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If there's an area where the CC shows its, uh, maturity, it's under the hood. The 3.6-liter 24-valve powerplant is the latest iteration of VW's VR6, the cylinders closely intertwined with only 10.9 degrees between banks and capped with a single head that's a marvel of casting complexity. An output of 280 bhp is stout, and the powerband feels broader than the TL's; but getting it to the wheels is hampered by somewhat lethargic shifts from the 6-speed Tiptronic automatic. It's a good thing that there's plenty of juice at low and mid-rpm, because the engine moans and sounds labored near its 6200-rpm redline. At the test track, the CC is only fractionally off the more powerful TL's performance, with a 6.1-sec. blast to 60 mph and a 14.5-sec. quarter-mile time. More surprising still was its 0.91g skidpad number, generated with all-season 18-in. Continentals slightly narrower (235 mm versus 245) and with more than double the treadwear number (500 versus 220) of the TL's sticky summer-only Michelin Pilot PS2s.

Although out of its element on super-tight canyon switchbacks (where determined understeer will set in), the CC has enough grip and agility to be truly entertaining in the bendy stuff. The all-wheel-drive system is all but transparent to the driver, and the electric-assist steering feels more natural in on-center feel and weighting than the TL's, but a little less communicative. Brake pedal feel is softer (apparently a corporate philosophy — the trait seen even in the Golf GTI) but travel isn't excessive, and the brakes offer reassuring grab from speed and a natural ease of modulation. There's a sense of more nose weight and less shock rebound control over big swells in the road, but that's a small price to pay for a ride that's taut yet significantly more supple than the TL's. The ride/handling balance is more in the vein of grand tourer than a canyon racer, which fits the CC to a T.

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