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Volkswagen Phaeton
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The Volkswagen Phaeton (pronounced "fay-ton") is a full-size luxury sedan manufactured by Volkswagen. Introduced at the 2002 Geneva Motor Show and marketed worldwide, the Phaeton was sold in North America from model year 2004 through 2006.
The name Phaeton derives from Phaëton, the son of Phoebus (or Helios) in Greek mythology, and also the Phaeton, a type of horse-drawn carriage from the 19th century.
Phaeton was conceived by Ferdinand Piëch, then chairman of Volkswagen.
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Encyclopedia
The Volkswagen Phaeton (pronounced "fay-ton") is a full-size luxury sedan manufactured by Volkswagen. Introduced at the 2002 Geneva Motor Show and marketed worldwide, the Phaeton was sold in North America from model year 2004 through 2006.
The name Phaeton derives from Phaëton, the son of Phoebus (or Helios) in Greek mythology, and also the Phaeton, a type of horse-drawn carriage from the 19th century.
Overview
The Phaeton was conceived by Ferdinand Piëch, then chairman of Volkswagen. Piëch wanted VW engineers to create a car that would overwhelmingly surpass the German prestige market leaders, Mercedes-Benz and BMW. The decision to release the Phaeton was, in part, a response to Mercedes's decision to compete directly with VW in the European marketplace with the low-cost A-Class. It was also intended to support the VW brand image, since the most expensive versions of lesser models, such as the Golf GTi, were starting to cost almost as much as equivalently-sized prestige brands.
Initial development of the Phaeton began with Piëch giving his engineers a list of ten parameters the car needed to fulfill. Most of these specifications were not made known to the public, but a number of them were told to automotive reporters. One of them was that the Phaeton should be capable of being driven all day at with an exterior temperature of whilst maintaining the interior temperature at . Piëch requested this even though the Phaeton's top speed was electronically limited to . Another requirement was that the car should possess torsional rigidity of 37,000 Nm/degree.
The Phaeton's platform, the Volkswagen Group D1 platform, is shared with the Bentley Continental GT and Bentley Continental Flying Spur. Certain systems, such as the transmission and some engines, are also shared with the Audi A8. The D1 is a stand-alone platform, and was specifically developed for the Phaeton and Bentley under code name VW611. It is commonly confused with Audi's D3 platform, which is aluminium-based instead of the D1's steel platform.
, the Phaeton has the longest wheelbase in the Volkswagen passenger car line.
The Phaeton is hand-assembled in an eco-friendly factory with a glass exterior, the Transparent Factory in Dresden, Germany. This factory also assembled the Bentley Continental Flying Spur until October 2006, when assembly of the Bentley was transferred to Crewe, England.
Features
Development of the vehicle led to over 100 individual patents specific to the Phaeton. Distinctive features include a draftless four-zone climate system, air compressor suspension system, standard 4motion four wheel drive, and the ability to select a preferred ride type from comfort to sport. With the Klavier Lack (piano lacquer) option, the vehicle is double-painted and sanded between the first and second paint application.
Sales
Much like its older cousin, the Volkswagen Passat W8, Phaeton sales fell short of expectations. In the United States market, 1,433 Phaetons were sold in 2004, but just 820 were sold in 2005, leading the company to announce that sales in the American market would end after the 2006 model year. The rare W12-engined models have depreciated significantly, and sell for a small fraction of their original cost.
The 2006 model year had an MSRP of between $66,700 and $101,300.
In April 2008 Volkswagen announced plans to reintroduce the Phaeton to the United States market in 2009.
Powertrain
, the Phaeton was available with the following engines:
The Phaeton features an advanced traction control system (ASR), anti-lock brakes (ABS), electronic differential lock (EDL), engine braking control (EBC), Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD), and Electronic Stability Programme (ESP), with emergency Brake Assist (BA).
Note: The electronic differential lock (EDL) employed by Volkswagen is not, as the name suggests, a differential lock at all. Sensors monitor wheel speeds, and if one is rotating substantially faster than the other (i.e. slipping) the EDL system momentarily brakes it. This effectively transfers power to the other wheels.
Awards
During its launch in 2004, the V8 model won Inspiring Men Magazine's best sedan of the year award.
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