First Drive: 2011 Volkswagen Jetta Review
Looking to improve its visibility in the North American compact sedan segment, Volkswagen has completely redesigned the Volkswagen Jetta for 2011. While the Volkswagen Golf is the company's most popular model in Europe, hatchback-hating Americans flock more to the Jetta sedan. Last week, Volkswagen invited us to check out its new Jetta, and after the two-day drive event that was planned along some of the best roads that the San Francisco area has to offer, it is clear that VW has improved the Jetta in just about every category and it has given the popular sedan a better chance to go up against some of the top compact sedans in the North American market.
To better compete with rivals like the Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic as well as new models like the Chevrolet Cruze and 2012 Ford Focus, the Jetta has grown in size to offer a roomier cabin, but, more importantly, it has also become more competitively priced with a starting MSRP of $15,995 - a price reduction of $1,610 compared to the 2010 Jetta. The new VW Jetta is bigger, lighter and more fuel efficient than the current model, too, and it goes on sale this October in S, SE and SEL trim levels; the Jetta TDI will be available by the end of the year. Next year, VW will introduce the sport-tuned GLI with a turbocharged, 200-horsepower engine, and in 2012 it will introduce the Jetta Hybrid. Now that the Jetta and Golf ride on separate platforms, it's not clear if there are plans for VW to offer a next-generation Jetta SportWagen.
On the first day of the drive, I was able to test out the SEL, which will be the top trim level upon launch, in both automatic and manual variants. The SEL is equipped with a 2.5-liter inline-five that produces 125 horsepower and 177 lb-ft of torque. This engine is noticeably peppier than the base 2.0-liter inline-four, but for the sportier experience, the five-speed manual transmission is definitely the way to go. For fuel economy, VW expects the SEL to get 24 miles per gallon in the city and 31 mpg on the highway. Speaking of highways, Volkswagen designed the Jetta to deliver a comfortable ride on everyday roads, but I was surprised at just how well it handled some of the best road twists San Francisco could supply. The SEL model comes standard with a touch-screen navigation system, keyless entry with push button start and 17-inch wheels.
While VW says that the SE is its most popular Jetta trim level here in the U.S., the Jetta TDI must be a close second making up 25 percent of Jetta sales. On the second day of the drive, I made sure to get behind the wheel of the sportier and more fuel efficient Jetta TDI which has a starting price of $22,995 for 2011. The 2011 Jetta TDI uses the same 2.0-liter turbocharged and direct-injected inline-four as the current model which produces 140 horsepower and 236 lb-ft of torque while returning an estimated 30 mph city and 42 mpg highway. Despite the loss of horsepower compared to the SEL, the significant boost in torque made this particular model even more enjoyable paired with the six-speed manual gearbox. The TDI and the SEL both come standard with four-wheel disc brakes while the S and SE offer drum brakes in the rear.
The styling of the new Jetta is much better than the current model and the handling feels like it is on par with some sportier sedans (especially in TDI trim), but once inside the car, the evidence of the $1,610 price drop is spread throughout the cabin. The biggest change is the lack of a soft-touch instrument panel like the fifth-generation model which is replaced by an all-plastic dash. While the softer material previously used gave the Jetta more of an upscale feel, the plastic used in the new Jetta still offers the same attractive appearance for much less of the price. Another minor quibble is the placement and execution of the keyless push-button ignition system. Again, this feature is normally used on more upscale sedans, but it seems like an afterthought in the 2011 Jetta with the button being placed on the center console instead of where most conventional start buttons are located (near the steering column on the instrument panel).
Aside from the small issues, Volkswagen did a good job to give the Jetta an upscale ambiance on an entry-level budget. All of the new Jetta models come surprisingly well equipped with features such as power door locks with remote keyless entry and one-touch automatic up and down power operation of all four windows. Volkswagen also worked hard to improve the cabin space of the 2011 Jetta and succeeded by providing best-in-class rear seat room and trunk space. With all of the new options and features, VW made the ordering process much simpler for its new Jetta by reducing the available build combinations from 148 to just 18 (not including color options). This makes buying a new Jetta from a Volkswagen dealership much easier.
Volkswagen also redesigned its navigation system to include a clearer, more intuitive display, but the system acted quirky at time during the drive. VW reps attributed this to the poor GPS signal among San Francisco's high rise buildings which seemed to be the case as the system worked perfectly (and politely, I might add) throughout the rest of the drive. The nice part of this system is that it automatically zooms in when a turn is approaching on a set route and it also displays speed limits, when available, on the screen. In addition to being standard on the Jetta SEL, the new navigation system is available on the Jetta TDI as a $1,200 option.
Another cool part of the navigation system was on display at VW's Electronics Research Laboratory (ERL) in Palo Alto, Calif. Similar to Ford's SYNC and General Motor's OnStar, the new VW Jetta is able to download and store specific navigation destinations and directions only it uses an SD card instead of automatically downloading it. A display at the ERL showed how easy it is for owners to simply visit and register on www.vwlabs.com to use the system. Similar to Google Maps or MapQuest, the navigation system is able to look up addresses and businesses, but it can also look up routes and create directions to specific intersections (if an address is not available).
Volkswagen provided travel, lodging and vehicles for this review
Select Photos by Jeffrey N. Ross