Volkswagen Jetta GLI Autobahn: The Fancy Civic Si

Описание: Let’s test drive and review the 2025 Volkswagen Jetta GLI Autobahn!

The Jetta GLI came to America in 1984. That old model had fuel injection, 90 horsepower, and a five-speed manual transmission. Volkswagen had luck with the sporty Rabbit GTI — or Golf, if you prefer — and decided to make a sportier Jetta as well. The Jetta was called a “GTI with a trunk,” and the goal was for it to be an accessible German performance sedan.

In the past four decades, the evolution of that old model made what we have today: the 2025 GLI. In 2025, the regular Volkswagen Jetta sedan starts at $22,500 American dollars, with a base 158-horsepower engine. The Jetta GLI performance edition is a $10,000 price jump to nearly $33,000, and your horsepower figure goes up to 228. 

The only VW Jetta GLI trim currently available is the Autobahn. The 2025 GLI Autobahn has a turbocharged, 2.0-liter, 4-cylinder engine with 228 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque. That turbo power goes through either a 6-speed manual transmission or a 7-speed DSG automatic to the front wheels. The car in this review is the manual.

I often do a speech about how glad I am to have new, manual cars on the American market in 2025. The Volkswagen Golf GTI is now a 7-speed DSG automatic only, but the GLI kept the manual in America. In 2024, Motor1 reported the exact reason: Emission regulations and demand. The Golf GTI is a global model, and while half of the American GTI buyers opted for the manual in 2023, only 5 percent of global buyers were opting for it. That meant Volkswagen cut it.

The GLI, however, is a North American model, and had a 40 percent take rate at the same time as the Golf GTI was at 50. That meant the North American arm of Volkswagen got to say: “Hey, dude, we’re going to keep building it.” To me, the long-term health of a manual GLI in America is actually good.

In America, the GLI competes against cars like the Honda Civic Si and Hyundai Elantra N. None of these are the fastest cars from 0-60 in the world, but they are so cool — they offer new, manual performance cars with decent acceleration off the line at affordable prices. You can have fun on a budget.

The GLI specifically is a top-model Jetta in a grown-up package. It has heated and ventilated seats, leather, a shiny infotainment system with Apple CarPlay, and all kinds of comfort features. It’s also more laid back; the exhaust isn’t deafening; you’re not craving the sound of a blow-off valve; and speed isn’t the biggest priority.

Thanks for watching my YouTube channel. Enjoy the drive (and the video)!

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