This is a big year for the Volkswagen Jetta. No, it’s styling remains just as attractive as it was when it endured a much maligned

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overhaul for the 2011 model year, and likewise the new 2014 model’s interior looks almost identical the design launched three years ago. After adding extra soft-touch surfaces and other quality improvements since its debut the Jetta has started to gain greater acceptance by traditional VW buyers. Of more importance to VW’s performance driving fans, the German brand quickly responded to criticism by returning standard rear discs to the base model for the 2012 version, and now two years later (let us rejoice) a fully independent rear suspension has finally been made standard too.

Before we once again beat up on Volkswagen for its 2011 Jetta and its slow return to previous near premium status, let’s remember that the old 2010 Jetta was leagues better than any of its compact competitors (and quite a bit pricier too), most of which didn’t offer independent rear suspensions then and many of which still don’t now. In an effort to reach more potential buyers and broaden the model’s

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sales numbers, VW brought the price of the 2011 model just above the $15,000 threshold, and lo and behold the floodgates opened and customers came by droves. Just the same pundits and fans criticized the brand for deviating from what everyone thought were VW’s core values, but now it’s time to celebrate Volkswagen for delivering most of what we initially wanted in the 2011 car (OK, the base engine remains VW’s archaic, anemic 2.0-litre four with less than idyllic fuel economy, but that aging mill will be gone soon) while actually dropping the base price by almost a thousand from $15,875 in 2011 to $14,990 now in 2014.

The 2014 Jetta TDI Highline I recently tested also benefits from these underlying upgrades, and of course a much more appealing engine. Where the 2.0-litre base engine putts out a somewhat embarrassing 115-horsepower and 125 lb-ft of torque

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along with fuel economy numbers optimistically estimated (albeit at a class low) at 9.1 L/100km in the city and 6.0 on the highway with the five-speed manual or 9.3 city and 6.7 highway with the six-speed automatic, and the mid-grade 1.8-litre direct-injected and turbocharged four makes a very healthy 170 horsepower and 184 lb-ft of torque while eking out a much improved 8.1 city and 5.6 highway Transport Canada EnerGuide rating with its five-speed manual or 8.2 in the city and the same on the highway with the automatic, the 2.0-litre TDI turbo-diesel makes 140 horsepower (ignore that number as it doesn’t really matter) and 236 lb-ft of torque (these are the digits that really matter). Its prodigious torque spins the front tires with the slightest provocation, shooting the car

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forward from standstill with the energy of a V6. At 120 km/h the TDI just chugs along the highway effortlessly at 2,200 rpm, while passing power is ample even when filled to the brim with family and gear, yet fuel economy is a claimed 6.7 L/100km city and 4.6 highway with the six-speed manual or the same city mileage and 4.7 L/100km on the highway for the six-speed DSG automatic. Now that’s more like it!

That you can even get a top-line Jetta with a manual shifter is impressive enough, most of the Jetta’s compact competitors forgoing the manual as soon as higher trims come into play, other than specified performance editions. Unfortunately Volkswagen almost never puts a manual shifter on its test fleet (they’d get rave reviews if they did), but then again most people purchase automatic transmissions in this class so it makes sense that they want us to talk about a similar experience to

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what their customers will encounter. This said the Jetta TDI’s optional six-speed DSG is a well-polished gem. It’s not a conventional torque-converted automatic, that gearbox used for Jetta models with gasoline engines (other than the GLI with gets a six-speed manual or the DSG), but rather a dual-clutch automated manual that shifts gears automatically or manually, the latter by actuating the Tiptronic shift lever on the lower console or by flicking a set of steering wheel-mounted paddles. VW was the first mainstream automaker to utilize such a transmission, at that time the stuff of Ferraris and select BMW M models, and have pretty well perfected it now. Why bother go to such trouble? There’s less mechanical drag than a conventional automatic so it causes the car’s engine to use less fuel, plus it’s much more engaging than the other en vogue alternative to conventional torque-converted automatics, the fun-sucking CVT (continuously variable transmission).

Case

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in point: I had another car in my garage during the Jetta’s test week, a 2014 Honda Civic Sedan Touring with a CVT (but alas no paddles). Driven on the same winding high-speed mountain back road back-to-back in perfectly dry conditions, both cars shod with similar-width 17-inch all-season rubber, the Civic actually felt better in the corners than the Jetta, and I’m guessing it would’ve been more fun to drive if given the occasion to test manuals instead (although Honda is one of those manufacturers that doesn’t offer a manual in its most luxurious compact model). The Jetta’s suspension is softer than the top-line Civic’s and therefore leans quite a bit more into each corner, pushing out at the front end and overshooting sharp apexes, plus its seats weren’t as supportive laterally (they’re surprisingly sofa-soft and very un-German), but I’d still take the Jetta over the Civic for another blast through that mountain road because of its gearbox. Even a CVT with paddles (tested later in a Civic Coupe) is a slip-sloppy excuse for a performance

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transmission compared to the brilliant DSG, what I consider the best choice for efficiency and fun if you must opt for an automatic. If VW would only offer an optional sport suspension for this top-line diesel, and better seats, they’d have a real sport sedan on their hands. A GLI TDI perhaps?

