Thank you, once again, to Harte VW for letting me take one of their cars for a drive!
The Volkswagen Grand Luxury Injection—or GLI, as it's more commonly known—is the performance version of the Jetta. If you're an enthusiast, you've surely heard of this "GTI with a trunk." If not, it's likely that your VW knowledge does not include this sporty sedan.
From the outside, it looks subdued compared to other sports sedans on the market, but it's definitely more aggressive-looking than the standard Jetta. The red stripe across the stretched-honeycomb front grille and the red GLI tags let you know that this car is equipped with a little something extra. The 2.0L 4-banger from the GTI—which produces 22-hp and 258 lb-ft of torque—Volkswagen's VAQ differential, sport suspension, the big ol' brakes from the Golf R, and—if you choose to upgrade to the Autobahn trim—dynamic chassis control.
This particular GLI is sitting on 18-inch Hanook Kinergy GT all-season tires, but you do have the option to order it with summer tires at no cost.
When compared to the GTI - you get a little more backseat space and a standard trunk at the expense of about 100 extra pounds, a longer wheelbase, and loss of highly-underrated hatchback practicality. For many it comes down to a personal styling preference, but I've come to appreciate the ability to get a large TV or even a large dog into the car without having to "upgrade" to an SUV. If that's not a big deal for you—or even if it is—we're here to talk about the sedan, so let's hop in.
Whether you choose the Autobahn trim or the S, you'll get Titan Black seats with red stitching—which looks both classy and sporty—but the Autobahn gets you leatherette, power seats with memory, and adjustable lumbar support. You also get ventilated seats, which aren't available at all in the current GTI, but will be coming down the pike in the mk8. All of this adds up to a very comfortable place to sit while out for a cruise or hooning down some back roads.
The black continues throughout the interior to the dash, the infotainment system, the center console, the gauge cluster and pretty much every surface of the interior. VW sure does like their black interiors, and I've become a big fan of the classy feel they provide. Just make sure to keep a microfiber towel around for cleaning the fingerprints off of the infotainment screen.
The MIB3 system is new to the VW catalogue and it allows for wireless App-Connect and enhanced voice commands. The new system is only available on the Autobahn trim, while the S trim is equipped with the second-generation MIB with a 6.5-inch screen as opposed to the Autobahn's 8-inch display, and they both use capacitive-touch technology which allows for interactions like swipe and pinch-to-zoom.
For the music fans out there, the Autobahn trim adds Beats Audio—not the Fender system that comes with the upper trim GTIs—and it puts out a very clear sound. I would be perfectly happy blasting music through these speakers on my drive to work.
While stat sheets and sound systems are all interesting enough, let's get down to the important stuff—the drive. Pressing the clutch to the floor, it has a very similar feel to that of the current-generation GTI. It has a moderate weight to it, and I have no complaints. Push-button start is standard on the GLI—and most of the other cars on the market at this point. Maneuvering the shifter into first also has a very similar feel to that of the GTI, displaying good resistance and a clearly-defined track with very little play.
Pulling out onto the road, I can already tell that I'm in for a fun ride. The throttle response feels great—especially when switched into sport mode—and while I do notice a bit of rev-hang, it's not nearly as bad as it is in the standard Jetta. I also note that the pumped-in sound from the Soundaktor is quieter than it is in my 19 GTI—even in sport mode. I would still set my custom mode entirely to Sport, with the exception of putting the noise in Eco if I were to live with this as a daily. The ride is also surprisingly comfortable no matter what mode I'm in, but it certainly softens up a bit when set to Comfort. Bumps and potholes are still felt, but they're more of a soft bounce than a hard shock, and the aforementioned Comfort mode shines the most when traveling down rough roads.
Throwing the car into a tight turn results in just a bit of body roll, but it's much more composed than the standard Jetta thanks to the multi-link independent rear suspension. While I'd still prefer to take those turns in my more compact GTI, I could definitely get used to throwing this around on the twisties. The steering feedback is pretty good for an electric power steering rack. It does a better job than the Fiesta ST in terms of steering feel, but it still is a tad artificial. Like the FiST, this one also has much lighter steering at low speeds and gets heavier as you pick up the pace.
While I may be a bit biased as someone that dailies a GTI, I came away from this one with a really good feeling. If I were in the market for a compact sedan that could be both a comfortable cruiser and a back-road hooner, this would certainly be on my list. The many faces of this car make it work well as a family sedan and a fuel-conscious commuter—at 28 mpg combined—without sacrificing much confidence in the twisties after dropping the kids off at school.
