Volkswagen Jetta III GLX VR6
The Volkswagen Jetta, a third-generation Golf, except with a trunk. The Jetta
has been the best selling Volkswagen in the US ever since 1984. The car with
some European flair, without the European price. The standard Jetta is quite
a capable car. Beneath the hood is a not so powerful, yet worthy SOHC 2.0
liter 8-valve, inline-4 engine that drives the front wheels. Not until very
recently has there been a Jetta with the adequate German built VR6 engine. The
GLX can be thought of as the poor-man's BMW, but low and behold it is mightier.
With 172 bhp under the hood, the GLX can zip to 60 mph in 7.7 seconds, and do
the standing quarter mile in a good, for a domestic car, 16.1 seconds. What
does this all mean? The GLX is a whole lot faster than the BMW 318i, and it is
competitive with the BMW 325i. So with a base price of $19,975 (US) the GLX
offers a lot of bang for the buck. The bang comes from VW's corporate VR6, a
compacted marvel whose VR designation is German for Vee Reihenmotor. With a
15-degree cast-iron block capped by a single aluminum-alloy cylinder head, it
is obvious to why VR might mean "inline-v." The head-- an intricate casting
with intake and exhaust passages for all six cylinders-- carries two chain-
driven camshafts. The GLX VR6 may likely be the world's only V-6 with a single
exhaust manifold, because of the head's cross-flow design. The GLX circled a
200-foot skidpad at 0.81g, and weaved through the slalom cones at 60.3 mph. The
GLX came to a stop from 60 mph in 141 feet. All in all, critics rate the VW
Jetta III GLX VR6 as one of the funnest four sedan to drive. In many ways the
GLX is the upcoming Golf GTI, albeit one with two extra doors and a large trunk.
Read about the NEUSPEED Volkswagen Jetta GLX VR6 or the AUTOTECH Jetta VR6.
