2025 Volkswagen Jetta GLI: Looks can be deceiving
The little sedan’s ho-hum looks can still out-Corolla a Corolla, but the GLI Autobahn version is all Volkswagen on the road.
2025 Mazda3 Turbo Premium Plus AWD vs. 2025 Volkswagen Jetta GLI Autobahn: A little bit of fun.
This week: Volkswagen Jetta GLI
Price: $32,715 for the Autobahn trim
Conventional wisdom: Car and Driver liked the “playful handling, supple ride quality, availability of a slick-shifting six-speed manual,” but not the “low-rent interior plastics,” or that the “seats need more support,” and “competitors offer even sportier handling.”
Marketer’s pitch: “Built for excitement.”
Reality: I think the GLI should be pronounced “glee,” as in that’s what I felt when I drove.
What’s new: A slightly new look inside and out are the big story for 2025.
Competition: In addition to the Mazda3, there’s the Honda Civic, Hyundai Elantra, Kia K4, Kia Soul, Nissan Sentra, Toyota Corolla, and Toyota Prius, among others.
Up to speed: I thought the Mazda3 was a bunch of fun, but the GLI gave a real run. The 228-horsepower 2-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine bests the Mazda3 to 60 mph by 0.3 seconds at 5.6 seconds, according to Car and Driver.
There’s a real dead spot when you first hit the accelerator, though. No matter which mode I had the vehicle in, I could expect a bit of hesitation before the car got moving.
Still, the fun you can have over hill and dale, downshifting to pick up some speed and upshifting as you glide over hilltops makes the initial pause worthwhile.
The front-wheel-drive Jetta GLI makes a strong case for all-wheel drive, though. All that power going through the front wheels means you can really lurch sideways if you floor it with the steering wheel cocked for a turn. Part fun, part scary.
Shifty: The dead spot was even more noticeable when backing uphill. Both in my driveway and in one parking lot at the trail, the Jetta hardly wanted to move backward. I looked and looked and looked again and finally we started to roll. I kept thinking I left the parking brake on.
Otherwise, shifting is nice in the 7-speed automatic, whether you DIY or let the Jetta do its thing.
Like the Mazda3, the GLI still offers a 6-speed manual, which I’d love to try.
On the road: Handling goes even more smoothly than acceleration and enhances the whole experience. I drove the GLI to King of Prussia a couple times and to Delaware once from central Chester County and just felt like a race car driver everywhere. That front-wheel drive is no issue when you’re rolling along, except maybe at the very limits of the handling.
Highways feel nice except for some road seam ramming. Strangely enough, a metal construction plate on a side road that makes almost every other car feel like it had crashed into a tree hardly fazed this little rocket. So, I’d say there’s more in the win column here.
Driver’s Seat: The Jetta GLI sits as low as always, and it feels even lower. But I didn’t feel myself really cramming into the cockpit after the first day, so it’s something drivers can live with.
The dashboard follows a familiar Volkswagen setup, although you can choose your gauges with a handy steering wheel button.
Speaking of steering wheel buttons, they’re a new ebony material that is light on feedback. Instead of well-defined clicks, there’s just a weak motion that you may or may not feel, and no real dividing lines between the choices. Not a move in the right direction, both literally and figuratively.
The seat is firm but comfortable, and holds you in place for all the fun maneuvers.
Friends and stuff: The rear seat corners are really pretty awesome. There’s no adjustment but VW has provided a great angle and a comfortable seat that you slip right into. Legroom and headroom are good although foot room is kind of snug.
There’s a center seat. This person will hate you. Stop at four.
Cargo space is 14.1 cubic feet, and the rear seat folds down for a generous space.
Play some tunes: On the bright side, the BeatsAudio sound is impressive, about an A. You can really enjoy your favorite tunes, matching the Mazda3′s level of performance note for note.
On the win-lose side, the volume and tuning dials are simple, and the ebony buttons for the sources are nice, but accidentally graze the screens and you’ll be changing sources before you realize it.
On the downside, the 10.25-inch screen is kind of small.
Keeping warm and cool: The HVAC controls also get an ebony “upgrade,” with sort-of sliders/sort of touch-somethings for the temperature and fan speed, and touch-somethings for the fan location. It looks pretty but is even harder to operate than it is to describe.
Fuel economy: The vehicle came to me with about 32 mpg; I dragged that down to 31 with all the fun I was having, still far better than the Mazda3. Regular unleaded is fine here, a bonus over the Mazda3.
Where it’s built: Puebla, Mexico
How it’s built: Consumer Reports gives the Jetta a predicted reliability rating of 2 out of 5.
In the end: The Jetta GLI sure was a whole lot of fun, but then so was the Mazda3. I like saving fuel and not paying through the nose for premium, but the chance for all-wheel drive, a hatchback, and a better reliability rating makes the Mazda3 the obvious choice here.