First MKV Jetta sighting

Since I have never driven in LA but I have been driving for the last
27 years merging on occasion. I can come up with 600,000 miles I have
driven which I know is not much but I have driven a bit. I have pulled
a horse trailer with a Toyota pickup, I have driven a dump truck, I
have driven a diesel passenger bus, aircooled VW's and Porsches,
Suburan towing a 32' trailer, 67 Fury towing a 67 Hilo tailer, a 2003
TDI Jetta wagon with a slipping clutch, 70 Nova with a 250, a Aspen
with 225 and other vehicles. None of those vehicles accelerate like a
68 Camaro with a 350, headers and all that hot rod stuff, a 72 Polara
CHP with a 440 and manual steering, a Mustang GT, or other vehicles I
have driven that are sort of fast. A good driver know the limits of
the vehicle and works within those limits. Preferably well within the
limits. There have to be a lot of people driving slow vehicles in LA
that have patience and survive merging madness. I have been on a few
of those short ramp merging lanes. I look for a big gap and go as fast
as those 53 hp will let me go. Heck, I have had vehicles that could
not reach 70 mph in a quarter mile. It sounds like you might not last
a day in some of the vehicles I have driven. My tractor has a top
speed of 10 mph. That is a real thrill going down the road.

"Steven Grauman" > wrote:

>I understand that speed isn't the major factor for many people when
>picking a new car, but it does come into play, at least a little, for
>me. When a car is almost a full second slower than the class average, I
>start to wonder if that'll be a big deterrant trying to get up crowded
>onramps here in Los Angeles where I'll need to be carrying decent speed
>in order to merge safely. At the same time, I re-read the C&D article
>and it's not clear to me if that 9.1 second time was actually gathered
>via C&D testing or if that's the number VW gave them. VW's factory
>numbers tend to be slow, for instance: they give my GTI a 7.1 second
>time but C&D tested it at 6.5 seconds, this is normal of VW's times. If
>VW rates the car at 9.1 seconds, I have no reason to believe it won't
>actually be in the mid-8s, putting it back on par with the class
>average of about 8.5 seconds.8.5 isn't exactly sports car territory
>either, but a $20-25k dollar compact sedan in 2005 should be in that
>area, if not slightly better. It still won't be as quick as a 325i, but
>BMW gets as much as $34k for 325is, and it better be quicker for a $10k
>price premium over the Jetta!


Jim B.

"Rob Guenther" > wrote in message
. ..
>Plus, is 9 seconds really slow? - I bet you in real world acceleration it
>feels faster then all those high revving cars (maybe not the
>cobalt...American engines are torquey)....

I don't think it's slow. When the regular '85 Golf appeared it did 0-60 in
about 10.5 seconds and it was considered peppy and similar to the previous
GTI.

Of course, standards change but 9 seconds is fine for a car that isn't out
to be a performance car. The Jetta is a premium small sedan, not a 3-series
(although I'm sure VW would probably like it to be).

>Corolla's are fast on paper, but come on - no one drives to 6500rpm and
>shifts up on a regular basis (especially ppl who drive Corollas).

Agreed.

I think I had the opposite reaction to you at the showroom... initially I
was the same "oh no, they've built a Corolla"

then I saw the MK5 right next to the MK4 in the showroom... All I could
think was, boy the MK4 looks out of date - MK5 looked wider, lower, and
bigger - much more presence to it.

Yah the rear end looks like a Corolla, and the rear lamps works in the same
useless way as a Chevy Impala's (well a little better) - Main ring for
brakes, main ring for running lights, outer half of main ring for turn
signals (and they're NOT amber!!!)

But overall the car's nice... the interior is a nice step up - I love
Jetta's (MK4's) but they are too damn small.

All the VW's are going to start looking like the Jetta - hope you can get
over it.

