Second Generation: The Quantum (1982-1988)

Quantum Leap, Quantum Mechanics, Quantum Physics…all those and more were used to headline stories about VW's successor to the Dasher which was called the Santana in much of the rest of the world.

The Passat name was temporarily dead — sort of like Mr. Spock in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, a movie that, coincidentally (or not), also came out in 1982. But despite such science and science fiction puns and connections, the new Quantum three-door coupe, four-door sedan and five-door station wagon were greeted unenthusiastically by the editors at Car and Driver. "After a couple thousand miles with VW's latest creation," they reported after praising landmark VWs like the Rabbit and Scirocco, "we'd venture that it will leave no such mark on the course of automotive history. The Quantum, which replaces the aged Dasher line, doesn't herald the beginning of a new era — or the end of an old one for that matter.

Technologically speaking it breaks no fresh ground. Don't look now, but the new VW seems to be aimed at exactly the same target as all of our own domestically built letter cars — the [GM] J-car, the [Chrysler] K-cars and the [GM again] X-cars. It stands smack in the middle of this burgeoning group of new-wave front-drive family sedans, which also includes the Nissan Stanza, Audi 4000, Renault 18i and Honda Accord." In fact the Quantum really did split all the differences possible in dimensions. At 178.1 inches long overall it was 4.5 inches longer than the '82 Honda Accord sedan and 4.1 inches shorter than the '82 Oldsmobile Omega sedan (a GM X-Car). And its 100.4-inch wheelbase was 3.9 inches longer than the Accord's and 4.5 inches briefer than that well-forgotten Olds'. But the car with which the Quantum had the most in common was the Audi 4000 that, naturally, was the successor to the Fox.

So the Quantum still had a longitudinally positioned engine and that engine still came from the Audi/VW SOHC four family and now displaced 1.7 liters — a slightly larger rerun of the gas engine in the '80 Dasher that, despite the benefit of more advanced engine management technology, now only produced 74 hp. Why? Who knows? And no diesel was offered. Buyers could choose either a five-speed manual or a three-speed automatic transmission. The suspension was still a set of MacPherson struts in front, while the rear end was now held up by a set of independent trailing arms and accompanying coil springs. While the three-door Quantum and station wagon (more or less) carried forward established Dasher body styles, the five-door was replaced by a new four-door notchback that could only have been boxier if it had four equilateral sides and 90-degree angles at its corners.

Unwieldy as the Quantums looked, their upright design produced an exceptionally roomy interior and it's never bad to offer more space. So the Quantum wasn't pretty. Big deal. That it was far less than quick? That was a bigger problem. Car and Driver's first Quantum, a 2,440-pound three-door coupe equipped with the five-speed, crept to 60 mph in 14.1 seconds and ran the quarter-mile in a lazy 19.3 seconds with a 68-mph trap speed. The magazine also measured its top speed at just 91 mph. There's one word to describe the market's response to the Quantum: disinterest. So Volkswagen took action for 1983 with the introduction of a turbocharged diesel engine option. Basically the familiar VW 1.6-liter diesel four with the addition of a turbocharger, the turbodiesel in the Quantum was rated at an uninspiring 68 hp. So if a potential buyer was intimidated by the gas-fired, four-cylinder Quantum, VW now had them covered with something even slower.

Road & Track measured a five-speed, turbodiesel Quantum sedan traipsing from zero to 60 mph in 14.3 seconds and finishing the quarter-mile in 19.7 seconds at 69 mph. At midyear, however, VW decided to do something for those seeking an inkling of performance with the introduction of the Quantum GL5 sedan and wagon equipped with the same five-cylinder engine offered in the Audi 5000. Unfortunately, though, the coupe had to soldier forward with only the anemic four under its hood. Displacing 2.1 liters, the fuel-injected, SOHC, 10-valve five was a derivative of VW's four-cylinder engines and was rated at 100 hp. That may not sound like much power (mostly because, well, it isn't), but back then it was the most powerful engine VW had ever installed in a production car sold in the United States.

But the Quantum still wasn't quick in GL5 form and Road & Track's test had it sleepwalking from zero to 60 mph in 12.6 seconds and running the quarter-mile in 18.8 seconds at 73 mph. That's pretty slow, even by 1983 standards. With sales of the three-door Quantum coupe weak, VW excised that model from its 1984 lineup. The rest of the Quantum lineup was carried over pretty much unchanged. The five-cylinder engine expanded to 2.2 liters for 1985 with a bump in output to 110 hp. However, the wagon was now available only with the four-cylinder engine and the sedan only with the five. Since no one much wanted a Quantum wagon with a four-cylinder engine, that body style was dropped altogether from the 1986 lineup. So the five-cylinder sedan became the only Quantum offered in North America.

But at midyear an all-wheel-drive version was available wearing the name Syncro — a simple rebranding of Audi's "quattro" all-wheel-drive system. The wagon was back for 1987 and now equipped with the five-cylinder engine and available with the Syncro system. There were no significant changes to the Quantum lineup for 1988 though the engine was slightly retuned so as to produce 115 hp. Yet, that wasn't enough to make the world want the car. The Quantum just sort of winked out after the '88 model year — unloved and unmissed.

It was time for the Passat to return…after a suitably dignified period of mourning.

http://www.edmunds.com/volkswagen/passat/history.html