SINGAPORE: Volkswagen introduced the Arteon that's touted by the German carmaker to have effectively combined a sedan and sports car into one.

This is Volkswagen's gran turismo variant that features avant-garde design mixed with a great deal of space, efficiency, power, performance, comfort and luxury to set a new benchmark for its segment.

First seen at during the Geneva Motor Show in 2015 in the form of a sport coupe concept GTE, the Arteon is positioned above the Passat and is produced at the German plant in Emden - utilising the company's modular transverse matrix (MQB) vehicle platform.

The Arteon's sheet metal provides for a low drag coefficient reading of just 0.26Cd (the lesser the better) and has a clamshell-design bonnet, wide radiator grille and a long wheelbase of 2,837mm for the 4,862mm-long, 1,871mm-wide and 1,450mm-tall body that has LEDs at the front for its headlights with daytime running lights and rear light clusters.

Also fitted as standard is an Active Info Display, heads-up display, Discover Pro infotainment system with 9.2-inch capacitive glass screen and gesture control and 360-degree Area View camera system.

Singapore gets the Areon R-Line which means it's 2.0-litre (1,984cc) turbocharged TSI engine pushes 280PS from 5,100 to 6,500rpm and 350Nm of torque from 1,700 to 5,600rpm to its 4MOTION permanent all-wheel drive system via a seven-speed dual-clutch DSG gearbox.

This allows the Arteon to sprint from 0 to 100kph in 5.6 seconds before reaching an electronically limited top speed of 250kph.

Fuel consumption is rated at 7.3 litres per 100km on the combined cycle and emits 164g of carbon dioxide per kilometer.

It also comes fitted with the latest generation Dynamic Chassis Control, Dynaudio sound system and 563 litres of boot space that's expandable to 1,557 litres with the rear backrests folded down.

Interior space measures in at 1,500mm-wide and 1,008mm-tall at the front of the cabin while the rear provides 1,016mm worth of legroom and headroom comes in at 940mm-tall.

Other than the usual Comfort, Normal, Sport and Individual driving modes, Comfort+ and Sport+ modes have now been included as well as the ability for drivers to further customise the suspension setting on a sliding scale

Key safety features include front assist with city emergency brake, side assist with rear traffic alert, 360-degree area view an an updated proactive occupant protection system to further enhance safety levels.

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