The 2012 Volkswagen Jetta gives you a chance to enjoy German engineering in an affordable mainstream package. Performance components can make the Jetta feel like an imported sport sedan, and all models feature a roomy second row and a relatively large trunk. The 2012 Jetta lineup features compact sedan and station wagon (Jetta SportWagen) body styles. A five-seat interior is standard for both body styles. Jetta trims include the S, SE, SEL, SEL Premium, TDI, GLI and GLI Autobahn. The base Jetta sedan鈥檚 powertrain combines a four-cylinder engine, five-speed manual transmission and front-wheel drive. Among the powertrain options are a five-cylinder engine, a turbocharged four-cylinder engine, a turbodiesel four-cylinder engine, a six-speed manual and two six-speed automatics. The GLI trim levels are new for the 2012 model year. A Fender premium sound system is a new option. With crisp lines flowing back from its headlights, the 2012 VW Jetta has a sleek and aerodynamic appearance. The front of the car gets a low-profile grille that incorporates both the lower intake and fog-light pockets. A sharp angle to the rear roof pillar, along with two-piece taillights, create an attractive finish.
Standard in the base Jetta are halogen headlights, daytime running lights, 15-inch covered steel wheels and heated mirrors. A large rear spoiler, dual exhaust tips and an exclusive front fascia are standard for the GLI models. Volkswagen also offers available equipment such as halogen fog lights, a power sunroof, mirror-mounted turn signals, heated windshield-washer nozzles and 16- and 17-inch aluminum-alloy wheels. The Jetta鈥檚 split-level molded dashboard has a flowing upper level that wraps around the instrument panel and center-stack controls, giving it a driver-centric feel inside. Standard equipment includes 60/40-split folding rear seats, and the Jetta sedan gets 15.1 cubic feet of trunk space. That鈥檚 23 percent more than you get in a 2012 Toyota Corolla. The Jetta SportWagen gets 32.8 cubic feet of storage behind the back seats and 66.9 in total when the seats are folded. The standard equipment starts with cloth upholstery, six-way manually adjustable front seats, air conditioning, power windows, power locks and a tilt-and-telescoping steering wheel.
The athletic GLI trim gets front sport seats, a flat-bottomed steering wheel, bright-red stitching and aluminum pedals. Available features include synthetic-leather upholstery, heated front seats, dual-zone climate control, cruise control, push-button start, a cooling glove box and a leather-wrapped multifunction steering wheel. A range of available engine choices and composed driving dynamics make the 2012 Jetta fun to drive. The base VW Jetta is equipped with a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine that makes 115 horsepower and 125 pound-feet of torque. A 2.5-liter inline five-cylinder engine comes standard with the Jetta SE and SEL, and it produces 170 horsepower and 177 pound-feet of torque. Each of these engines is paired with a five-speed manual transmission and front-wheel drive as standard, and both offer a six-speed automatic as an option. In the Volkswagen Jetta TDI, a turbodiesel 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine delivers 140 horsepower and 236 pound-feet of torque. A turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder gas engine is standard in Volkswagen Jetta GLI models. This unit is good for 200 horsepower and 207 pound-feet of torque, while a standard sport-tuned suspension is on board for high-performance handling. The GLI鈥檚 powerplant, as well as the diesel engine, rely on a standard six-speed manual and provide a six-speed dual-clutch automatic as an option. The Jetta earns fuel economy ratings of 23/29 mpg city/highway with its standard engine and automatic transmission. The EPA rates the car at 29/39 mpg city/highway when configured with the diesel engine and a manual transmission. The VW Jetta supplies a standard audio system with an AM/FM stereo, a CD player, an auxiliary input jack and four speakers. A navigation system, a 5-inch touchscreen, Bluetooth, an iPod interface and satellite radio are options. You also have two uplevel audio choices, including one that adds a six-disc CD changer, an SD-card reader and two more speakers (for a total of six). For audiophiles, a Fender sound system is available with 400 watts of power and eight speakers.
Typically German-bred, the Jetta is solid, trustworthy, and a great deal of fun from the get-go. Wide C-pillars, which Volkswagen calls "emphatic," tend to cut your vision a bit out back but this is a common complaint with many vehicles that have extra-fat structural posts that hold up the rear section of the roof. The upside of this feature is today's wider pillars are considered structurally safer, so learn to look around them. I found the brakes sensitive enough to begin a search for an eject hatch. Extremely responsive at just a tap of the toe, they take some adjusting to. Once you've accepted their reaction the brakes actually give you more confidence in the Jetta's stopping ability. Although the Jetta has four doors and room for five, it's really most comfortable driven as a coupe occupied by two people. It has the crisp handling characteristics of a European two-door you can throw around corners rather than the plushness in many U.S.-built compacts that have softer suspensions but tend to wallow.
In fact after my time in the Jetta, I drove back home in a Buick Park Avenue Ultra, which was like switching from a horsehair mattress to a goosedown pillow. Soft, but not as much fun. The manual transmission 1.8T Jetta shifts like a scalpel through hot oil -- frictionless, and with a relatively short throw and instant response from the turbo. When I switched over to test drive the automatic transmission model it was almost astounding to discover virtually no difference except for an occasional split-second lag between first and second gear. The Jetta model lineup starts with the GL model whose standard equipment is pretty impressive: side airbags, eight-speaker stereo, ABS brakes, adjustable steering wheel, heated remote mirrors, central remote locking, and two power outlets. The next step up, the GLS, adds power windows and mirrors, cruise control and a center armrest. Another engine option on the Jetta GL and GLS is a TDI four-cylinder diesel engine that gets 49 miles to the gallon highway, and 42 city. All Jettas have daytime running lights. Since Volkswagen lightened up with the New Beetle and then gave its other cars and wagons a much-needed classier image, along with concrete improvements to quality and performance, the company has earned greater respect for its vehicles. The new Jetta 1.8T adds to that well-deserved and hard-earned reputation.
