One of the benefits of moving back to the UK after many years away was to drive cars unavailable in the US, and the sleek and beautifully proportioned Arteon Shooting Brake was the first taste of forbidden fruit sampled since my return. And boy, did it taste sweet. I got more looks and thumbs up driving the Arteon Shooting Brake than cars twice its price (£48,940/$61,000 as tested).
Despite being arguably VW’s best-looking model, the Arteon has been a tough sell for the German marque, with more compelling alternatives on the market, including the Audi A5 Sportback and BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe.
VW’s Accelerate Forward | Road to 6.5 plan necessitates the discontinuation of the brand’s low-volume models, so the 2023 Arteon will be the last model year sold in the US. Mercifully, this is not the case in the UK, where the 2025 model will start production later this year.
Related
Official: Volkswagen Arteon Dead At The End Of 2024
It will cease to exist after the 2024 model year, so get one while you can.
That includes the Shooting Brake body style, as wagons still represent a sizable share of passenger car sales. According to market researcher Dataforce, wagon sales in Europe represented 7.4% of total passenger car sales last year, and wagons often outsell their sedan counterparts, as buyers seem happy to pay a premium for more interior space. In Q1 2023, over 70% of BMW 3 Series models sold were wagons, increasing to 80% for Audi A4 sales and an incredible 99% for the VW Passat.
As the market shifts to EVs, carmakers, especially on the premium and luxury side of the business, see the benefits of wagons with their low-profile, more aerodynamic body design providing efficiency advantages over SUVs and more cabin space than sedans and hatchbacks.
2024 Volkswagen Arteon (US Spec)
8.3/10
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- Base MSRP
- $47,875
- Engine
- 2.0L Turbo Inline-4 Gas
- Horsepower
- 300 hp
- Torque
- 295 lb-ft
- Transmission
- 7-Speed Dual-Clutch Automatic
- Drivetrain
- Front-Wheel Drive or All-Wheel Drive
VW revealed the wagon variant of its flagship EV, the ID.7 Tourer, earlier this year, and as we suspected, it won’t be coming to the US. Hopefully, one day, Americans will remove their SUV-tinted glasses and see that wagons not only look better than SUVs (Audi A4 Avant vs Audi Q5 is a clear example), but they make more sense.
Exterior Design: Coupe-Like Styling With Latent Practicality
VW has masterfully combined the classic good looks of a coupe with the practicality of a wagon, and the Arteon Shooting Brake is objectively easier on the eye than a lot of other estates on the road. Especially in this shade of Kingfisher Blue metallic with the R-Line styling pack.
At the front, the body-colored bumper, gloss black air intakes, and chrome trim around the LED self-leveling headlights and DRLs combine to give the Arteon its distinctive face. Follow the edge of the hood line around the top of the lights, and the strong body line continues to a sharp crease that cuts across the doors, through the gasoline filler flap, and disappears in the LED rear light clusters.
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As you move around the side of the car, chrome and black have been expertly applied on the side mirrors, the trim around the frameless windows, and the B- and C pillars, where you’ll find tinted rear glass. This is a sophisticated-looking car with a design that we’re confident will stand the test of time. While the 19-inch Montevideo Black alloys and chrome-effect twin trapezoid exhaust tailpipe surrounds add a sporty aesthetic, the Arteon won’t set your hair on fire but is a lovely car to spend extended periods of time behind the wheel.
Engines & Performance: eHybrid The Sweetspot
| Volkswagen Arteon eHybrid Shooting Brake Specs At-A-Glance (UK Spec) | |
|---|---|
| Engine | 1.4-liter inline-4 turbo hybrid |
| Battery | 13 kWh lithium-ion |
| Horsepower | 215 hp |
| Torque | 295 lb-ft |
| Transmission | 6-speed dual-clutch automatic |
| Drivetrain | Front-wheel drive |
Motivating my week-long Arteon tester was a plug-in hybrid powertrain that VW calls the eHybrid. Made up of a 1.4-liter turbo four-cylinder gasoline engine and a lithium battery-powered electric motor (with a 13kWh battery under the trunk floor), it sends 215 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque to the front wheels via a 6-speed DSG automatic transmission.
