New Jetta comes with even more attractive features

By Andy Hum

COMING SOON TO the Volkswagen showroom near you is a better Jetta fitted with more goodies.

The 2010 model year Volkswagen Jetta will get a new steering wheel, just like the one in the current Golf, with buttons to control the audio entertainment system and the car’s trip computer. It also gets a new multi-function LCD panel, which features a white-on-black style display that makes it easier to read, and looks a lot classier, too. Buyers will also get the climate control system like in the Passat CC.

Three versions of the Jetta are available, starting from the 1.6 automatic ($80,300), the Jetta 1.4 TSI ($87,300) with Volkswagen’s clever seven-speed dual-clutch Direct-Shift Gearbox (DSG), and the Jetta Sport 1.4 TSI DSG ($93,800). All prices are with COE.

While the Jetta may not win any beauty contests, the model has been established well enough locally and with the necessary credentials to challenge its Japanese competitors.

For those who are still in the dark about this car’s 1.4-litre engine, here’s what you need to know: the Jetta 1.4 TSI comes with a turbocharged 1.4-litre in-line four that makes 122bhp and has a 0-100km/h time of 9.8 seconds – faster than most other saloons in this category.

The more expensive Jetta Sport 1.4 TSI has the twin-charged (supercharged and turbocharged) 1.4-litre engine that pumps out 160bhp and gets the car from standstill to 100km/h in 8.5 seconds. Despite sounding like a pair of petrol-burning power plants, these engines are a lot more frugal than you can imagine – think up to 15.8km/l (combined rating), for the 122bhp engine.