The Volkswagen Jetta’s long-awaited changeover from the current
inline-five-cylinder engine to a turbo four will happen in 2013 for the 2014
model year, the company’s U.S. product czar Rainer Michel told us this week.
Soon after, Michel says, the engine will land in a 2014.5 model-year Passat.
This confirms the timing we heard earlier from a different—and
has-to-stay-nameless—source.
Here’s the scoop on the engine changeover. The new engine is a 1.8-liter
turbo four, and it’s essentially a downsized version of the mill in the
Volkswagen GTI and GLI, among other cars. Already on the market in Europe, the
1.8T makes 158 hp and 185 lb-ft of torque. (Those numbers could rise for the
Passat, lest it sit at the bottom of its class in power.) There’s no connection
between the new 1.8T and an unreliable engine of the same displacement offered
in Jettas about a decade ago.
We wave goodbye to a 2.5-liter inline-five,
which debuted in 2005. That engine makes 170 hp and 177 lb-ft, but is neither
high-performance nor thrifty: A Jetta with this engine and a six-speed automatic
needs an unimpressive 8.4 seconds to accelerate from standstill to 60 and scores
24/31 on the EPA cycle. Compare that to the heavier Chevy Cruze—138 hp, 8.0
seconds to 60, ratings of 26/38—and you can see why we’re not sad to see ol’
Fivey sent to the glue factory.
The next-generation Volkswagen Golf, which debuts this fall but comes here in
the fall of 2013, will almost definitely skip the 2.5 altogether. We anticipate
that the Beetle will switch to the 1.8T around the time the Passat does. In the
meantime, if you’re the kind of person who gets free gas and enjoys the warble
of a straight five, the next year will be a good time to buy a VeeDub on the
cheap.
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