vivisection elocution: 2012 Volkswagen CC Highline Review and Road Test

Putting the ?coupe? in ?crossover?.

The 2012 Volkswagen CC (photos by Dan Heyman)

When small SUVs began being called ?crossovers?, a new trend was being ushered in to the automotive landscape. We may not have known it then, but soon the ?crossover? segment would become one of the most ambiguous terms in the automotive world. It started off as a new way of describing small SUVs. Then midsize SUVs and even near full-size SUVs like today?s Toyota 4Runner or Ford Explorer.

At the outset, it was just the traditional two-box SUV that was being branded as such, but then, in 2004, the Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class came along, and the word ?crossover? took on yet another meaning, that is a cross between a sedan and coupe. The Mercedes marketing team called it a ?four-door coupe?, and why not? Why should only SUVs benefit from this trend?

It was a real looker, too, that Mercedes and it was too bad that in order to get a four-door coupe, you had to shell out major dough for a luxury cruiser.

Until 2008, when the car you see here came along. This is the VW CC, and it embodies many of the stylistic features that make the CLS such a handsome piece, at a price that people unwilling to shell out the big bucks for a Benz could afford; our test car?s MSRP is $44,700, and it?s little more than one V6 engine away from being the top-trim available for the model. As it happens, it costs almost exactly half (give or take a grand or two) of what today?s CLS starts at.

18-inch wheels, rocker panels and front splitter that come with the R-Line package give the CC a menacing stance

However, VW?s ?Comfort Coupe? maintains all the same characteristics; the steeply-sloping rear window, cab-rearward design and long hood. Add the touches that the $2,200 R-line package gives you such as 18-inch wheels, smoked tail lights (very cool and sinister, those), new rocker panels and front splitter and you also get an authoritative stance that at the same time suggests a much higher MSRP than our tester carried.

Sure, getting into those back seats (where there?s only room for two; twin cup-holders sit where the third person normally would in a sedan) is a little difficult thanks to a tight door opening but it?s a whole heck of a lot easier than it would be in a coupe. There, you?d have to flip the front seats forward, have the passenger clamber in and then jam them back there as you move your seat back. Not here. Plus, instead of sitting with their knees at their chest, the passenger seats are almost bucket-like, comfortable and quite elegant.

The front seats are bucket seats and they are very good, if a little flat. The two-tone colouring and classic ribbed surfaces look great, and the lower back and side bolsters are supportive. They serve as a microcosm of the rest of the interior which, in typical VW fashion, is top notch. Small wonder that the brand?s luxury arm, Audi, makes such great interiors for their cars; they have to stay ahead of VW.

Fog-lights compliment glowering headlights; Adaptive Front Lighting system helps you see around corners at night

Up front, everything is close at hand. The low roof and sweeping curves may give the impression of a long, lithe coupe from the outside, but inside I found the cabin to be a driver-focused space in which to sit. The shift lever is placed just so, the leather-wrapped and flat-bottomed steering wheel (also part of the R-Line package) tilts and telescopes and feels nice and chunky in your hands and the pedal angle is spot-on. That being said, that low roof does makes things a little tighter around the head and shoulders (I found the seatbelt a little tough to reach) and that super-slanty windscreen makes it so the rear-view mirror is right up in your grille.

But, adjust the 12-way power seats (both the driver and front passenger get these) and you?ll find that the overall driving position is nice, the compact interior made a little more airy by the standard power moonroof. Our tester featured the $3,225 Technology Package, which gives you navi, sat radio and a back-up camera. The interface is an intuitive one, but the response time is astonishingly slow. I can?t count how many times I?d start the car and try to select ?radio??just regular, AM/FM radio?and all I?d get was a blank screen saying ?System starting?? Those ellipses and the end? May as well have been an infinity symbol for how long it would take.

You also get a 10-speaker Dynaudio system with the package and the sound quality is good, if a little week on the lower end.

Of course, if you?re like me and feel that the features list only matters if the car has the dynamics to match it, then you?ll be happy in this car and all that techy stuff will most likely be put on the back-burner after the first couple of blocks.

Smoked tail lights help add a little toughness to what is otherwise a fairly soft rear-end

The CC moves through the air like a hot knife through butter thanks to that slippery shape, which helps provide a nice, quiet journey forward without the drag caused by a tall roofline and upright windshield (the car?s coefficient of?drag?is a?paltry 0.28). Also refreshingly absent is the presence of heavy road noise, even on the R-Line?s 18-inch wheels?you can thank a healthy portion of sound-deadening materials around the front bulkhead and wheel wells for the relative silence.

Coupled with an excellent suspension set-up featuring MacPherson struts up front,?stabilizer?bars at both ends and a fully-independent four-link set-up ant the rear, you have a comfortable ride that?s just on the right side of firm without being bone-jarringly so. However, this being a more performance-oriented car, the telescopic shock absorbers are sport-tuned, so when it comes time to dance through the twisties, the CC is ready to oblige.

As mentioned before, there is an available 280 horsepower V6 available if you opt for the ?Highline V6? trim package, but to be perfectly honest, I?d say you can probably skip it. My tester had the VW group?s venerable 2.0 Litre turbocharged inline-four engine, which resides under the hood of hundreds of models worldwide if it resides under the hood of one and it works well here.

Split-spoke 18-inch alloys look sharp; modest size helps keep the ride smooth

Needless to say, I?ve sampled many cars with it before but never has it felt as at-ease as it did here. I?m not lying when I tell you that when I first picked the CC up from VW?s Canadian headquarters and promptly set out on the highway to return home, I would not have been surprised had you told me that this particular car was powered by that optional V6, so effortless was the power delivery. In-gear acceleration from 90-110 kilometers per hour was as instantaneous as a turbo motor could be, so that it felt like there was much more than the advertised 200 horsepower and 207 pound-feet of torque going to the front-wheels.

On-hand to control the power is a six-speed manual transmission, with the option to upgrade (if that?s what you want to call it) to six-speed Direct Shift Gearbox (DSG) for an additional $1,400, which either handles the shifting duties for you or lets you do the work yourself in Tiptronic mode. If I?m a little facetious when I question calling the switch to the auto an ?upgrade?, it?s because the manual just works so well. The shift gates are well spaced out and defined, the lever action positive and lever itself finished in high-quality leather that?s wonderful to the touch. Plus, if you?re really going to complete the switch from a standard sedan to a sports coupe, shouldn?t you be wanting to shift the gears yourself? Of course, the auto will always outsell the manual?I?m sure most buyers of the CC will fancy a relaxing cruise more often that a spirited back-road jaunt, but that?d be a shame because this car really is a peach to drive. Plus, even with the manual, which is supposed to use more fuel than the auto, we saw 12.5 litres per 100 kilometers on the road, and a paltry 8.7 on the highway, when driven gingerly. Impressive.

With the exception of strange analogue clock, the interior is top-class thanks to nice seats, leather-wrapped flat-bottomed steering wheel and high-grade materials. Back seats are tight, but you actually have more headroom here than in a Passat

2012 VW CC flat-bottomed steering wheel

2012 VW CC analogue clock 2012 VW CC interior rear 2012 VW CC shift lever You feel like you really behind the flat-bottomed wheel of a very unique car in the CC, and that could very well be enough to sway many buyers away from the plethora of sports-sedans and luxury mid-sizes on the market today. In an age where sedan shapes are often lacking in differentiation from one to another, the CC is sure to stand out; indeed, when you see them on the road they grab your eye often because you?re aren?t really sure what you?re looking at, yet you want to find out. Now, imagine experiencing that every time you opened your garage door? If you can?t tell already, I sure I wouldn?t mind.