- 2014 Volkswagen Jetta Reviews
- Interior / Exterior »
Volkswagen has steered neatly clear of the collision of styling memes that litter the compact car field. It’s missed out on some opportunities, where cars like the Focus and Forte have grabbed attention with new themes. Still, the Jetta’s appeal lies in part for its visual durability. If you grok to its shape, you understand it still will look handsome in a decade, and aren’t bothered by fashion trends so much as you’re disturbed by them.
At a less meta level, the Jetta’s details are finely rendered, if in total it can read a bit plain. The grille stands out when inspected closely, and the tasteful balance of glass to metal keeps the bulky rear end from looking too linebacker. We admit to missing the old Jetta bustle-back trunks of the ’90s, but don’t see many other compacts that will look less timestamped, a few years down the road.
The Jetta’s cabin is just as straightforward, and it’s not only in size that it can feel like a calm oasis, if you’ve spent time in those other compacts. It’s not busy-looking at all, just composed of clean lines and well-organized controls with a minimum of fuss and cutlines. It’s also trimmed out in a distinctly hard grade of plastic in most models, and that marks a disappointing slide from the interiors that put VW on a pedestal in the past decade. Still, the sedan has some nice details worked in among the hard black plastics and open-grained trim. The big round gauges are classic VW, and the “leatherette” seats have sporty horizontal ridges, while the shifter’s capped with a stripe of metallic trim.
That’s not the case with the Jetta GLI, nor with the SportWagen. The GLI (like the Jetta SEL) wears a soft cap on the dash that gives under fingertip pressure. The texture isn’t quite as high-grade as before, but it’s much better than in the base Jetta. The GLI also is flecked with the details that trigger performance nerves into action: red brake calipers and a lower ride height sharpen its profile, as do optional black 18-inch wheels, and red stitching on the sport seats and the flat-bottomed steering wheel anticipate its brisk performance.
You only have to look as far as the SportWagen, which still has one of those lush interiors, to see the difference in the quality of materials. The wagon model still is based on the last-generation Jetta, and has its soft-touch dash intact, with lovely textures and switches and overall quality feel everywhere.
- Performance »
We’d pass on the base Jetta sedan, the one with VW’s ancient “2-point-slow” four-cylinder. It’s here for pricing strategy, period. With only 115 horsepower to put out through either a five-speed manual or a six-speed automatic, it’s nearly as slow as a last-generation hybrid like the Honda Insight–VW estimates 0-60 mph times of about 11 seconds. Even in the lighter-weight Jetta, it’s really only an option for the most price-conscious of buyers.
This year, VW’s new arrival under the sedan’s hood does an excellent job of eradicating the biggest liability of last year’s mainstream Jetta. The former five-cylinder has been axed, replaced by an energetic new 1.8-liter turbocharged four-cylinder with the same 170-hp rating on the spec sheet, marginally more torque at its peak, at 184 pound-feet. That torque peak arrives much earlier in the party, though, and stays much longer, compared to the lumpy, coarse delivery of the five-cylinder. The new four’s a sweet revver, too–and while it can push the Jetta to 60 mph in about 7.0 seconds, it also does it with an eagerness completely missing from the flat-feeling five. Fuel economy’s also much better, no matter whether it’s coupled to the five-speed manual or six-speed automatic; top highway mileage is now up to 36 mpg, within sight of the best-in-class cars with smaller interiors.
One of the two fuel-economy champions in the Jetta family returns for 2014 unaltered, and it remains one of our favorites. The Jetta TDI’s 2.0-liter turbodiesel four rates just 140 hp, but churns out 236 lb-ft of torque, easily turning in 42-mpg EPA highway ratings and accelerating to 60 mph in under 9 seconds. It’s a trade-off we’ll take for long-distance cruising–but even in urban-cycle driving, the diesel’s torque doesn’t miss out much on usability.
The TDI comes standard with a notchy but precise six-speed manual, but for drivers who don’t want to shift, it offers a version of VW’s dual-clutch automated manual transmission that knocks out shifts faster than some conventional automatics. It’s perfectly suited to the narrow power band of the low-revving diesel.
