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2021 Arteon Shooting Brake Review Reveals Slightly Disappointing New Volkswagen

We wanted to love the Arteon Shooting Brake. It's a rare thing from Volkswagen, a car with soul and character. But there are areas where the German automaker should have tried a little harder, and this Carwow review comes close to highlighting all of them.
2021 Arteon Shooting Brake Review Reveals Disappointing New Volkswagen 1 photo
Photo: Carwow/YouTube screenshot
In the modern era, there's almost never such a thing as a "bad car," and the Arteon wagon is still very interesting. But we wanted it to be a bit better-looking and way sportier. There's no area where it outshines an actual premium car, like the Audi A5 Sportback.

This happens a lot with Volkswagen, which does occasionally approve interesting new models, but they don't have the most competitive technology. For example, the Scirocco coupe lagged behind the Golf GTI in terms of engine technology.

Styling-wise, Volkswagen is 90% there. It's got the flowing roofline, the sexy rear end, and a mean face. But the post-facelift R-Line body kit isn't as aggressive as it should be, and this paint and wheel combo seems like it belongs on a fleet car. Being a 2021 model, it also commits the sin of fake exhaust tips.

The practical problems Mat Watson talks about are totally excusable in our book. It's not a real wagon, so the trunk space and rear visibility are obviously going to lag behind the Passat Variant sister car. This is still a good choice of a daily driver for those tired of seeing so many SUVs on the road.

When it comes to the interior, the review points out trim and design improvements made by VW, as well as the new steering wheel buttons that might not be to everyone's liking. But for us, the biggest problem is what's under the hood, or rather what's not under there.

The new top-end Arteon R model delivers 315 hp (320 PS), the same as the 2022 Golf R. But this is obviously a much larger car, and given what competitors from Audi or Mercedes pack, we expected a six-cylinder option or at least the 2.5 TFSI.

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About the author: Mihnea Radu
Mihnea Radu profile photo

Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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