I drive the car listed under my username as well as a b6 passat among others including a CC (slight trim and cosmetic differences vs passat but mostly the same). My GLI is manual and the passat / cc are both DSG. Several things I notice: 1, steering much heavier on GLI vs passat, 2 GLI much more grip on summer tires vs all seasons on passat (duh), 3 passat is a lot slower, 4 brakes on the passat aren't as good, 5 passat is slightly better on wind noise over 100 MPH, 6 different handling although you wouldn't notice unless really pushing. My GLI is nearly completely stripped out so it doesn't see much daily driving anymore but it's night and day vs the B6; much more fun to drive and much much faster.
Conclusion: Passat would be an acceptable DD if it has more power, summer tires & better DSG software. It's a good daily for someone who doesn't drive hard but I find myself always wanting more power. If you don't drive that hard the car would be ok but it's not as good as other cars out there if you like driving hard.
