Car Review - 2011 Volkswagen Jetta: After years of trying to obtain compact sedan to dress the part, Volkswagen has finally managed to naturalize the Jetta. This German 4-door now wears a suit that is required to reach an agreement with the notoriously conservative American masses, and is priced car that buyers are much more attractive, thanks to a lot of things cost reduction. However, these changes occur at a price themselves.
Model Lineup: Volkswagen is offering the 2011 Jetta in four trim levels, from bare-bones to dressed-to-the-nines. Eventually a fifth model, the performance-oriented GLI, will join them on showroom floors. Things get started at S trim, featuring 15-inch wheels and not much else; cloth seats and soul-crushing hard plastic dominate the cabin. Fortunately, stepping up to SE trim takes care of a few of those issues. Stylish 16-inch rollers take the place of the smaller 15-inch wheels, and leatherette seating surfaces show up inside. The interior also receives a small dress-up package in the form of chrome accents around the climate-control knobs.
You can also adorn your Jetta SE with a convenience package that throws in amenities such as a leather-wrapped steering wheel and a more civilized 6-speaker sound system, though we would be just as likely to opt for the SEL trim. This next step up throws in all of the goodies found in the SE convenience package, but adds hardware such as a fog lights, 17-inch wheels, keyless entry and a navigation system.
At the top of the lineup is the TDI. It's basically a Jetta SE with disc brakes on all four corners and an uberefficient diesel engine.
Under the Hood: Volkswagen has added a new engine to the Jetta lineup for next year. Starting in 2011, you can get your sedan with a 2.0-liter 115-horsepower 4-cylinder engine that produces around 125 lb-ft of torque. The new engine is part of the company's plan to lower the price tag, and it comes bolted to either a 5-speed manual transmission or a 6-speed automatic. While the Environmental Protection Agency hasn't issued fuel-economy figures for the new engine yet, Volkswagen promises somewhere around 24 mpg city/34 mpg highway.
If the little 2.0-liter doesn't serve up quite enough punch for you, Volkswagen is also offering the same 2.5-liter 5-cylinder engine found in the previous generation. For next year, buyers will have the choice of the same two gearboxes offered with the 4-cylinder engine. Either way, they can expect the 2.5-liter to churn out a more respectable 170 horsepower and 177 lb-ft of torque, all while returning just 1 mpg worse on the highway.
The company's endearing 2.0-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder diesel engine will also make a return for 2011. It produces 140 horsepower and a ridiculous 236 lb-ft of torque, making it feel significantly larger than its diminutive displacement would suggest. Expect to see around 30 mpg city/42 mpg highway when equipped with either the 6-speed manual or 6-speed direct-shift gearbox.
As we mentioned above, the GLI will likely debut later in the year, featuring the Jetta engine that we've come to love, the 2.0 TFSI.
Inner Space: Volkswagen has proudly proclaimed that the 2011 Jetta was designed to be more in line with American tastes; the company stretched the sedan's wheelbase by 3 inches to add interior room front and rear. Full-grown adults can now comfortably camp out in the back seat without having to fold their shins or collapse a few vertebrae. That doesn't mean things are all sugar and spice in the cabin.
To begin with, the dash has lost the nice soft-touch material of the last generation, in favor of hard plastic in S trim. Why? Volkswagen is looking to do away with the dreaded "European car premium" that U.S. consumers have to pay for its cars. And the cost of this lower price tag is a less-than-savory interior. In this case, the cabin is borderline cheap. The new switches and knobs aren't what we've come to expect from Volkswagen, either. Flipping through the climate controls, we couldn't help but pine for the weighty clicks of the old hardware.
That said, plop your derrière in the leatherette-lined goodness of SEL trim and it's easy to forget about the cost-cutting measures. With the leather-wrapped steering wheel firmly in your palms and a comfy bucket seat beneath you, there's little to complain about inside. Throw in the extra legroom and it's easy to believe that some sacrifices may actually be worth the net savings.
On the Road: We were able to nab some time in the 2011 Jetta SEL, complete with the company's 2.5-liter 5-cylinder engine and a 6-speed automatic transmission. In this guise, it's difficult to find fault with the drivetrain. Of course, there shouldn't be one. Volkswagen has had years to perfect this particular concoction, and as a result, you're rewarded with a powertrain that's almost perfect — almost. The 170-horsepower engine provides just enough low-end grunt to dispatch with foes in the right lane without too much heavy breathing. At the same time, torque steer is nonexistent. Despite the uniquely torquey feel of the 5-cylinder, zero to 60 mph shuffles by in 8.6 seconds — not exactly rocket-quick.
Things have gone downhill somewhat on the handling front, though. In another effort to keep the cost down, Volkswagen opted for a torsion-beam rear suspension instead of an expensive, fully independent setup. Whereas the previous-generation car could be coaxed into being entertaining while carving through your favorite mountain passes, the 2011 model is more content to amble from point A to point B.
Volkswagen has also changed the hydraulic power steering system by 2010 - a move that generally produces more steering feel. Only instead of getting more feedback from the helm, we are rewarded with much less. It feels like electricity, and the truth is that the previous car felt a plumber. Of course, it is important to remember that Volkswagen does not build the fans of this Jetta. The company has designed the U.S. average car buyer - a group that is more concerned about the number of cup holders as the steering feel. -- car review --
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