SMOOTH EXIT; We say goodbye to our Passat W8.

Byline: MAC MORRISON When Volkswagen dropped a beautiful Blue Spirit Pearl-colored Passat W8 4Motion at our doorstep for a yearlong evaluation, nearly our entire staff asked the same question: Isn't $38,000-eight-cylinder engine and all-wheel drive included-a bit out there for a people's chariot? Since then, of course, the Touareg V8 sport/ute and the recently launched Phaeton uber-sedan have displaced the W8 at the top of VW's price sheet. But while those vehicles represent Wolfsburg's attempt to tap into new markets and the well-to-do consumer wallets that support them, we ...