The Morning Call and Mcall.com's view

The new Volkswagen Jetta GLI is really the combination of two of Volkswagen’s better ideas – the Jetta four-door sedan itself, a sporty little sedan well suited for family use, and the GTI, a performance-oriented Rabbit. To begin with a summary, the GLI can best be described as a budget-priced European touring sedan.

There are a number of cars available these days that fit this category, however, most of them are from America and Japan, not Europe, especially not Germany where cars and high price tags are usually synonymous. But, a funny thing happened on the way to the marketplace. While other cars increased in price, Volkswagen’s remained fairly stable. To be sure, VWs are more expensive than they once were but the increase has been much less than most other cars. The Jetta hasn’t had a price increase for three years.

Even without considering price, the Jetta GLI is a car with its own distinct personality that can stand up to the competition. That is if you know what a Jetta is. Strangely enough the Jetta is a car that has been on the market for five years but is the least known of all Volkswagens. For some reason Volkswagen has never pushed the Jetta. You’ve heard about the Rabbit, the GTI, the Scirocco, the Vanagon and even the Quantum (a close second to the Jetta for not being known) but never anything about the Jetta.

However, people are beginning to ”discover” the Jetta, the best buy in the Volkswagen lineup.

At first glance the Jetta may look like a Rabbit with a trunk welded on but it is more than that. It has a distinct German styling – it looks shamefully (or shall we say, shamelessly) like a BMW. There is nothing wrong with that from a buyer’s point of view. The test car (supplied by Lehigh Valley Volkswagen, 1346 Lehigh St., Allentown) was mistaken for several other European cars but Volkswagen designed the Jetta as a step-up car for Rabbit owners, however, VW seems to have failedto notify anyone about it.

The Jetta has a wheelbase of 94.5 inches, overall length of 167.8 inches, width of 64.2 inches, height of 55.5 inches and curb weight of 2,128 pounds. One of the most impressive features of the Jetta is its trunk. It is not only big by subcompact standards but even by big car standards. According to VW factory information it measures some 23 cubic feet, however, EPA, in its fuel mileage guide, rates it at 13 cubic feet. One look, however, and I’m sure everyone will agree with the VW figure. Since the Jetta is a front-wheel drive car, the design allows for the spare tire to be stored under the trunk floor which means the trunk floor is flat. Keep in mind, the Jetta is not a hatchback but a sedan with a separate trunk.

The Jetta can easily carry four adults inside. The test car was upholstered in an attractive-looking cloth and vinyl combination. The front bucket seats have high side bolsters that hold a person firmly in place while traveling. The seats also have a tendency to hold a person in place even when he/she doesn’t want to be held in place, such as you try to get out which takes a bit of a shove and swing to exit. This isn’t all that bad but it takes some getting used to. The seating is very high but, fortunately, there is plenty of head room so that even tall persons won’t have any problem fitting in. The high seating makes it bit difficult to see an overhead traffic light. The solution is not to pull so close to the light.

The Jetta uses the same basic running gear as the Rabbit But the GLI has the same engine, transmission and suspension as the Rabbit GTI which is quite a performer. The engine is a fuel-injected, overhead cam, four that measures 109 cubic inches and is rated at 90 horsepower at 5,500 rpm and 100 foot pounds of torque at 3,000 rpm. The engine is a souped up version of the standard VW engine with such modifications as redesigned cylinder head with larger int ke and exhaust valves, 20 percent lighter pistons, slightly larger bore and tuned exhaust system with 35 percent less back pressure. An interesting point is that it achieves its power with only an 8.5:1 compression ratio which means it will run fine on regular unleaded gasoline.

Volkswagen claims the Jetta GLI will reach 50 mph hour in 7.2 seconds with a top speed of 108 mph. The test car was very responsive in all phases of running and acceleration and passing performance were particularly impressive.

Helping to squeeze out every horsepower was a close-ratio, five-speed manual transmission. Although there are a lot of five-speed transmissions around there really aren’t that many close ratio boxes. In the old performance days, a close ratio box (a transmission with no big gaps in gearing) was the way to go. Most of today’s five-speeds have two overdrive gears (a gear with a ratio of less than 1:1.). The GLI’s box has an overdrive gear – but barely. Ratios are first, 3.45:1; second, 2.12:1; third, 1.44:1; fourth, 1.13:1 and fifth, 0.89:1. The lower (or performance) gearing will mean a little lower fuel mileage but not enough to get excited about. The test car averaged 21 miles per gallon for city driving and 30 mpg over Lehigh Valley highways.

To keep up with the extra power, the GLI also has a little more beef in its suspension. The four-wheel independent suspension (coil spring/shock absorber struts front and rear) is essentially the same as the regular Jetta but has been considerably retuned and includes front and rear stabilizer bars, revised valving of the front and rear struts and higher-rated front and rear springs. The GLI has manual rack-and-pinion steering. Response is quick but a little more steering effort is needed to turn those 185/60HR14 tires when parking.

Base price for the GLI four-door is $8,690 which includes a nice level of trim and appointments and all of the equipment mentioned. The total price on the test car was $9,535. Other cost were transportation, $300; dealer prep, $220; metallic paint (an interesting shade of dark gray), $140, and four- speaker radio preparation package, $185. You will note the test car did not have a radio or air conditioning which would add about a thousand to the price, and still wouldn’t be a bad price for all the GLI offers.