From the 2011 Chicago Auto Show, Cars.com's Kelsey Mays takes a look at the 2012 Volkswagen Jetta GLI
Transcript
<v Narrator>Cars.com auto review. Hi, I'm Kelsey Mays for cars.com. We're at the Chicago Auto Show, checking out Volkswagen's new Jetta GLI.
Now Jetta faithful should know that GLI means this will be a higher performance variant of the redesigned Jetta, but Volkswagen also promises it's a higher quality version that should satisfy those traditionalists who find the new car may be a little bit too basic. Let's check it out and see. Certainly a bit more aggressive look here than on the regular Jetta. You've got things like honeycomb inserts for the upper and lower air openings on the nose. You also got vertical fog lights here. They look a lot closer to the fog lights on the Volkswagen GTI than the ones on the Jetta. Get around back and you'll notice that the tail lights too have kind of a smoked out darker treatment. GLI has got some interesting interior enhancements. Things like a flat bottom steering wheel, like the one in the GTI and heavily bolstered sports seats. I'm gonna go on record here with a little bit of a revelation. Automotive journalists, myself included, care way too much about things like soft touch dashboards. The current Jetta drew a lot of flack because it didn't have one. Well, the GLI does. It's soft here, but I think car shopper's gonna care a lot more about areas they actually touch, like the door panels, which here, are still shrouded in pretty hard plastic. If you're a former Jetta owner, you'll like the fact that the armrest ratcheted up and was adjustable in the car you used to have. It doesn't anymore in the GLI or the regular Jetta. And the headliner is still really scratchy and kind of low quality like it is in the regular Jetta. So higher level of quality in certain areas that the media care a lot about. Maybe not in areas that the automotive buying public should care about. The GLI gets Volkswagen's two liter turbocharged, four cylinder engine. It's good for about 200 horsepower. It also gets a fully independent rear suspension versus the semi-independent rear in the new Jetta. Stay tuned for more. We'll let you know how it is to drive. Once we get some seat time and the car goes on sale in May. For more car related news, go to cars.com or our blog KickingTires.net.
