Makeover Mania

It used to be easy to categorize cars. We had tiny subcompacts, cozy compacts, decent-sized intermediates, and huge full-sized sedans—with comfortable gaps separating them. The gaps have pretty much been squeezed out by the universal growth of cars in every category, and the 2005 Volkswagen Jetta further renders conventional separations meaningless.

The 2005 Jetta is entirely new, and distinctly different in appearance and size. It’s seven inches longer (179.3 inches), an inch wider, and nearly an inch taller, which makes for increased interior room, especially in the rear seat. Trunk capacity also has been considerably increased—to sixteen cubic feet, even when the 60/40-split    rear seat isn’t folded down.

If VW was more marketing-oriented, it might have claimed that its fifth-generation Jetta was timed to coincide with the twenty-fifth anniversary of the car and the fiftieth anniversary of VW’s U.S. entry. Instead, the car—after a lifetime as a compact with subcompact roots—just showed up as a new car with an upscale appearance, stretched seven more inches to reach across the top of the compact segment to a whole new world. It will take on intermediates as well as entry-level midsized luxury cars, and may even lure full-sized-sedan customers with its combination of features and agility that could make them bypass the unnecessarily hefty larger vehicles.

The first Jetta was basically a Golf with a trunk. It evolved into an elongated subcompact, and then into a sturdy, economical family compact with understated and unobtrusive styling that never lost its appeal. With total sales of 2.2 million in the United States, it has proven to be more popular here than in the mainly hatchback-favoring markets elsewhere in the world. That history is at risk as changes in the Jetta’s appearance, size, power, and personality go from evolutionary to revolutionary for 2005.

Yes, Volkswagens are known for personality as much as performance. Buyers don’t just own a Volkswagen, they have a relationship with it. Those affairs started with the old Beetle, continued as the Beetle gave way to the Rabbit, then the Golf, and the Jetta. It reached full circle with the new Beetle, and now comes the new Jetta.

The Jetta’s exterior features a large trapezoidal grille with a horizontal bumper bar across the middle. Volkswagen of America president Len Hunt claims he never noticed it, but the grille shape is almost identical to the new corporate grille of affiliate Audi (the main difference is VW’s bright silver dissecting bumper).  The Jetta’s flowing silhouette is also different from the rounded-off square corners of its predecessor, and its rear has an entirely new design.

A stiffer frame can lead to more precise handling, and the 2005 frame is 60 percent stiffer in static rigidity and 30 percent stiffer against dynamic flexing than the 2004. Electro-mechanical steering and an upgraded suspension with an Audi-inspired rear set-up make the car handle in sportier fashion. Standard four-wheel disk brakes are 11 percent larger in front and 23 percent larger in the rear, assuring that the car stops as well as it corners.

When the Jetta was introduced to the media in San Diego and first appeared in show rooms, the only model available had a 2.5-liter five-cylinder engine and a six-speed Tiptronic—a manually shiftable automatic transmission—for a price tag of $17,900. Packages could boost the price up to a still-moderate $25,050. The car performed adequately in the mountains east of San Diego, but a later test car I drove in Minnesota performed far better.

The five-cylinder engine is not derived from the old Audi engine, but is based on one half of the V10 engine from the new Gallardo, an exotic Italian sports car from Lamborghini, which is now owned by VW/Audi. The five-cylinder has 150 horsepower, a 30 percent increase from the old 2.0-liter four cylinder. Torque is up 39 percent to 170 foot-pounds, and it is spread out so 90 percent of that pul-ling power is at hand all the way from 900 RPMs and reaches its peak at 3,750 RPMs.