Instead, the Jetta TDI Highline borders on luxury. The seats were surfaced in Cornsilk Beige leather to match the exterior’s Moonrock Silver metallic paint (who comes up with these names and why does VW want us to think of the annoying stringy stuff between the husk and the kernels when I’m buying a new car?), a colour copied on the lower dash, door panels, armrests, roofliner and carpets. I like the look; the beige brightening up the interior nicely and making everything look more upscale. Speaking of upscale, the dash top is made of premium-level soft-touch plastic, and it extends all the way down to the bottom of the centre stack,

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but not around the shifter. Disappointingly all other plastics except for the armrests are hard plastic, even the door uppers. And what’s more, the hard plastic door inserts, which are normally padded or at least soft to the touch in competitive models, look and feel especially cheap in this Jetta. On the positive, like all Volkswagens each side window is powered with one-touch up and down, rare in this class, while the high-quality woven fabric roofliner wraps around each A-pillar (but not around all other pillars like the Golf), also rare. Additionally, an attractive band of iridium trim circles around the cabin at shoulder height. The steering wheel is a thing of beauty too, perfectly shaped and immaculately stitched in the highest-quality leather, a nice match to the leather-wrapped shift knob and leather-wrapped handbrake lever. That there’s only one set of multi-function buttons on the spokes makes it look a bit lopsided, with audio, phone and voice recognition switches on the left and a completely naked spoke on the right. And

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there’s absolutely no excuse for the Jetta Highline’s lack of auto-off headlights. Most compact rivals include fully automatic headlights in top trim, with some even upping the ante with true luxuries like an auto-dimming rearview mirror, heated steering wheel, ventilated driver’s seat, rear seat heaters, a Homelink universal remote and side blind-spot monitoring (the Civic even boasting blind-spot video monitoring that displays a live right-side rearview image on the infotainment screen when turning right), none of which are offered with the VW. What’s more, the Jetta Highline’s HVAC system was totally manual instead of the usual automatic climate control offered in top-line competitive models.

While old school in these respects, the Highline model comes standard with proximity sensing remote access and pushbutton ignition, a six-way powered driver seat with manual lumbar, an eight-way manual adjustable passenger seat (other

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than power recline) with manual lumbar support, wonderful three-way front seat heaters that range from comfortably warm to therapeutically sizzling, a Media Device Interface (MDI) with iPod connectivity, an SD slot and auxiliary input, satellite radio, Bluetooth, the most versatile multi-position power glass sunroof controls in the biz, a really handy sunglasses holder, LED turn signals integrated into the side mirrors, fog lights, variable intermittent wipers, heatable windshield washer nozzles, all the usual safety features, and a really easy to use infotainment system.

This said the infotainment interface is simpler than many of its rivals’ more modern systems, the colour touchscreen a bit small and graphics somewhat dated. Integrated into this system was the $1,570 Technology package that adds navigation, a rearview camera with guidelines, and a fabulous sounding 400-watt eight-speaker

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(plus sub) Fender premium audio system. I play a Fender Telecaster guitar and previously owned a wonderful sounding Fender Twin Reverb amp, so I’m very familiar with the name (it’s one of the most respected professional musical instrument brands the world has to offer), but up until recently Fender has never been involved in the consumer audio business. After hearing this system in a number of different U.S.-made VWs, I’m glad they’ve gone mainstream.

Just the same, not all of the Jetta’s electronics systems were up to snuff. VW includes a useful multi-information display at the centre of the primary gauge package with the usual trip time, trip distance, average speed, average fuel consumption, current fuel consumption and distance to empty information, but unlike most competitive systems that now offer state-of-the-art full-colour TFT displays,

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it’s an older style black and white LCD screen, and even less impressive is that there was a glitch with the fuel gauge. When my colleague and I picked up the car it showed completely empty, but at the time we weren’t sure, thinking that possibly it was reading totally full in an unorthodox way (Mini does this with a complete set of hazard-orange coloured LEDs, which to the uninitiated look as if its warning you of being empty). After we drove for about 10 minutes seven-eighths of the gauge lit up showing that it was one eighth empty, not good. Don’t get me wrong as I was happy to know how much fuel was left in the tank, but this type of electronic problem in a near-new car is a negative sign.

The Jetta’s large 439-litre (15.5 cubic-foot) trunk can only be seen as positive, however, with a useful ski pass-through behind the rear seat centre armrest as well as the usual 60/40-split folding rear seatbacks for stowing larger long items, but

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one of the mechanisms in place for folding it wasn’t working properly. VW requires you to pull on a release lever within the trunk and then walk around to the rear side door to lower the seatback, not an unusual process. It worked fine for the 40 percent left side, but the 60 percent right side was locked in place. I tugged, walked around and pulled the seat forward and nothing happened, so I tugged again and repeated the process… and again. Fortunately VW had left a handy snow brush in the trunk and I was able to pull on the lever while pushing the back of the seat forward with the long brush, at which point I could walk around and lay the seat flat. Again, not a great experience with a near new car.

As you can probably tell, I’m impressed with some aspects of the 2014 Jetta TDI, but not others. While top-line Highline trim is short on expected features offered by fully equipped competitors, its drivetrain is by far my favourite in its segment. While

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its improved interior still doesn’t quite measure up to Jettas of old or some of its compact rivals (or for that matter the much nicer Golf), its fully independent suspension is a step above many compact best-sellers, even if it’s a bit softly sprung. And while you can pick up a base 2014 Jetta Trendline for the aforementioned $14,990 plus $1,395 for freight and pre-delivery prep, this top-tier 2014 Jetta TDI Highline starts at $27,790 before adding the $1,400 DSG automatic and $1,570 Technology package, the price with freight totaling $32,155, making it one of the priciest non-performance mainstream compacts on the market. The old excuse for the Jetta’s high pricing was near-premium interior quality and top-tier technologies, but the former doesn’t fly anymore and the latter only makes sense for the drivetrain. If you must have near-premium interior quality in a compact VW you’ll need to look to the Golf lineup. As for the Jetta, you’ve come a long way baby, but here’s to seeing what lies ahead in your not too distant future.
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