Long term test report

Volkswagen let us have a Jetta for a fuel-efficiency run, and it ended up spending two months with us. In that time, MH02 BJ 1153 did everything from high-speed runs from Mumbai to the VW factory in Chakan to standing in one place for an entire week without being so much as cranked. We regret not taking it for a holiday, though – that’s about the only thing we didn’t do with it.

Some of our original complaints still remain – the ground clearance can prove a bit of a bother on large speedbreakers, the mirrors don’t show us much during rush hour despite the outward edges possessing a smaller radius of curvature, and the brakes felt too sharp with not enough resistance from the pedal at low speeds. We’d like the air-conditioner to be a little more powerful for Indian summers; it tends to get awfully hot at the rear despite the separate blower, especially if the car is driven quickly. And for all its crushing ability, we couldn’t do much at night because the headlamps refused to show us much on low beam - it was either blind or be blinded. The left headlamp beam needs leveling, it's almost on the ground just ahead of the bumper on low. Things weren’t helped out by the shocking violet dials that had to be dimmed to prevent hurting sensitive eyes.

For all our complaints, though, the good things far outnumbered the bad. The leather did get dirty quite quickly since it was beige, but it led to a very airy feeling when seated in the cabin. The music system satisfied everyone, from KG’s ‘retro hits’ tastes to CP’s hard rock ones. The Menu on the Jetta has been the easiest system to use yet - quick, simple and no confusion on which buttons to push. Scrolling through the menus and activating the left mirror dip on reverse didn't make the mirror dip on reverse and this is something that no doubt the VW service chaps will fix. The boot was big enough to hold two cameramen (it was the middle of the day, and it was during a shoot with Zee Business – no funny business! Pun unintended.) The running gear was rock solid – for all our fast driving, the front wheels were still perfectly aligned after two months with us, the engine had opened up a bit and the DSG box still overshadows the best from the rest. It may sound like ‘only’ 106bhp, but the torque that this engine musters when you pin your foot the carpet is phenomenal. The accompanying drone wasn’t much to our liking, but we’d like to add a can of STP lube additive and see how that works out.

We’ve had many memorable drives with this car, on one occasion shadowing an S-Class who did his best to shake us off the entire length of the Mumbai-Pune expressway. The Jetta is rock solid at 200+kph, and feels like it can cruise all day at those speeds. We know of cars twice the price that don't inspire that kind of confidence. The engine and the gearbox are brilliant. You can cruise all day in the 6th at 60kph and get brilliant economy figures. You never feel that engine or gearbox stressing. The new game in the Jetta was to see how many kms to the litre we could eke out and see how the real time Distance to Empty counter showed crazy range readings with a light foot. The way the DSG box responds has spoilt us - we now expect the same kind of response from other auto boxes and the paddle shift is a big plus when you are tackling bends at ridiculous speeds. The levels of grip are fantastic and the car always feels superbly in control and rides absolutely flat even on undulating roads. When driven the way we usually do, on highways, this heavy automatic car managed to return an impressive 13.6kpl – now that’s a figure most small cars would be proud of!

What one does tend to miss in this top-of-the-line Jetta is Bluetooth compatibility for a phone and an Aux in for an iPod. These two small things would really make the car so much more complete. But we want Great White back for a hello in a while to see how it is holding up. We doubt if there will be as much of a rattle or a squeak (there was one from somewhere in the rear left behind the seat.) No matter how long the Jetta was kept in the sun, it shone every Saturday morning after the weekly shampoo – the wax was almost not required. Even CP’s mother misses seeing the car in the parking lot. The Great White will be missed.