2011VOLKWAGEN JETTA TDI CUP EDITION
\nBY DAVID COLMAN<\/p>\n
The newly introduced 2011 Jetta is larger, and more soft-edged than its predecessor.\u00c2\u00a0 By upsizing their bread and butter sedan, VW hopes to entice North American buyers into abandoning Camrys and Accords in favor of a more family-oriented Jetta.\u00c2\u00a0 But this move to the middle has left hard-core VW sports types wondering whether Germany has forsaken them.\u00c2\u00a0 Wonder no more, because the optional $2,350 Cup Edition of the Jetta Diesel will restore their faith in the sporting integrity of the brand.\u00c2\u00a0 For the past several years, VW has backed a racing series for beginners in the US called the TDI Cup.\u00c2\u00a0 They did so for two reasons.\u00c2\u00a0 The first was to focus American eyes on the performance (and sales) potential of clean Diesel powered sedans.\u00c2\u00a0 The second motive was to create a professional and affordable series for novice young racers to compete against one another.\u00c2\u00a0 By all measures, the TDI Cup has been a resounding success.\u00c2\u00a0 VW finally has acknowledged their brainchild by launching this Cup Edition of the Diesel Jetta.\u00c2\u00a0 While The TDI Cup may look like a racecar, it still performs like a family sedan.<\/p>\n
Reskinned body parts distinguish the Candy White Jetta Cup from the mom ‘n pop SEL sedan.\u00c2\u00a0 An imposingly deep front airdam flows into ground effects sill extensions below the doors.\u00c2\u00a0 The tail receives a diffuser-like lower valance plus a full trunk-mounted wing spoiler.\u00c2\u00a0 This assemblage of pieces help lower the Jetta’s visual center of gravity.\u00c2\u00a0 Cup Edition checkered flag graphics lend a purposeful air to the resculpted flanks.\u00c2\u00a0 Inside, you’ll find TDI CUP door sill plates.\u00c2\u00a0 Heavily bolstered front sports seats are upholstered in handsome plaid Interlagos cloth, named after the famous Brazilian track where Formula 1 once raced.<\/p>\n
The Diesel engine package boosts the base price of the TDI Cup Jetta to $24,990, but the surcharge is well worth the extra thousand dollars you’ll pay in lieu of the gas engine.\u00c2\u00a0 The TDI’s advantage lies not in its 140 horsepower rating, which is actually 30hp less than the base Jetta SEL’s 2.5 liter gas engine, but rather in torque, where the Diesel’s 236 lb-ft really outshine the gas motor’s 177 lb-ft.\u00c2\u00a0 With that much torque advantage, the TDI Jetta will leave its gas sibling in the dust most of the time.\u00c2\u00a0 Not only that, but the TDI returns 30 MPG in city running and 42 MPG on the freeway (versus 20\/29 for the gas version).\u00c2\u00a0 In a solid week of running the Cup Edition around town we never managed to sink the fuel gauge below the halfway mark.\u00c2\u00a0 This bodes especially well for long distance trips, where the Jetta’s exceptional interior comfort combines with its great mileage to make it a prime freeway GT.<\/p>\n
If you opt for the DSG automatic transmission, you’ll find the Jetta Cup Edition frees you from ever thinking about what gear you need to select.\u00c2\u00a0 The DSG shifts unobtrusively through its range of 6 speeds with hardly a thump.\u00c2\u00a0 In fact, when you combine the DSG with the TDI motor, you have one of the quietest, least obtrusive powertrains on the road.\u00c2\u00a0 The TDI with DSG is sepulchral.\u00c2\u00a0 If you crave more driver involvement, however, you can paddle-shift the DSG yourself by selecting “Sport” range.\u00c2\u00a0 Or you can forgo the automatic altogether and select the 6-speed manual gearbox, and save yourself $1,100 in the bargain.<\/p>\n
In a nod to the handling demanded by a race series, VW has provided top-level wheels and tires as part of the Cup Edition package. Ten-spoke, 18 inch alloys feature painted aluminum recesses set off by brightly machined rims.\u00c2\u00a0 Premium 225\/40R18 Pirelli P Zero Nero tires secure each corner to the pavement.\u00c2\u00a0 Standard Anti-Slip Regulation works with Electronic Differential Lock to harness the TDI’s torque by reducing wheelspin.\u00c2\u00a0 While the fat Pirellis will squeal at the limit of adhesion, their limit is very high.\u00c2\u00a0 The race-bred handling of this Jetta pays legitimate tribute to the Cup Series that spawned it.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
2011 VOLKSWAGEN JETTA TDI CUP EDITION
\nENGINE:\u00c2\u00a0 2.0 liter, inline 4 cylinder TDI Clean Diesel
\nHORSEPOWER:\u00c2\u00a0 140hp
\nTORQUE:\u00c2\u00a0 236 lb-ft
\nFUEL CONSUMPTION:\u00c2\u00a0 30 MPG CITY\/42MPG HIGHWAY
\nPRICE AS TESTED:\u00c2\u00a0 $31,113<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
2011VOLKWAGEN JETTA TDI CUP EDITION BY DAVID COLMAN The newly introduced 2011 Jetta is larger, and more soft-edged than its predecessor.\u00c2\u00a0 By upsizing their bread and butter sedan, VW hopes to entice North American buyers into abandoning Camrys and Accords in favor of a more family-oriented Jetta.\u00c2\u00a0 But this move to the middle has left […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-automobile","category-new-automobile-products-tests"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stokednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stokednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stokednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stokednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stokednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=44199"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.stokednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44199\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44201,"href":"http:\/\/www.stokednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44199\/revisions\/44201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stokednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=44199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stokednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=44199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stokednews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=44199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}