classic car

  I've now had my VW Jetta for a year, and I've decided to do a four-seasons type review of it. Overall, its been a very good small sedan. It's responsive, frugal, high-quality, quiet, and has a soft ride for its class. It seems to be a competitior for more expensive cars than it.

  First, I'll go straight for performance. I ordered my Jetta with the 2.5-liter five-cylinder, which isn't as fast as the corporate 2.0 turbo four that's common in VW and Audi products, but still puts on a good turn of speed for a small sedan. The car has 170 horsepower and 177 lb-ft, which may not sound good but is substantially better than the 150 of the year before, not to mention the 140 of the tacky Ford Focus. Acceleration hovers at about 8.5 seconds, but the car feels much faster. At any speed the motor sounds like its from a much higher-class segment, and there are no clunking noises nor any signs of any build quality problems in the mechanical components. Steering feel needs very little, and is great for both around-town driving and highway trips. The 2.0 has about 30 more horsepower, but honestly I don't think the car needs it.

  The inerior contiues to impress me as time keeps running on. The only problem we had with the Jetta's interior quality was because it was used as a test-drive car for a couple hundred miles before we bought it. At some point some test driver's curious child forced the collapsing cupholder mechanism out of the center armrest, but we got that replaced with no problems except for the inefficiency of our dealer, which took two months to finally say that they could replace it. Other than that early malady, the interior build quality is faultless. The car was not, as you may think, built better than others because it was test car, it was just that the dealer picked some random car in every trim level to use as a test car. The inerior is black leatherette, which has been good for two main reasons. A, guests who inquire about the car find out you didn't kill cows  to get your Jetta, and B, it holds up much better than the real thing. All electronics are easy to navigate, theres a button for each of the four main stereo functions (CD, AM, FM, Sirius), and there are knobs right in front of you, clearly labeled, for controlling the tone. There are hard plastics, but unlike in the competition they are textured with a luxurious feel and extend back to structural components instead of leaving hollow spaces behind them. It means that in a crash there will be more mass hurtling toward your side, but at least it won't dent itself every time you touch it.

  Styling is attractive, if not particularly sporty, but if you ad the high-class small spoiler and subtle body kit it starts to look like it could compete with the GLI high-performance version. 
Even though its been in use since 2005 and is set to be replaced soon, the styling is thouroughly modern, unlike some cars (Fusion and Sebring). There are a variety of wheels available from stock, ranging from economy 16" base steelies up to Vision V 18" by 8" rollers, which are $2,300.

  Over all, the Jetta is class-leading in quality, mid-class in performance, and has very good styling.