. Oh, did I mention there’s an analog clock? Fancy.
SEL Premium R-Line models have everything ticked, so it has the full Volkswagen safety suite, heated and ventilated seats, an odd massage feature that’s just a moving lumbar support, and a heated steering wheel. The climate control uses physical buttons, thank goodness. What’s odd is that the shifter has some buttons next to it, but there are at least four black pieces of plastic which should be buttons. The hatch is electric and is absolutely massive.
Behind the wheel, you would think the looks would equal a sports hatchback. Not really. The engine is a 2.0-liter turbocharged I4 producing 268-horsepower and 258 lb-ft. Along with an 8-speed automatic and 4Motion AWD, the Arteon gets from 0-60 in 6.2 seconds. For a comparison, a Golf R is almost a full second quicker to 60 mph. I blame a few things for the slower time. The Arteon is of course heavier being larger and its 8-speed automatic isn’t the quickest shifting transmission. Also, the Arteon has less power than the Golf R which makes no sense. This should have used the Golf R’s engine since this is Volkswagen’s flagship.
Even though the engine doesn’t do the best off-the-line, the midrange torque is quite good. Getting to the highest speed limit I have around me, 70 MPH, isn’t difficult to get to. Cornering still reveals that the Arteon wasn’t built for cornering. There are a few modes such as Sport which sharpens the throttle and steering. While there is an Eco mode you can choose, I kept the Arteon in Comfort, Normal, or Individual mode. As with every car with an Eco mode, the Arteon becomes slow and cumbersome. My favorite was Comfort mode because it’s exactly what the Arteon was built for. Volkswagen created this more for the Autobahn so it’s more at home cruising along. I won’t complain about almost 25 MPG while driving from my house 50 miles to Lake Geneva.
While this isn’t a complaint, it is a concern. See, the Arteon isn’t a big seller, but Volkswagen insists that before rebates, this SEL Premium R-Line is basically $50,000. I know some people will say “that’s too much for a Volkswagen” but I say different. It’s too expensive for what it is. Yes, a $50,000 Arteon is expensive for a Volkswagen, but it has cousins that are better. Find yourself a CPO Audi A5 Sportback Prestige and you get better performance, a nicer interior, and an Audi badge. The front end of the A5 isn’t as handsome, but the interior is much more premium. A two-year-old Audi S5 Sportback has almost 100 more horsepower while retaining the Audi’s luxurious interior and features.
So, is the Arteon worth it? Yes and no. If you’re looking for a sporty four-door coupe from the Volkswagen group, look at an S5. An Audi badge will always look better than a Volkswagen badge which is where the A5 Sportback comes in. Those are quite common and not as good looking. The Arteon is all about looks and comfort. It definitely is one of the best Volkswagens on sale today and picking one up gets you exclusivity. At the end-of-the-day, that’s why I would get the Arteon. Style, comfort, and exclusivity are why you should look at the Arteon. No matter where it goes, people will look. That’s not a bad thing.
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