Written By: MyRide.com
Reprinted under license.
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Introduction
Everybody on our staff who took the 2006 Volkswagen Jetta GLI for a spin loved driving it. Some didn't like looking at it, others didn't like sitting in it, but everyone loved driving it, which is exactly the reaction that a German sports sedan is supposed to evoke. The latest in a long line of fun-to-drive Volkswagen sedans, the new Jetta GLI is, all at the same time, a performance bargain, an economical family sedan, a European car with pride-inspiring brand cachet, and, if you've been watching TV lately and been jarred from your reverie by the unmistakable crunching sounds of a car wreck, you know that the Jetta is safe, too. Sure, there were things we didn't like much, like the grabby brakes, the sticky gearing, the stiff seat bolstering, and the way the interior squeaked and rattled. But the 2006 VW Jetta GLI is so much fun to drive, so supremely competent in most of the areas that matter, that its pros far outweigh the cons. If you love to drive but you're in need of a $25,000 sedan with a big trunk, good crash-test scores, room for the kids, and real-world fuel economy greater than 20 mpg no matter how hard you flog the thing, we can't think of a better car for you to buy.
That's the short story. If you're interested, here are the specifics.
The Volkswagen Jetta debuted in America for the 1980 model year, essentially a Rabbit hatchback with a trunk and an extra set of headlights up front. It came as a two- or four-door, and featured a gasoline or diesel engine. The first Jetta GLI arrived in 1984 sporting blacked-out trim with red surrounds, powered by the same 1.8-liter, 90-horsepower four-banger as the Rabbit GTI, and using the same sport-tuned steering, exhaust, suspension, and transmission as that iconic pocket rocket. Since then, the Jetta has been redesigned four times, and the GLI performance model was replaced by the GLX performance-luxury trim for the third-generation version. It returned again for the 2003 model year, and is now the top Jetta trim level.
What makes the Jetta GLI unique is its blue tinted glass, black honeycomb grille with red trim, xenon high-intensity headlights, projector-lens fog lights, and 17-inch alloy wheels with summer performance tires connected to a sport-tuned suspension. The GLI also comes with eight-way adjustable sport seats, a three-spoke sport leather-wrapped steering wheel with integrated satellite controls, alloy metal trim and pedals, and classic plaid fabric seat inserts as standard. That's not much to differentiate it from the new 2006 Jetta 2.0T, which is stealing some of the GLI's thunder when it comes to hardware, but it's enough to justify the few hundred extra dollars on the window sticker.
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