All in all, the Jetta is a car that rewards hard driving with a heck of a good time. The steering wheel is thin in diameter and thick in width, with perfectly-sized indentations along the rear edge for fingers. The height adjustable seat and tilt steering column will allow most drivers to find a comfortable position behind the wheel. The gearshift falls readily to hand. The stark, subdued dashboard doesn't distract from the task of driving.
Forward visibility is excellent, offering an unobstructed view of the pavement.
Firm seats covered with grippy fabric hold the driver in place, and though we wished for beefier seatback side support, we did not miss the rock hard thigh bolsters of the GLX model. The Jetta's interior design encourages sporting driving, even when the powertrain does not. Like many German- designed automobiles, the Jetta suffers certain interior quirks. Fortunately, obscurely defined symbols are few, but the gauges and control buttons are all too small to see, understand, interpret, and operate with efficiency. Exterior power mirror controls are awkwardly placed on the door panel, and the rear power windows and central power door locks are operated using buttons located on the dashboard.