daniel1113

Yesterday I traveled back to Colorado to spend time with the family for Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, I had to leave my TSX in the airport parking lot in Pennsylvania... hopefully it will be ok when I get back on Sunday!

Anyway, now that I am home, I had the chance to take my old 2001 VW Jetta out for a spin. Despite the problems that many seem to have with their Jettas, I never had any issues with mine, and always thought it was a pretty solid car. Mine is the 1.8T, so it has some decent power behind it, and the transmission always seemed pretty smooth. However, after driving nothing but my TSX for 3 months, and returning to the Jetta, I cannot believe the difference.

To begin with, in comparison, the Jetta is noisy as hell while driving. There is so much wind noise, not to mention squeeks and rattles, I don't know how they didn't bother me in the past.

Next, the transmission, specifically while shifting, is shaky and not nearly as smooth as the TSX. I also took my mom's 2004 S4 out for a drive, and the TSX was extemely similar in terms of the ease of shifting and overall refinement in the transmission.

Overall, the handling of the Jetta is sluggish and dodgy, despite the turbo. It corners like a car much larger than the mid-size Jetta, and doesn't grip the road at all.

Lastly, the overall quality of the car is definitely a notch or two below the TSX. The interior looks and feels cheap. The doors do not open as easily, nor do they sound as solid when closing. Other than the main driver air vent, none of the vents deliver any air from the AC. There are more, but these seem to stand out.

Despite the above complaints, there are a few things I do miss on my Jetta:

1. The key/FOB combo... Audi and Volkswagen have the best by far. Even after 4 years, my Jetta key looks and feels like new, and it looks great (gotta love the switch flip action).

2. One "turn" sun-roof controls. The sunroof dial is simple to operate and doesn't require the constant pressure like the TSX in order to completely open/close.

3. Automatic door lock/unlock. Although I am not a big fan of many auto features, such as automatic daytime running lights, I do appreciate the automatic door lock and unlock mechanism.

Luckily, when I'm not around my Jetta, I don't really miss any of these features. They just stand out whenever I drive it.

Needless to say, I definitely appreciate the refinement and overall quality that can be found in the TSX. I know the Jetta isn't a direct competitor; however, the difference between the two was so great, I thought I would share.

biker

We'll have an 05 Jetta comparo in here soon enough.

sauceman

Daniel, thank you for your nice write-up. I myself, as an official Jetta (and VW in general) am aways pleased to read comments like these...

brett

After owning an 2001 S4 for almost 4 years, I would say that the shifter in the TSX is BETTER than the S4. Much more precise with better feel. I've had several VW/Audi products, and to me they all had the same "stick in Jello" feeling. Its easy enough to get used to, but a shock when you jump in the car and the stick feels like its actually connected to something.

ianS

How about Audi? I am also a Audi too...
Now, some1 understand my feeling on switching between a german and TSX back to back. My bimmer is such a inferior when compare to my tsx! But I agree, I really want TSX to have these feature: the 1 touch open/close on sunroof/windows, memory seat, unlock the door lock with the door handle.

daniel1113

No problem

I'm definitely not a VW hater, as I love my dad's 2004 Passat W8 and still think my Jetta is a pretty good car. However, the difference between the Jetta and TSX is still astounding.

Even more surprising is that I didn't notice the difference in quality much when I moved up to my TSX. However, as soon as I stepped back down to the Jetta, the difference was blatantly obvious.

ric

Aside from the issues of interior quality control, ergonomics and design, I found one of the biggest differences between my old Jettal GLX V6/17" wheels and my current TSX is in the handling. The Jetta had significant understeer, the TSX significantly less, thanks to some significant groupthink that must have gone on in the development tank at Acura. I had to retune my driving skills significantly from one vehicle to the other; the TSX being infinitely tighter in curves, much cleaner in its tracking and much less given to body roll in aggressive turning.

As for the interior - for the life of me, I cannot figure out why VW cannot figure out how to:
Put the damn cd changer IN THE CAR, vs an addon in the trunk. (Changing your CD cassette in the winter, in the rain, in the summer heat, all of which abound in this area.....sucked.
Provide beverage holders that work (putting them in front of the centermounted air vents and in front of the radio means that you get beverages cunningly thermalized to the heating/cooling and - i had to rely solely on the steering wheel controls or fumble with the beverages. Moreover, the cupholder was a fussy design, got gummed up with someone's beverage, and was never able to be cleaned.

For whatever it's worth, the GLX I got was fully loaded, (some might say overloaded) and was a few thousand bucks on the showroom floor than my TSX. Since this was a lease deal for both cars, the difference shows up in about a $25/month lease rate. The added benefit - I doubt that the TSX will go into terminal electronic failure at 50,000 miles, which my Jetta did in truly spectacular ways.

RMATIC09

Nice write up