Everyone at the showroom seemed to like the styling, and they were all VW
owners (Jetta demo event, owners were invited for a sneak peak).
"1.8 Turbo" > wrote in message
...
>
>> "Steven Grauman" > wrote in message
>> oups.com...
>>>I saw an MKV Jetta on the road for thew first time two days ago, a 2.5
>>> that appeared to have a nice level of equipment, although I was on the
>>> highway and could not get a very good look.
>
> I saw photos when it first came out - my gut reaction was the same as many
> people have described: Corolla. I later heard people describe it as much
> better looking in person, so I was eager to get a look at one up close,
> and felt like my knee-jerk initial reaction had to be wrong.
>
> I noticed a couple parked at the dealer this afternoon, so I pulled over
> to take a look. I made sure to walk all the way around, peer inside,
> underneath, etc.
>
> I cannot describe how underwhelmed I felt - disappointed, even - with the
> sheer, sheer ugliness of that car. Parked 40 ft away was a CPOed 2001
> Jetta - it was like night and day. A solid-looking beefy german car to my
> left, and an overtall pointy-looking wannabe rice rocket on my right.
>
> At this point I now realize it's extremely unlikely that my next new car
> will be a VW. This just makes me sad. I'm sure that the Jetta will be an
> efficient and reliable machine, but it's a big let-down for someone who
> once was a loyal customer.
>
> Perhaps this is how former BMW 5-series enthusiasts feel?
>

1.8 Turbo wrote:
>
> At this point I now realize it's extremely unlikely that my next new car
> will be a VW. This just makes me sad. I'm sure that the Jetta will be an
> efficient and reliable machine, but it's a big let-down for someone who once
> was a loyal customer.

Well, I guess if you're hung up on looks, then yeah. It's still a VW
underneath.

> Perhaps this is how former BMW 5-series enthusiasts feel?

However, in the case of the 5-series, the changes were not just
cosmetic. iDrive, active steering, etc. - all conspire to the make the
5-series less than what it used to be, and not just in the looks
department. It's good to see that they've apparently learned their
lesson (belatedly) with the new 3-series.

--
Mike Smith

<< I have been on a few of those short ramp merging lanes. I look for a
big gap and go as fast as those 53 hp will let me go. Heck, I have had
vehicles that could not reach 70 mph in a quarter mile. It sounds like
you might not last
a day in some of the vehicles I have driven.>>

Where I dirve, I might not. Talk to me after you've tried to do the 405
to 101 interchange, where you get dumped into the fast lane where
traffic is probably coming up your ass doing 75-80 MPH and you need to
get up to speed. Can't do it? BOOM! Of course this interchange has been
done in slow cars, god knows there's plenty of them about. It's just
that a really slow car sometimes means an extra prayer before you leave
the house. ;-)

<<My tractor has a top speed of 10 mph. That is a real thrill going
down the road>>

Something tells me your tractor doesn't spend much time in the fast
lane on major interstates. Look, I'm not saying we all need Farraris,
but when a similarly priced vehicle with a larger engine (the Jetta
2.5) can't come within 2 seconds of my 1.8T's 0-60 time, I find it a
bit unsatisfying.

I love the new Jetta's interior, and I liked the GLI quite a bit with
the GTI's honeycomb grill and slightly lowered stance (I hate the rims
though, why they did away with the 18-inch BBS beauties is beyond me).
The standard model, albeit nearly identicle to the GLI, is just to much
like a Corolla for me, I can't get into the exterior styling. I've been
whining about some of VW's choices for over a year myself. And while I
love my MKIV GTI, I'm also at the point where I don't think my next car
will be a VW product unless I can afford the upcoming B6 Passat or they
make some sudden styling changes to the MKV GTI and Jetta GLI, which
would have been my first two choices as replcements for my GTI assuming
I'm stuck in the same price bracket. Otherwise, it's probably gonna be
a new A3 2.0T or a BMW 1-Series, if I can afford them, or a used 330i
if I can't.

