25. Volkswagen Passat W8
With the restyling of the B5 generation of the mid-size sedan, Volkswagen introduced a special edition with top-of-the-line technology. It had an advanced 4.0-liter W8 gas engine and a four-motion all-wheel-drive system. Customers had a selection of manual and automatic transmissions.
The result was a perfect sleeper performance car in an unassuming Passat body. The compact-yet-powerful W8 engine delivered 270 HP and 270 lb-ft of torque. This was enough to propel the somewhat heavy Passat to just over a six-second 0 to 60 mph time.