The Volkswagen Phaeton is a 4-door sedan from Volkswagen, built from 2001 to 2016, in the decade of stability control, dual-clutch gearboxes and the first serious hybrids. Under the bonnet: 3.0 . Hartmut Warkuß (exterior) drew it.
Where it came from
The Volkswagen Phaeton ( FAY-tən) (Typ 3D) is a full-size sedan/saloon manufactured by the German automobile manufacturer Volkswagen, described by Volkswagen as their "premium class" vehicle. Introduced at the 2002 Geneva Motor Show, the Phaeton was marketed worldwide. Sales in North America ended in 2006 and global sales ended in 2016.
The name Phaeton derives from Phaëton, the son of Phoebus (or Helios) in Greek mythology, by way of the phaeton auto body style and the type of horse-drawn carriage that preceded it. Production ended in March 2016 and an all-electric second generation was slated to be produced. Starting in April 2017, the Transparent Factory Dresden began assembling the e-Golf instead.
Under the skin
Power comes from 3.0 other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. It weighs 2184 -. It shifts through a 5-speed ZF 5HP transmission#5HP 24A / ZF 5HP24A Automatic transmission / automatic with tiptronic / 6-speed ZF 6HP transmission#6HP 26A / ZF 6HP26A Automatic transmission / automat. The wheelbase is SWB: 2881 mm / LWB: 3001 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
In context
Its family tree is legible: its successor was the Volkswagen Phideon (China); assembly was at Dresden (Transparent Factory), Germany. Its contemporaries in the catalogue — the Honda Fit, the Citroën C3, the Hyundai Santa Fe — show what else the money bought that year. Nearby in the Volkswagen catalogue sit the Volkswagen Apollo and the Volkswagen Routan.