It was no surprise to find the Jetta equipped with firm, highly supportive seats. Anyone who has ever spent time in a modern
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| VW furniture is about as comfortable and fatigue-free as car seats get, regardless of price. (Photo: Rob Rothwell, Canadian Auto Press) |
Volkswagen will know what I mean. Drivers entrenched in the world of over-stuffed, pillow-top seats delivered by domestic automakers in the '70s and '80s will be in for a big surprise. Initially feeling hard, the VW furniture is about as comfortable and fatigue-free as car seats get, regardless of price. Complementing the indulgent seating is a cabin structure that is solid and rattle free, not quite tomb-like, but well insulated from outside rigors nonetheless.
Although the Jetta is excellent at diminishing road and wind noise that often plagues compact wagons, its diesel powerplant generates more interior clamor than a gasoline engine would. The growl of the diesel really only presents itself in a noticeable way during acceleration. It's never a frenetic howl, but more of a slower-paced rhythmic clattering, which I have to admit to developing a bit of an affection for over the many miles I drove throughout the week. Accompanying the sound that only an owner could love is greater low-RPM vibration than normally found in today's highly refined inline four-cylinder gas engines. But such characteristics are part of the diesel experience and as quirky as this may sound, they can be quite enchanting.
Particular to the Jetta's 1.9 -liter TDI PD diesel engine is the robust acceleration that I mentioned at the start of
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| The 1.9-liter TDI PD diesel engine produces 177 foot-pounds of torque, more than enough to get the VW Wagon moving quickly . (Photo: Rob Rothwell, Canadian Auto Press) |
this review. Its 177 foot-pounds of torque is readily available from the idle stage onward. The torque develops so rapidly that overwhelming the front wheels is very easy to unintentionally do when pulling away from a stop. About town the Jetta TDI wagon delivers all the get-up-and-go I expected from a small diesel engine. Where the limitations become evident is on the highway. Passing semi trucks can be dicey, if not unwise to attempt. The diesel powered Jetta wagon has no difficulty at all in maintaining its speed and momentum on the highway, but sprightly acceleration is not in the cards, even with the expanded set of cogs the 5-speed autobox brings. To put this into perspective, Car and Driver magazine obtained a 0 to 60 mph (0-96 kph) time of 11.3 seconds in a 2004 Jetta sedan, equipped with 5-speed manual transmission.