VW offers a range of other engines to UK buyers, including a 187-hp 2.0-liter unit, a 197-hp 2.0-liter diesel, and a more potent 315-hp 2.0-liter unit that powers the range-topping Arteon R.
In the US, the sole powertrain offering is a 2.0-liter TSI that sends 300 hp to the tarmac via a 7-speed DSG and AWD in the top two trims and FWD in the base model. We asked VW why the 15 hp difference in output between the US model and the Arteon R and were told that “the planners felt that this was the right power output for our car, bearing in mind it’s a GT and doesn’t have an R badge on it.”
The eHybrid is the ideal powerplant if you’re planning on racking up plenty of miles. It will go 36 miles on electric power alone, and with a 0-62 mph time of 7.8 seconds and 138 mph top speed, it’s no slouch.
Equally comfortable on fast and twisty roads as it is on the highway, the Dynamic Chassis Control (DCC) means you can set up the car for various conditions, with Comfort mode soaking up the abrasive English roads and Sport mode sharpening up responses and tightening up the suspension, highlighting just how composed the large estate car is. We found that to be the case when we drove the 300-hp 2.0-liter unit in the US a couple of years ago.
"What you want in a big luxury car like this is comfort and composure, and the Arteon delivers both in spades.”
- Ian Wright, Senior Road Tester, remarked at the time.
The Arteon’s refined good looks are mirrored by its driving style. The steering is precise and nicely weighted, body lean is kept in check when hustling around corners despite its comfort-oriented suspension, and the Acoustic pack that adds sound-insulating laminated safety glass and interior noise suppression helps to quash road and wind noise.
Interior: Premium, Practical, And Plenty Of Space
The Arteon’s elegant exterior is matched by the interior, which borders on the premium with genuine wood and metal inserts, a panoramic sunroof, and illuminated trim inlays that provide ambient lighting in a choice of 30 colors. Overall, the fit and finish is very solid.
Six-way electric chairs (that are also heated) and an adjustable steering column ensure you can find a decent driving position from which to grip the leather-trimmed three-spoke steering wheel and flick the paddle shifters.
The seat upholstery is made up of 'Art Velours' and 'Vienna' leather, while aluminum-trim air vents extend across the co*ckpit, and brushed aluminum is used for the interior door handles and decorative inserts in the dash and door panels.
On the tech front, there’s a digitized control unit for the air conditioning system, while touch panels and sliders finished in high-gloss black provide intuitive climate control functionality.
The 8.0-inch touchscreen isn’t as impressive as Land Rover’s Pivi Pro but is on par with others in its class, and the menus are simple to comprehend with DAB radio, sat-nav, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay all built in. VW’s Digital co*ckpit consists of a 10.3-inch screen that replaces analog dials with various configurations, and an optional head-up display helps keep your eyes on the road.
Space That Makes A Mockery Of SUV Excuses
The amount of passenger and trunk space the Arteon Shooting Brake offers makes a mockery of the “I need the space of an SUV” argument. Compared to the bigger, heavier Audi Q5, for example, there’s comparable front and rear seat headroom, a tad more legroom up front, and a lot more rear-seat legroom. On top of that, boot space is 20.8 cubic feet vs the 18.4 cubic feet you get in the Q5 (based on UK specifications, which rate usable volume to the window line, not the entire volume). Anecdotally, my family of five was more comfortable in the Arteon than in the Q5, and there were also plenty of smart storage solutions for drinks, snacks, and other bits and bobs.
The Return Of The Wagon Can't Come Soon Enough
In Europe, carmakers understand that wagons are a necessity and are investing in electric versions of the most popular models. This is especially true in Germany, which accounts for 40% of all wagon sales on the Old Continent. That's why BMW is bringing out the i5 Touring variant of the electric 5 Series, and Audi is making the A6 e-tron Avant. In the US, BMW will reveal the M5 Touring this summer, and we hope with performance models like this shining a light on this oft-forgotten body style, the general car-buying public will start waking up to the fact that SUVs are often the answer to a question that nobody was asking. If that happens, maybe we'll get to sample some of the mainstream wagons Europeans take for granted, and if we're really lucky, stylish niche alternatives like the Arteon Shooting Brake will one day grace our SUV-packed roads.
