Executive Transport: The 2016 Volkswagen CC R-Line Executive w/ Carbon

The 2016 Volkswagen CC R-Line.

It's amazing what a sleek roofline can do for a car.  The Volkswagen CC is basically a Passat  with a slicker roof, lower stance and different taillights...but it generates "ooh"s and "aah"s and "how much?" like no Passat ever has.  And guesses as to its price, even by people who have a pretty good grip on which cars cost what, are almost always in the $50,000-$60,000 range.

2016 Volkswagen CC R-Line.

Navigator (the greatest traveling companion known to man) and I took a 2015 Volkswagen CC R-Line on a 36-hour, 500-mile trip to Carmel and back last summer, and loved it.  It's a tremendous road car.

This summer's CC was a 2016 R-Line Executive w/ Carbon (that's what it says on the window sticker and online).  What's all that mean?  

You start with a CC and its 2.0-liter turbo four which makes 200 horsepower and returns an EPA average of 22 city/31 highway.  Then you step up to the R-Line, which adds sport bumpers and side skirts, 18-inch wheels and touchscreen navigation.  Finally, you check the box for "Executive w/ Carbon".

2016 Volkswagen CC R-Line interior.

That brings leather seating surfaces with carbon trim, gloss black grille, side mirrors and window trim and carbon fiber interior trim.

There is some give-and-take involved in choosing Executive w/ Carbon.  You give your VW dealer an additional $3,165.  You take an automatic transmission, giving up the option of a six-speed manual.

You give up two color choices... Pure White (the photos accompanying this review are of a non-Executive w/ Carbon CC R-Line) and Black Oak Brown Metallic, taking either Reflex Silver Metallic, Deep Black Pearl or Harbor Blue Metallic.  And you give up the option of a two-tone Desert Beige and Black interior for pure Black. But, you are getting leather instead of V-Tex leatherette and your extra $3,165 also includes a sunroof, which isn't available on the non-Executive w/ Carbon R-Line.

All that works out to this:  $37,820.  With $865 destination charge, $38,865.

No road trip for this year's CC...it was purely around town stuff.  But it was a very comfortable, stylish ride and I would have been perfectly happy if they'd forgotten to come get it at the end of the week.