[jkdas]

• Love the new brown paint job
• The brake light
• new colors
• Alloy of highline

[Axe77]

The review itself is absolutely meaningless. One look at those stunning pictures and one wants to buy the car immediately, without reading a word of what's written. Just kidding!!! But honestly, before this, I've never drooled as much as the pictures in an official review as the review itself.

I TD the jetta the other day and came away fairly impressed. I agree on the plastic quality though and in some places it indeed seems a bit underwhelming.

The car was brilliant to drive though. If the Passat is as good in the ride and handling department then IMO it's probably the best under 30 buy at the moment. Subject to watching out for the infamous DSG issues of course.

[mayankjha1806]

Excellent review and pictures, and wonderfully covered all aspects of the car. I too was surprised to see that the base model does not get Aux/iPod connectivity, Forget the USB, None of the German cars have that which is sad.

No Xenons is another big miss from VW, folks buying car at this price point will expect it to have everything that the competition offers. Its more surprising that Jetta offers less than Laura and is priced higher.

Rated 5 stars

[F150]

Originally Posted by jkdas

The first car to be sold at Trivandrum. Its costs 16,0800 OTR at Trivandrum.
Its my friend's car and I didnt get time to drive it.

• Looks wow even for the TrendLine
• Felt spacious and usable middle row at rear
• Looks it has enough ground clearance as photo proves
• Rear looks SUVish + BWM 3ish?
• Nice brake lights
• 6 S !
• Boot release from within boot! You cant kidnap people in the boot :P)
• Boot release on RHS door
• Waiting period of 2 months
• DRL isnt LED !!!! Shame!

Steering in the trend-line looks different from what was posted in the review. . Cost cutting evident clearly. It is straight lift off from POLO with just the extra chrome at the bottom. It should the same steering as in the highest variant without the steering controls. VW

[Raosaheb Desai]

I went along with friend for TD (just because of stunning looks) and my observations-
- Turbolag is minimal and responsiveness at low revs is quite good.
- Fun to drive in urban traffic.
- At high speed, tight overtaking made me nervous. There is a bit of delayed power delivery. This on-off power delivery is not due to engine but DSG.
I observed the same thing with Laura.

My point is, when VW says its improved version of DSG then it should be better than Laura.
Though manual mode and paddle shift is superb.

Experts say, DSG is more fuel efficient ( I totally agree to that) on long drives I prefer X Trail autobox than Laura. I feel more confident with X Trail CVT comparing Laura DSG. Although Laura handling is much better.

If VW placing their products above Skoda, they should give added technology. Just brand and few goodies doesn't justify higher pricing compare to Skoda (infact Skoda is also overpriced)

[C300]

Excellent review and amazing pictures Rudra sir.

Never liked the way old Jetta looked - it was Golf with a boot IMO.
New Jetta is a big step forward and looks beautiful. The clean ageless design is awesome and you have captured it perfectly in your photos.

[Sanjeev Rai]

How about ground clearance - at 139mm it is the lowest in the segment

[jkdas]

Originally Posted by Rudra Sen

What you’ll like:

• Classic, timeless and understated styling, mated with solid build quality
• Excellent engine & transmission combination. Manual gearbox gets full spec 138 BHP diesel (unlike Laura)
• Improved space; rear seat can easily accommodate taller occupants
• Balanced ride and handling. Extremely well-tuned suspension
• Safety kit (ESP, 8 airbags etc.) and 5 star NCAP rating

What you won’t:

• Climate control and leather seats missing from the equipment list
• Interior quality is a grade or two lower than the previous generation Jetta
• Looks uncannily similar to the VW Vento
• Automatic Transmission (DSG) only offered with the Highline variant
• Brilliant 1.8L TSI motor not available. Petrol-heads will be disappointed

Awesome pix Rudraji, and nice write up.

Highline gets Goodyear while rest gets Pirelli?
The seats looks good IMHO though its Leatherette. I expected white LED though for DRL.

Good to know about the ground clearance since I was wondering how come the car looks sitting so high up ( as is evident in pix) .

The windows had anti-pinch and can be opened/closed using the remote.

[DDIS]

Excellent review Rudra. elevates the review to a 5 star one thanks to the pictures - they are simply "Muaaah"

[.anshuman]

Originally Posted by Raosaheb Desai

I went along with friend for TD (just because of stunning looks) and my observations-
- Turbolag is minimal and responsiveness at low revs is quite good.
- Fun to drive in urban traffic.
- At high speed, tight overtaking made me nervous. There is a bit of delayed power delivery. This on-off power delivery is not due to engine but DSG.
I observed the same thing with Laura.

My point is, when VW says its improved version of DSG then it should be better than Laura.
Though manual mode and paddle shift is superb.

