Volkswagen Jetta TDI Range Car Review

Facts At A Glance
Car: Volkswagen Jetta TDI range
Prices: £15,695-£16,670 – on the road INSURANCE GROUPS: 6-9
Emissions: 122-148g/km
Performance: [2.0] Max Speed 129mph / 0-60mph 9.7s
Fuel Consumption: [2.0 TDI 138] (urban) 39.8mpg / (extra urban) 62.8mpg / (combined) 51.4mpg
Safety: Twin airbags / ABS / Side airbags / ESP
Dimensions: Length/Width/Heightmm 4560/1760/1460

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Our Rating: 7.6 / 10

With an economical TDI diesel engine on board, Volkswagen’s Jetta saloon is worthy of consideration by any ambitious young executive. Steve Walker reports…

If we accept that buyers with families or large items to lug about tend to prefer a practical hatchback arrangement, the market for Volkswagen’s Jetta saloon immediately looks limited. The Jetta, however, is tilting at a very different area of the market from its hatchbacked Golf sister vehicle. With high equipment levels and a junior Passat marketing pitch, the Jetta looks to pinch sales from premium hatches and the bottom end of the compact executive sector. The TDI diesel engines have a big part to play in this.

Like the original Jetta, the Vento and the Bora before it, this Jetta is a Golf with a boot. This series of names by which Golf saloons have been known over the years tells its own story, one of a model struggling to carve-out an identity for itself in the minds of buyers. The key problem is that a boot doesn’t cut as much ice on these shores as it does in other markets where the saloon shape is deemed far more prestigious than the homely hatchback. The Golf is always going to be the big seller in the UK but the relative exclusivity of the Jetta should hold considerable appeal for image-conscious customers whose company carparks are beset with the obvious premium-badged executive choices.

With TDI diesel power, the Jetta makes yet more sense in the company car environment at prices starting from £15,695. The Volkswagen diesel engines are right up there with the best around, their combination of good fuel economy, low emissions and muscular performance reading like a junior executive’s Christmas list. There are three diesel options available to Jetta customers, the first being a tried and tested 1.9-litre TDI unit that has been in service in numerous Volkswagen Group products for a number of years. The other two are both 2.0-litre in capacity, more advanced, more powerful and, predictably, more expensive. The range-topping engine is the 168bhp 2.0-litre TDI but the option most will choose is the 138bhp version of the same engine.

Offered with the S and SE trim levels or as an economical BlueMotion, the 1.9-litre TDI develops its maximum power of 103bhp at 4,000rpm and torque of 250Nm at 1,900rpm. It feels far from sluggish with that useful low range torque helping the engine accelerate purposefully even in 3rd or 4th gear. The power delivery is a little spiky, however, with a slight dead spot at the bottom of the rev range while you wait for the turbo to kick in and it isn’t the most refined diesel that you’ll come across, especially just after start-up. On the pl

Where the 1.9 TDI Jetta can sprint to 62mph in 11.9s and achieve a 117mph top speed, the 138bhp 2.0-litre TDI turns in a 9.7s sprint and can reach 129mph but that doesn’t tell the whole story. The real benefit of this 2.0-litre 138bhp engine is the 320Nm of torque that’s available between 1,750 and 2500rpm. This engine uses Volkswagen’s latest TDI direct injection technology to deliver a concussive punch of acceleration through the mid-range. It’s more flexible than the 1.9 with acceleration on tap through a wider spread of the rev range. It’s also smoother sounding but still not quite as refined as the best units offered by some rivals. Despite the muscular performance and strong overtaking ability, buyers can still expect to average 51.4mpg and get up to 62.8mpg on longer runs. Co2 emissions of 143g/km shouldn’t break the bank.

There’s no question that the 2.0-litre TDI is the better powerplant but the cheapest SE model is more than £1,200 more expensive than an equivalent 1.9TDI, itself no bad engine. Opt for the range-topping Sport and you’ll need another £500 or so. Buyers who really value strong performance will be happy to find the extra but if your traffic-clogged commute rarely presents the opportunity to press-on, the 1.9-litre engine should prove adequate. The optional DSG gearbox is well worth considering with either engine, being generally recognised as the best of its type on the market. The premium of over £1,200 may seem steep but the smooth automatic shifts really add to the relaxed driving experience and the sharp manual mode comes as near as damit to replicating the control you get with a conventional manual gearbox.

One criticism levelled at the two previous generation Bora models was that although the cars offered a ride and refinement package that was hard to beat, they never really offered the sort of infectious handling that many rivals could boast. The fifth generation car adopts a pragmatic tactic in ‘benchmarking’ the suspension of the F