You will never be convinced but you pretty darn fast 1.8T is faster
than a lot of cars that were considered fast cars in to 60's and 70's.
You should always pray if folks thnk 80 mph is acceptable in left
merge lanes. We have some in Atlanta and they spook me all the time
when i have to use them. Atlanta has plenty of dumb butt drivers that
think driving 80 in a 55 during high traffic count is ok. If course
you see smoke and sparks on occasion when they screw up. Kind of funny
when 3 and 4 lanes of traffic start making u-turns in the middle of
the highway because all lanes are blocked and the exit is a half mile
back. The time it takes to scrape up bodies because they were too
stupid to wear seat balts along with speeding makes for annoying
traffic jambs. Maybe not as epic as where you live but there have been
4 and 5 hour blocked highways.

Don't buy a new Jetta with a base engine. Heck you dd not buy a car
with the 2slow. Compare the 2slow with the new base engine if you want
to compare apples with apples.

"Steven Grauman" > wrote:

><< I have been on a few of those short ramp merging lanes. I look for a
>big gap and go as fast as those 53 hp will let me go. Heck, I have had
>vehicles that could not reach 70 mph in a quarter mile. It sounds like
>you might not last
>a day in some of the vehicles I have driven.>>
>
>Where I dirve, I might not. Talk to me after you've tried to do the 405
>to 101 interchange, where you get dumped into the fast lane where
>traffic is probably coming up your ass doing 75-80 MPH and you need to
>get up to speed. Can't do it? BOOM! Of course this interchange has been
>done in slow cars, god knows there's plenty of them about. It's just
>that a really slow car sometimes means an extra prayer before you leave
>the house. ;-)
>
><<My tractor has a top speed of 10 mph. That is a real thrill going
>down the road>>
>
>Something tells me your tractor doesn't spend much time in the fast
>lane on major interstates. Look, I'm not saying we all need Farraris,
>but when a similarly priced vehicle with a larger engine (the Jetta
>2.5) can't come within 2 seconds of my 1.8T's 0-60 time, I find it a
>bit unsatisfying.


Jim B.

<<We have some in Atlanta and they spook me all the time
when i have to use them. Atlanta has plenty of dumb butt drivers that
think driving 80 in a 55 during high traffic count is ok.>>

I've never been to Atlanta, but my father had family there (they've all
passed now except one of them) and he's been a few times. The last time
he and my mother were there was in late 1982, and even back then my
father says traffic was pretty bad. Of course it's always fairly bad in
major cities, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, New York and Atlanta
all have their various traffic problems.

<<Don't buy a new Jetta with a base engine. Heck you dd not buy a car
with the 2slow. Compare the 2slow with the new base engine if you want
to compare apples with apples.>>

Two of my cousins got brand new Jetta's late last year with 2.0s and
the auto tranny. I'd thought that the 4Motion Passat 1.8T tip and
4Motion V6 were slugs, but those things are really slow! Although they
have pretty decent torque at lower RPM and they're fine on surface
streets, but merging onto certain L.A. freeways or trying to pass large
trucks up the pass into Camarillo on the 101 Freeway is pretty
difficult in them. Although they aren't any worse than the Corolla LE
rental I was stuck with. Nontheless, I get spoiled in my GTI and many
cars in the same price bracket feel very slow by comparison.

<<Yep - but I'll bet they drove more than one buyer away on looks
alone. I
certainly wouldn't buy one, even at a non-BMW price. And no - I'm not
an
anti-BMW snob.>>

I used to really like the 540i, especially 6-speed equipped version.
Now I wouldn't even think of owning one, with iDrive and it's confused
rear quarters.

On 28 Mar 2005 01:45:25 -0800, "Steven Grauman" >
wrote:

><<Yep - but I'll bet they drove more than one buyer away on looks
>alone. I
>certainly wouldn't buy one, even at a non-BMW price. And no - I'm not
>an
>anti-BMW snob.>>
>
>I used to really like the 540i, especially 6-speed equipped version.
>Now I wouldn't even think of owning one, with iDrive and it's confused
>rear quarters.

**How do you like the new 3-series? I think it looks pretty decent.

kaboomie