I just spent a few days in Kamloops visiting friends and basically not doing a whole hell of a lot, but on on e of those lazy days we decided to go to a place called Davidson's Orchards so the kids could pick their own pumpkin from the dirt.
It would also provide my wife with the opportunity to take some family photos, and it seemed that the pumpkin patch would be the perfect site for such images.
So, three adults and four kids took off for the day, not realizing that there would be atwist at the end, where the ladies would want to go to the mall in Kelowna as it appeared they had a built-in babysitter, me.
Anyway, along the way the smallest of the little creatures in the back, it turns out, likes to stretch her legs while watching movies. This can be bothersome for the drive, although slamming your seat back hard and fast can usually solve these sort of straight leg problems, a better idea may have been to go in the new Volkswagen Passat.
I was shocked just how much room there was in the back of the Passat when I took it for a drive last week. There was at least six inches of space in front of my knobbly knees, and with a four-year-old in a car seat back there, their feet would be hard pressed to hit the front seat.
Another positive about this is, unlike a minivan, which we were in on our trip to the orchard, the Passat only has room for five. Which means there woudn't have been anywhere for me to sit, so unfortunately I would have had to stay home. Shame.
The back seat room in the Passat is huge and the large fold down arm rest not only has two cup holders, it also has storage room and room for an elbow an each side.
When down, it also reveals a lockable pass through to the trunk.
The seats in the Passat were covered in leather with suede inserts and were quite comfortable.
This version of the Passat was the turbo diesel providing 42 mpg on the highway, and came equipped with an automatic transmission with sport mode.
In full automatic mode the off the line performance of the Passat can feel muted. And that is perfectly fine as this is just lope-along mode. It is casual and calm and quiet in its movement, yet when you place it in sport mode, which means the paddle shifters are available for use, the Passat becomes a totally different beats.
Sport mode is exactly what it says and it allows the Passat to rev higher before shifting, if you don't elect to shift yourself visa the paddles.
The power feels like more than the 170 horsepower the Passat came with, but it is very smooth power with equally smooth handling on the highway. Turn in to long sweeping corners is tight and smooth and there is never a hint of not being able to go a lot faster on the turn, nor is there any reason for the driver to get nervous and grasp the wheel with two white knuckle hands.
The Passat handled everything I threw it with aplomb.
With winter on the way he heated seats and mirrors will come in hands, and VW has added another nice little touch, in that heated washer nozzles have been installed to keep the front lights clean.
The Passat, as it is the flagship of Volkswagen's car lineup came well equipped with power moonroof, 6-disc CD changer, navigation system, satellite radio, electronic stability control, Bluetootah and more.
Volkswagen has also been kind enough to include a remote starter, which will be covered by the car's factory warranty.
The Passat is, as it always has been, a topnotch sedan, worthy of being the flagship in Volkswagen's lineup.
The price is also less than what you would pay for most similarly equipped SUVs, and you get the added bonus of having your back stay intact when taking the kids to the pumpkin farm.
