The powertrain feels peppy around town despite the loss of 20 horses, thanks to the on-tap torque and I suspect shorter gearing of the DSG. The turning circle is reasonable for a car of this size and the back-up camera with guidelines made parking in my narrow condo parking bay hassle free.
    2014 Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid Highline driver’s seat, gauges, touchscreen, centre stack. Click image to enlarge |
The EV mode unfortunately has no hold function on it so you can’t decide when to save battery power and when to use it. Why does that matter? Well I knew I was coming up on a traffic snarl, so wanted to save battery power so I could use almost no engine during my traffic jam escapade. But the system kept using battery power because I was cruising along at 105 km/h. When I got to the blockage, the battery was only a quarter full, and the engine ran pretty much the whole time I was doing less than 30. What a waste! Having driven the Volt (granted, a much more significant battery and electric motor) with this save function, I now think it’s a must-have for all hybrids, even non-plug-in hybrids such as this.
Other than that, the hybrid system is good. The little blue bar in the instrument cluster helps you keep it in EV mode when you want to avoid using the petrol engine – provided the battery has enough charge – and the graphic displays in the touchscreen keeps you abreast of how the car is performing. Apart from those screens, the interplay between the 1.4L turbo four-cylinder, the electric motor and the seven-speed DSG gearbox is smooth enough to be imperceptible.
  2014 Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid Highline. Click image to enlarge |
There is a manual mode on the gearbox but it was set up wrong (back for down, forward for up) and there were no paddle shifters so I didn’t bother trying it. I did try Sport mode and it was noticeably different – it held gears longer and fired the changes off more sharply. It wasn’t intrusive or awkward though so I ended up leaving it there. Regular drive mode will satisfy those who drive with zen calm, me, I’m a little less patient.
The radio and infotainment is excellent ergonomically, again benefiting from the principle of simplicity – but the map graphics are now outdated and I found the accuracy and response of the GPS lacking. An improvement is overdue. The Bluetooth setup is easy too, but only if you already know how to do it – there are no prompts and the setup menu doesn’t give access to phone pairing options – you have to hit the phone button on the steering wheel to activate the setup system and then search for the car from your phone. This is one of the few areas where VW is beginning to lag behind the crowd.
The sound quality is great from the Fender-branded system, and tuning stations is simple thanks to the retention of a tuning knob. The steering-wheel controls scroll through presets.
The only confusing controls are those for the headlights/fog lights, coupled with the three-stage light height settings on the stalk near the steering wheel. I still don’t know how to turn the fog lights on, nor what those three settings actually achieve. In the end I ignored that stalk except for when I wanted to use cruise control. Cruise control on the Jetta works well, neither over-accelerating nor over-retarding the car on up and downhill sections. It’s not adaptive, but this is a sub-40K car after all.
The cruise control was helpful in my 6.8 L/100 km weekly average, one of my absolute best results to date. Sure it wasn’t the 4.5 I got out of the Toyota Prius C, but this is a much larger and more “car-like” rig. Still, I was way off the EPA’s rating of 5.6/4.9/5.2 L/100 km city/highway/combined – probably because I was doing an impression of the rabbit from Alice in Wonderland most of the week I drove it. [The rest of the time he’s more like the Mad Hatter. Or one of the Tweedles. Or both. –Ed.]
As far as hybrids go, the Jetta is extremely car like. If you want a car that drives like one and just happens to also have a bit of added fuel economy thanks to some trick electronics, then the Jetta is a safe bet. It handles well, goes quick enough and is genuinely practical as a family hauler. There’s a hybrid badge to promote your wonderful eco-friendly nature, but to the casual observer the Jetta Turbocharged Hybrid is just another handsome family car.
Sure, it’s a big step up from the $14,990 base Jetta to this one at $35,300 but it comes with an equivalent step up in terms of features and driving experience – not to mention green credibility.
Pricing: 2014 Jetta Hybrid Highline
Base Price (Jetta Trendline): $14,990
Base Price (Jetta Hybrid Highline): $35,300
Options: Oryx White Pearl Paint – $300
A/C Tax: $100
Freight and PDI: $1,395
Price as Tested: $37,095
Competitors:
Chevrolet Volt
Honda Accord Hybrid
Toyota Camry Hybrid
Crash Test Results:
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS)
