QUIET PEOPLE ARE always immediately assumed to be less talented than extroverts (read: show-offs). George Harrison hardly caused as much of a ruckus during his tenure in the Beatles, but behind that exterior lay the talent which wrote ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’, amongst other things.

Along this line, the Jetta is something of a forgotten child of the VW range, a by-product of the popularity of European small hatches here. European small sedans though, are usually eclipsed by the sheer range of Japanese offerings. Well, that and a ten thousand dollar price difference.

But if, as a potential small-sedan buyer, you can stay the course and not be tempted by other $80k things on the market there’s a lot to be had here with the Jetta 1.4 TSI.

Unlike the Jetta Sport 1.4 TSI, which has both a supercharger and a turbocharger (along with 170bhp compared to 122bhp here), our Jetta only has the latter – hence the more humble power output.

Along with this is the latest Direct Shift Gearbox (dual-clutch, as is VW’s wont), now with seven speeds for better accelerations and fuel efficiency.

It’s the first time this powertrain stars under the Jetta’s hood – it first appeared in the Golf hatchback MkV and is also currently found in the new one too.

And it’s entirely this engine and gearbox combination, which gives the Jetta a benefit over rivals, indeed revealing the entire point of this exercise. To make a quick comparison, a Ford Focus 1.6 makes 100bhp while an Alfa Romeo 147 2.0 makes 200bhp.

While the Jetta might not be the quickest $80,000 car around, it’s no slouch at 9.8 seconds to the hundred and less displacement gives it great fuel efficiency, plus you pay less road tax. The quoted figure of 15.9km/L is achievable in real-life if you don’t get gridlocked too often.

More important is the almost diesel-like driveability – peak torque made low (and 80 percent is available at 1,250rpm already), in a spread and a quick-shifting transmission. All this combines into an almost immediate translation of right foot movement into forward motion making overtakes and rapid progress easy as pie.

In other areas there’s not much change, the Jetta still remains competent as ever, if a little bland. Inside the cabin there’s a new RCD 310 radio system.

And for Golf fans who simply can’t get over having a boot in the back, the Jetta has 527 litres of space in its rear – the Golf only has 350. Plus the sedan is around $3k less than the equivalent Golf. So maybe it’s time to go a little quiet…

NEED TO KNOW

Volkswagen Jetta 1.4 (A)
ENGINE 1,390cc 16V turbocharged in-line 4
MAX POWER 122bhp at 5,000rpm
MAX TORQUE 200Nm at 1,500-4,000rpm
GEARBOX 7-speed dual-clutch automatic
TOP SPEED 199km/h
0-100 KM/H 9.8 seconds
PRICE $81,300 with COE
WARRANTY 3 years/100,000km
CONTACT Volkswagen Group Singapore
TELEPHONE

A SIMILAR CAR TO CONSIDER
Ford Focus 1.6 4dr(A) $72,999 with COE
Small European sedans are rare on the ground here so Ford’s sensible Focus comes close. It costs much less, but then again you aren’t paying for advanced German tech here. Only 100bhp from the 1.6-litre engine, but the engaging handling make up for it somewhat