Day 2 was diesel day.  I drove the Jetta TDI (scheduled to be available towards the end of the year) same route as far as Pt. Reyer station and returned to San Francisco by retracing my steps. The Jetta TDI comes with Volkswagen’s DSG transmission, something worth looking at for a moment.  DSG stands for Direkt-Schalt-Getribe or Direct-Shift Gearbox in English and it’s an electronically-controlled manual gearbox without a clutch pedal.  It can be operated in full automatic or semi-manual mode.

The 236 pound-feet of torque made a noticeable difference in my drive.  It’s torque that matters in low-speed passing and acceleration.  Power delivery was smooth and linear and going from 50 km/h (30 mph) to 90 km/h (55 mph) was almost instantaneous.

The 2011 Jetta TDI is powered by the same 140-hp, 2.0-liter turbo-diesel four-cylinder engine as the current Jetta TDI – and it’s the same engine that gave Volkswagen a Guinness World Record for Lowest Fuel Consumption.  The 236 pound-feet (320 Newton-meters) of diesel torque starts at $22,995 and comes with all of the features of the SE – including the convenience package and the sunroof, which makes the additional cost of the diesel variant only $2,200.

For $24,195, Volkswagen adds keyless access and push-button start, a 5” touchscreen satellite navigation system, lumbar adjustment for the driver, fog lamps, a chrome grill, and interior metal-look accents.

The Jetta TDI can go faster than other 2011 Jettas (209 km/h or 130 mph versus 204 km/h or 127 mph for the petrol SE/L and 193 km/h or 120 mph for the Jetta S).  It travels from 0-60 mph in 8.7 seconds, a figure that is somewhat slower than the previous-generation Jetta.  Fuel economy for the 2011, however, is somewhat improved.

The 2011 Jetta TDI uses only 7.8 l/100 km (30 mpg) in the city and a mere 5.6 l/100 km (42 mpg) on the highway – and this figure doesn’t change if you opt for the smooth-shifting DSG automatic.  Furthermore, it’s likely that owners will see even better fuel economy.  The 2010 Jetta, which had the same EPA rating, used only 6.2 l/100 km (38 mpg) in the city and 5.3 l/100 km (44 mpg) on the highway according to tests by third-party certifier AMCI.

Both Jettas were sharp and responsible in handling and I felt connected with the road in a way that seems to elude the competition from Japan and Korea.  Ride quality was excellent, not too harsh and not too soft.

Volkswagen expects to ramp up its sales to 800,000 units per year in the U.S. by 2018, largely through increased sales of the Jetta, Beetle, and a new mid-sized sedan,  and it’s clear that the buyers of those cars will be very, very happy when they sit behind the wheel.

–Paul Riegler is associate editor for technology at Executive Road Warrior

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