Before the W12 powerplant made found its way into the Bugatti Veyron and a few Bentley models—companies both owned by VW group—the W first debuted as an eight-cylinder engine.
That W8 engine, essentially two VR4 engines bolted together and sharing a common crankshaft, powered only one VW model line: The humble Passat and Passat wagon.
Rated for 275 horsepower and 273 lb.-ft. …
I know buying one wouldn't be the smartest financial decision, but these sound way better than they have any right to:
When I saw the thread title, I came to post that video.
I'm almost dumb enough to try a W8.
When I was in the market for my first family car, I looked at Passat Wagons. I couldn't swing the W8, but when looking at VR6 versions, the W8s were in the dealerships. Really great looking car, the interiors were way ahead of the domestics. Ultimately we went with a Jeep Grand Cherokee, but I still have a soft spot for VW wagons, and a W8 would be awesome.
In reply to m4ff3w :
My thinking exactly, especially considering how inexpensive they are currently.
Maybe I could take all that money I'd save and invest in a live-in mechanic.
Certainly one of the hardest modern engines to get parts for... didn't we have a thread here about somebody making a set of bearings for a W8 by taking bearings from another VW motor and cutting them in half?
Never knew a thing about them. Super cool to say the least. Both in looks and the power plant. AWD and available 6 spd man... It just checks all the boxes on my endless list. Thanks for posting (or maybe not).
I see a w8 wagon around every once in awhile. It's lowered with wheels and some really, really good sounding exhaust. I always feel like giving him a thumbs up or something but people around here tend to get confused when you try to show appreciation for their vehicle. Maybe I'm just doing it wrong.
My mother had one (sedan, automatic). The prospect of terrifyingly expensive failures was enough to eventually convince her to sell it, but it did make nice noises and had plenty of grunt, even stock.
I know of a W8 4 motion manual passat that's a sedan for sale in Maryland stupid cheap. Apparently there's a mobilizer issue with the key, but the seller does have title in hand, they just have little to no interest in the platform
Ahh, that era when VW went absolutely batE36 M3 insane and cranked out some absolutely nonsensical vehicles: the W8 Passat, the W12 Phaeton, the twin-turbo V10 diesel Touareg. All nightmarish and expensive to keep running, but, still, damn impressive.
Yes. Also, don't buy one. VVT screen clogs up and it's a day long job just to fix it and is maybe the least fun thing I have ever done. Ever.
We seriously thought about putting one in our VW Fox race car.
We went turbo instead because of parts availability.
MadScientistMatt said:Certainly one of the hardest modern engines to get parts for... didn't we have a thread here about somebody making a set of bearings for a W8 by taking bearings from another VW motor and cutting them in half?
yes with a hacksaw...
Maybe its just me, but since "V" engines get there name from the look of the "\ /", wouldn't a "W" engine look more like this: "\ | /" :
Two 4 cyl. engine's sharing a common crank, in a "\ /" configuration looks an awful loot like a V8 to me. But I ain't a marketing executive, so I guess they can call it what they want
In reply to 03Panther :
It looks like this:
Really wished they made a w4. Talk about engine bay room.
In reply to Vajingo :
And vibration.
In reply to Slippery (Forum Supporter) :
Thanks! great picture for the explanation. That is one cool looking engine block.
Neat cars. Before anyone is tempted to buy one, also remember that the suspension is hideously complicated and will wear out control arms in a matter of days once the first one goes.
I'll stick with my VR-6 4Motion wagon from the next generation thanks. Far simpler and more robust design. Making more power while getting better mileage. Just no stick shift.
captdownshift (Forum Supporter) said:In reply to Vajingo :
And vibration.
Right! A crank shaft about an inch long.
Did the wagon come in beige? If so, a beige W8-powered, stick shift Passat wagon would be the unicorns of unicorns.
In reply to Vajingo :
More so that you'd never have cylinders firing opposite of each other that are inline if laid out in a W4.
+1 Almost dumb enough. If wagoning like to think I'd have enough sense to wagon sommenlike this instead..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVh_lQlf8q8
..
Eh who we fooling, would buy if I found one. Just like you guys.
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