Experts say, DSG is more fuel efficient ( I totally agree to that) on long drives I prefer X Trail autobox than Laura. I feel more confident with X Trail CVT comparing Laura DSG. Although Laura handling is much better.

If VW placing their products above Skoda, they should give added technology. Just brand and few goodies doesn't justify higher pricing compare to Skoda (infact Skoda is also overpriced)

DSG is more efficient than traditional torque convertor transmissions, look at the Jetta and Laura's ARAI FE figures, tell me which other Automatic is as efficient. DSG only has lag at startup because of the torque convertor missing but the advantages are better FE and more direct power delivery. The initial lag was an issue with PD engine as it had turbo lag, but with the CR engines i have not seen anyone complaining except you. Yes it sometimes can take longer if you stomp the kickdown button, but compare it to manual transmission- it still is faster than pressing clutch and downshifting manually.

In comparison i find even the best of the conventional AT boxes like the ZF-8 used in 5 series slower to respond. The 6 speed in X1 and 3 series is not even close.

The Engine and DSG Gearbox in Jetta and Laura are same as they are assembled on the assembly line, i feel the talk about improved Gearbox is just marketing talk. Recent 6 Speed DSGs are known to be reliable, all of the recent issues were reported with 7 Speed dry gearbox which is sold under the hood of Superb 1.8 TSi.

Originally Posted by Sanjeev Rai

How about ground clearance - at 139mm it is the lowest in the segment

Please read the review carefully, it's clarified.

Originally Posted by Rudra Sen

Though it was reported at the time of launch that the Jetta's ground clearance is only 139 mm, we managed to get a clarification from VW. The Jetta's GC is actually 159 mm. That, coupled with a firm suspension set-up that doesn't sag, saw us clear the country roads without even once scraping the car's underbelly. Note that we were only 3 onboard.

[keyur]

Originally Posted by Rudra Sen

Never thought it’s that important, however.
Canon camera and Canon lenses.

Not important - just curious. (Shows that we read everything ). You mentioned a wide angle lens, so wanted to know the specs (not just Canon camera, Canon lens )

[Raosaheb Desai]

Originally Posted by .anshuman

DSG is more efficient than traditional torque convertor transmissions, look at the Jetta and Laura's ARAI FE figures, tell me which other Automatic is as efficient. DSG only has lag at startup because of the torque convertor missing but the advantages are better FE and more direct power delivery. The initial lag was an issue with PD engine as it had turbo lag, but with the CR engines i have not seen anyone complaining except you. Yes it sometimes can take longer if you stomp the kickdown button, but compare it to manual transmission- it still is faster than pressing clutch and downshifting manually.

In comparison i find even the best of the conventional AT boxes like the ZF-8 used in 5 series slower to respond. The 6 speed in X1 and 3 series is not even close.

The Engine and DSG Gearbox in Jetta and Laura are same as they are assembled on the assembly line, i feel the talk about improved Gearbox is just marketing talk. Recent 6 Speed DSGs are known to be reliable, all of the recent issues were reported with 7 Speed dry gearbox which is sold under the hood of Superb 1.8 TSi.







Please read the review carefully, it's clarified.

anshuman thanks for the clarification I hope new DSG is more reliable and sturdy enough to survive tough Indian driving conditions.

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by sreejith1830

The major cons of the new jetta in my opinion would be:-
3."Mexican build" ??

IIRC, even the previous Jetta was a CKD from Mexico.

Originally Posted by sreejith1830

6. The DSG version is overpriced.

I don’t think the DSG as such is over-priced. Yes, the difference between the various trims are quite steep. For e.g; Trendline v/s Comfortline (1.3 lakhs) or Comfortline v/s Highline MT (1.6 lakhs).
But the difference between Highline MT and DSG AT is around 80K, which I think is quite standard for MT v/s AT.

Originally Posted by jkdas

The first car to be sold at Trivandrum. Its costs 16,0800 OTR at Trivandrum.

Thanks for the photos. Guess there is a zero missing in the OTR .
The OTR mentioned by the dealer in my town was 15.85 lakhs for Trendline, going upto 20.03 lakhs for Highline DSG.

[Sanjeev Rai]

Jetta DSG certainly appears much overpriced with over 1.50 Lacs (on road) more than Laura Elegance AT and minus ACC and leather - in fact it is the real leather missing that pinches at this price level

[nileshch]

Awesome photos and superb review, Rudra. I have been in awe of the new Jetta since it was launched. I wish they had launched it in more colours. I love the Shadow Blue (obviously!) on the Jetta the most, followed by the Grey.

How I wish they bring the 200 bhp GLI to India some day!