By Christopher A. Sawyer
The Virtual Driver

(July 17, 2015) At the very last minute I had to run home and take a clipping off one of the arbor vitae in the backyard, and bring it to the garden center. Ravaged by two winter’s of bone-chilling cold and snow, the shrubs were looking dreadful. Putting the clipping into the cupholder, I buckled up and got ready for the return run.

That’s when I noticed it. The cupholders felt slightly flimsy and were missing the rubber liner found in every VW. Had VW cheapened the latest Jetta GLI?

It wouldn’t be the first time the folks in Wolfsburg — or is it the U.S. headquarters in Herndon, Virginia? — messed with the Jetta recipe. Since introducing the current car, buyers have been through a dizzying set of upgrades and downgrades.

At first, only the SEL and GLI had four-wheel disc brakes, and only the GLI got the multi-link independent rear suspension. Then there’s the trim: worried that the volume SE model looked too dowdy, VW added a bright trim strip along the lower window line, only to remove it with the next refresh. Even the warranty was “adjusted” from 3 years/30,000 miles free scheduled maintenance to 2 years/20,000 miles to the current 12 month/10,000 miles with the option to buy more years and miles.

It’s enough to give you a headache. Thankfully, I found no other obvious cost reductions, though I did discover a number of new things to appreciate.

The first among these is the new powertrain, a direct-injected inline four that goes under the EA888 name. It produces 210 horsepower and 207 lb.-ft. of torque — not much better than the engine it replaces — but it does so with more sophistication and much better fuel economy. That sophistication is magnified by a slick six-speed manual gearbox that is both light and satisfyingly notchy; a Swiss-watch of precision compared to most gearboxes in this class.

As if to show competitors like the Subaru Impreza WRX and Honda Civic Si how it’s done, VW’s development engineers matched the control efforts of the steering wheel, accelerator, brake pedal and clutch to that of the gearshift. Doing so takes a lot of time and effort, but the results are well worth it as the driving experience is “of a piece” as if carved from billet.

This sense of serenity carries over to the suspension, which is firmly compliant, and is capable of handling both city street and curvy road. VW often errs on the side of its Porsche cousin, using dampers and springs that are too stiff for everyday work, and can punish driver and passengers 95% of the time in order to chase the last percent of grip for the 5% of the time the car is driven hard. This has been lessened a bit on the GLI.

It’s still no Lotus, but it can handle the day-to-day without making you wonder why you bought so uncompromising a car in the first place. And, because it isn’t tuned for boy racer fan boys, it gives the driver a sense of confidence as it handles corners and road irregularities equally well.

This is a car that encourages you to hunt down accessorized JDM sport compact sedans, but doesn’t require that you go deaf from the aftermarket muffler, lose continence due to the overly stiff suspension, or sit entombed in a sport seat long on bolstering but short on padding. And whereas that driver may arrive at your destination a bit earlier (depending on the length and number of straight sections where he can exercise his high-output engine), you will pull up invigorated by the quick drive, not enervated like your nemesis.

Some of this difference is due to the GLI being fitted with VW’s XDS Cross Differential System that reduces understeer by gently braking the inside front wheel as it unloads in a corner. The rest is due to comfortable yet supportive front seats, thick and well-shaped flat-bottom steering wheel, excellent sightlines, AM/FM/CD/Satellite Fender Premium audio system, automatic climate control, and more. Oh, and the price: $27,740 including destination.

And while VW has the 2016 Jetta GLI waiting in the wings, you can go to you local VW dealer before the end of July and lease a GLI SE for $239/month with $2,199 down for 3 years/36,000 miles. Sure, the 2016 version has a more aggressive front fascia, upgraded infotainment system, front and rear Park Distance Control and standard Post-Collision Braking, but it is the reason you can get a deal on a 2015 right now.

And trust me, you won’t care about those upgrades once you’re behind the wheel of the 2015 GLI.

The Virtual Driver