UPDATE: This story now incorporates test results from the six-speed-manual version. If you observe closely, the new, seventh-generation Volkswagen Jetta has a tell. Ignore the strakes on the hood that make it appear a bit like a shrunken Passat. Don't be fooled by the shiny chrome exhaust tips integrated into the rear-bumper valance鈥攖hey're fake. Instead, trace the major character line from the little badge on the passenger-side front fender back along its length. There, hiding within the crease in the metal, is the Jetta's fuel-filler door. Of course it does: It's nearly the same shape as on the Golf, once again the Jetta's platform-mate. For 2019, the Jetta moves to the MQB platform, VW's do-everything, be-everything architecture, which made its U.S. 2015 Golf (and also underpins the Tiguan and Atlas as well as the Audi A3 and TT). The Jetta now shares many components with the seventh-gen Golf, including its steering and front suspension, crash structures, HVAC, infotainment software, and even its 13.2-gallon gas tank. But no sheetmetal. Certainly the relationship is more complicated than it was in the era when the Jetta was a Rabbit with a trunk grafted to its hindquarters.
But it's from axle to axle and under the hood that the sedan diverges most from the hatch. VW stretches the Jetta's wheelbase to 105.7 inches, nearly two inches longer than the Golf's, and the Jetta's overhangs make it almost a foot and a half longer overall. Yet the sedan is not legitimately cavernous inside. Rear passengers get 1.8 inches more legroom than in the Golf, although they'll sacrifice almost an inch of headroom. And don't plan on seating three adults across the back, as the Jetta's middle seat is cramped. About that trunk: It has shrunk in the new model relative to the previous Jetta, although the Golf's comparatively enormous cargo hold is more a testament to efficient hatchback packaging than any deficiency of the sedan. The Jetta's turbocharged 1.4-liter inline-four with 147 horsepower carries over from last year and is the only engine available鈥攁t least until the arrival of the sporting GLI.
For 2019, the Golf ditches its more powerful 1.8-liter in favor of the 1.4 as well, although you can still get the 1.8 in the all-wheel-drive version of the Golf SportWagen and in the Golf Alltrack. The new Jetta gets upgraded gearboxes: a new automatic with eight gears rather than six, and a slick six-speed manual that replaces the commodity-car five-speed. Fuel economy grows by as much as 7 mpg, with all Jettas now hitting 30 mpg in the city according to the EPA. Sadly, the manual is available only on base S-trim cars, with other trims, including the R-Line, getting the automatic. The manual's 40-mpg EPA highway estimate beats the automatic's by 1 mpg, but we did dramatically better in our 75-mph highway fuel-economy test, in which the manual-equipped Jetta delivered a whopping 48 mpg. The automatic car managed 43 mpg in the same test. The Jetta feels punchy, with excellent throttle response and virtually no turbo lag. If you boot it off the line, even the automatic-equipped car will squeal its front tires and trip the traction control.
However, a clean launch with the eight-speed produces only a 7.7-second zero-to-60-mph time, merely average for the class. We managed to drop a tenth with the six-speed by launching at moderate revs and managing the resultant wheelspin. At 7.7 seconds, the 2018 Golf with the 1.8-liter wasn't any quicker, although it was more fun to explore the upper reaches of its tachometer, where its bigger engine shone. Unsurprisingly, the 2019 Golf with the same 1.4-liter and eight-speed automatic as the Jetta did 7.6 seconds. Revving beyond 5000 in the Jetta yields no reward, aural or otherwise, and the automatic will grab a higher gear by 6000 rpm anyway. Run the manual that high and the little four complains loudly, vibrating the steering column. And although you can shift the eight-speed automatic yourself, this transmission favors smooth over snap. Indeed, smooth is the Jetta's mien; it's a yacht rocker rather than a hard rocker.
It is noticeably and measurably quieter than the Golf. Also softer, with more body roll and less feedback through the steering and chassis. But otherwise the siblings drive and ride similarly, with a light steering weight and good impact absorption. The new Jetta uses the same front struts and steering system as the Golf, although Volkswagen reverted to a rear torsion beam for the Jetta. In a small concession to sportiness, R-Line models get brake-based torque vectoring. Bridgestone Ecopia EP422 Plus tires shunt steering feel but don't keep the Jetta R-Line from matching the Golf's 0.83-g roadholding and the Jetta S from surpassing it with 0.85 g in lateral grip. The first Jetta we tested did poorly in braking, taking 191 feet to stop from 70 mph, which puts it at the back of the compact segment. But we've tested three more Jettas since then and found that the manual Jetta's 183-foot stop is far more representative of the set.
