As wonderful as the rest of the Jetta is, its heart and soul is in the engine compartment. The VR6 is as silky smooth as engines get, with power that comes on without effort, in a dramatic yet progressive manner. Torque steer hardly exists, which is unusual for a front-wheel drive car with this much chutzpa.
The manual transmission shifts precisely, never giving me reason to guess which gear I was heading for, easily finding its own way through the gate. For city driving, the Jetta is a dream. Darting in and out of lanes, shooting up open spaces between five-ton trucks and limousines, takes no effort for the nimble sedan. On the highway the Jetta is equally impressive, showing no difficulty in stretching its legs when passing becomes necessary.
The ride is smooth and compliant, soaking up deep ruts with grace, never bottoming out on bad back roads, always giving me that German car feedback that I have come to trust and appreciate. That said, extreme enthusiasts might find it sprung a tad on the soft side.
Still, for most drivers, it's just about perfect. Truly, if you are the kind of driver that will be pushing it beyond its abilities, you may want to 'spring' (I couldn't resist) for an aftermarket set of Eibach's. What would be nicer, considering all the enthusiasts that purchase Jetta's, would be for VW would offer a suspension upgrade. Food for thought Volkswagen.
As I mentioned earlier, the VW Jetta shines in its attention to detail. It's obvious how Audi has played a large part in its current state of development, and that is a wonderful thing. Rather than beginning with a lesser quality car and adding luxury appointments to bring it up to the class standards, VW has taken the different route of creating a car of high quality, and then giving it the appointments of a vehicle that should cost thousands more. Even in the minutest of details, such as the Audi designed 'switchblade' key (an item that most manufacturers pay little or no heed to) Volkswagen wins over your respect and admiration. It's not difficult to see that the people running Volkswagen, love cars and appreciate that their customers want to love their VW's. And justly due, a more loyal following would be hard to imagine.
