I like it. I like it a lot and that鈥檚 not just because it鈥檚 cheap or I got to drive it down the Tail of the Dragon and into Knoxville, Tennessee鈥攖hough those two points certainly don鈥檛 hurt. I like because it performs enormously well and offers everything it has to give generously. I like it because it sounds good and it looks about right and it drives about right. But there鈥檚 still a little something missing. What鈥檚 missing certainly isn鈥檛 value. 30,000 for a fully loaded Autobahn model, the Jetta GLI is a great value. 鈥?The only thing you pay extra for is the luxury, of which there is plenty. Shell out for the top end Autobahn model and you can get ventilated front seats, a big screen for infotainment, and an even bigger screen in the instrument binnacle. I was a little surprised to find that my Autobahn model didn鈥檛 have navigation, but I suppose that doesn鈥檛 matter because it has support for Android Auto and Apple Carplay.
The base model comes with VW鈥檚 now tiny old screen, and it鈥檚 really starting to look old, but I don鈥檛 really care because the GLI of all cars isn鈥檛 about luxury. It鈥檚 about performance. And that all comes standard. Performance isn鈥檛 missing either. Every GLI comes with VW鈥檚 VAQ differential and multilink suspension on all four corners, regardless of how much you paid. That means that you get all of the performance bits no matter what. All but one, anyway. If you opt for the 35th Anniversary edition Jetta (of which only 3,500 are being produced and which splits the difference price-wise between S and the Autobahn) you also get Dynamic Chassis Control. This gives you adjustable dampers that allegedly give you better road holding abilities and more comfort, but you can safely file that under the nice-to-have-but-not-entirely-necessary category. I mean, if you鈥檙e lucky enough to get one of the 35th edition GLIs then great, more power to you, but it鈥檚 not the type of thing you should feel bad about not getting. And that鈥檚 because performance is so good generally.
A fancy chassis control system is wonderful, but what you really want (and what you really get) is a great chassis with the GLI. It won鈥檛 come as a surprise that the MQB platform on which the GLI is based is good. Anyone who owns a Golf or a Tiguan or an Atlas or a new Jetta knows that it鈥檚 great. It鈥檚 probably the best thing VW has going for it these days. And the GLI is a great reminder of why. It grips the road tighter than a frightened toddler grips its mom and is about as agile as a toddler on a sugar rush. Through the Tail of the Dragon鈥檚 many, many tight corners it showed no tendency towards understeer. That鈥檚 partly down to the sticky Hankooks it had on and partly down to the neutral chassis. Yes, you can induce understeer, but it鈥檚 hard work. The result is a car that feels remarkably neutral on corner entry. Then on corner exit, thanks to that VAQ diff, it claws into the road like a zombie clawing its way out of a grave.
Included in that simile is the understanding that it鈥檚 a little unusual. You can feel the electronically controlled but ultimately mechanical differential working you around your corner, making the wheels to either side of you move at different rates. It鈥檚 a little odd but in a good way. And you also get a supernatural amount of front end grip. Grip that is well used by the power the GTI鈥檚 engine produces. Volkswagen鈥檚 stalwart 2.0-liter four pot is in fine form here, producing an acceptable 18 more hp than the GLI it replaces and a that鈥檚-more-like-it 58 more lb-ft of torque than the model it replaces. All of this can be felt on the road. The GLI is decidedly in a hurry, producing its torque predictably low down in the curve and because of the diff early in it, too. Jab the throttle and the car will kick you back into your seat and eat miles with satisfying ease. On the opposite of the speed-spectrum, the way the GLI slows down is equally impressive.
