Volkswagen Passat (B5)

The Volkswagen Passat (B5) is a large family car that Volkswagen produced from 1996 to 2005, with the 1996 to 2000 model years being B5 and the 2001 to 2005 model years B5.5. It was based on the Volkswagen Group B5 platform and launched in Germany in 1996, then in North America and Europe in 1997, Australia in 1998 and China in 1999, a year before the final model year of the B4. The raked windscreen and smooth underpinnings gave the sedan a drag coefficient of 0.27, and higher quality interior trim and luxury options began a push upmarket across the Volkswagen range that the Golf Mk4 followed the next year. It had fully independent four-link front suspension, and the 4WD version arrived in 1997 as an option for the 1.8, 2.8 V6, 1.9 TDI and 2.5 V6 TDI engines using a Torsen T-2 system.