Supplanting the TDI for the fuel-efficiency wreath is the Jetta Hybrid, which was new last year. It uses a 150-hp turbocharged 1.4-liter four-cylinder, paired to a 20-kilowatt (27-hp) electric motor, with a clutch on either end, and the company’s seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox. Output of the combined gasoline-electric powertrain is 170 hp. The Hybrid earns a 45-mpg combined EPA rating, and our road tests indicate that real-world gas mileage could be close to that. VW’s done a good job in suppressing the annoying features of hybrid powertrains, in giving the Hybrid enough electric-only power to run up to 44 mph max. On even the slightest, most undetectable downhill roads, the Jetta Hybrid will switch off its engine and slip into “sailing” mode, in which it is propelled only by the electric motor, for short stretches that turn out to make a real difference to efficiency.
Finally, there’s the turbocharged Jetta GLI. It blows out 210 horsepower from a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder. The torquey four brings on boost low in the rev range, and pushes out consistent, exciting power into the 6000-rpm range. It growls and whistles while it works, putting an aural exclamation point on the exit points on curves, bringing silly grins every time you tap into the boost, doling out slightly notchy shifts and long pedal strokes with the standard six-speed manual, or pinball-quick gear changes via the available dual-clutch box’s paddle controls. A lot of its character is now found in the 1.8T, but the GLI is still quicker to 60 mph, with its own handling spiffs.
And that brings us to the more fundamental changes underlying this year’s Jetta. Since 2011, most versions of the sedan have borne a torsion-beam rear suspension that made it less expensive to build, but less finely tuned for great handling, arguably a VW hallmark trait. This year, all Jettas get an independent suspension at all four corners, and the charm that puts distance between them and most of the Asian compact cars is almost fully restored. The Jetta has better ride control, and a more precise feel than even the independent-suspension Civic. There’s next to none of the bounding and hopping you might feel in a Kia Forte, for example. Almost all versions now have electric power steering, too, and it’s a good rendition with a hint of feedback. Brake feel is strong, confident and deep, too.
For the Jetta GLI, VW also lowers the ride height, tightens the springs and shocks, and adds electric power steering and an electronically simulated front-differential lock dubbed XDS, which helps tighten the GLI’s line in corners. The GLI wears standard 17-inch wheels and rear disc brakes, too, with 18-inch wheels as an option. The result: a sedan that’s great at 7/10ths driving, with alert steering and a nicely damped ride. More precise than base versions, the GLI isn’t as sporty as purists can imagine in their wildest Wolfsburg dreams, but does underscore the German advantage in suspension tuning when it’s held up against almost all of the Asian-brand compacts we can think of.
The final curve ball is the SportWagen, which still rides atop the last-generation Jetta architecture. More compact, with an independent rear suspension distinct from the one in the GLI, the SportWagen comes with either VW’s outdated five-cylinder or marvy TDI powertrains, as well as even better-tuned handling. We regularly recommend the Jetta SportWagen TDI over crossovers for its well-weighted electric power steering and for its excellent ride. Braking is superb, too, and given the choice, we’d opt for the dual-clutch transmission in the wagon just as in the TDI sedan.
For fuel economy mavens, the Jetta TDI is no longer the only play in VW’s book, but it’s still far more common than the new-for-2013 Hybrid. Think of the TDI as the 42-mpg highway cruiser that attains those figures with relative easy, one that lets you relax in pursuit of those numbers. The Jetta Hybrid? It’s pegged at a lofty 45 mpg combined by the EPA; given our experience with hybrids as a subset of all vehicles, it’ll be more challenging to attain those numbers, though in the Jetta at least, you’ll be entertained by driving to meet them (cough, Prius.)
Another change for 2014 with a great upside: there’s no longer a torsion-beam rear suspension in any Jetta, which means GLI-like handling can be had with the smaller-displacement turbo four, if you’re willing to work with shocks and tires.
VW also is bringing back the Jetta SportWagen, which soldiers on for this last model year, riding on the last-generation Golf platform. Only the five-cylinder and diesel are offered on the SportWagen, and its fluid road manners are worth checking out, but back-seat passenger space pales against the back seat in the Jetta sedan.
The Jetta’s safety scores have been very good, but a rearview camera comes only on more expensive models. Blind-spot monitors and other new inventions are off the menu, but for a price in the mid-$20,000 range, a well-equipped Jetta turbo or TDI will generate more driving pleasure than any touchscreen ever could. Are we agreed?
Credit: Volkswagen Cars
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