Volkswagen Jetta SE (2014)

Pros
Great engine/transmission combination on the manual transmission test car we drove. Smooth, peppy, fun to drive.
Their new, optional, turbocharged, 1.8-liter direct-injection engine is an improvement over VW’s old five-cylinder engine. It’s got a fair bit more power. That’s the engine we’d opt for.
Great clutch. Buttery. Makes shifting fun and easy.
Good low-end torque, combined with the great clutch allows you to start in Second Gear from a full stop without bucking or stalling. That’s the sign of an easy-to-live-with manual transmission car.
Fun, sporty handling. Little body roll on corners.
Good visibility.
Good trunk room.
It’s got a real backseat that can be used by people over the age of 10.
Despite the sporty handling, it’s reasonably comfortable, with roomy seating and a pretty calm ride. VW has softened up the ride just a bit, moving it one click in the direction of Buick—although hardly in that neighborhood yet.
You can opt for a good array of accoutrements, including heated seats and a sunroof.
We got 35 MPG on the highway, which is pretty darned good for a comfortable, reasonably roomy, fun to drive car. We averaged about 22 MPG in city driving.

Cons
We don’t know if it’s the sound of the engine or an “engineered” sound that VW added to make the car sound sportier, but there’s a noise from under the hood that sounds to us like cheap, plastic gears grinding. We got used to it. Turning up the radio helped.
The headlights don’t go off automatically when you turn off the ignition. Hard to believe in 2014, but true. In this day and age we can summon a million HD cat videos on our telephones, but you can’t eliminate the risk of draining the battery when you turn off the ignition and forget to turn off the lights?
Entertainment system and in-car electronics felt a generation older than most cars these days. VW needs to catch up. Case in point: The iPhone connector was for the iPhone 4—replaced by Apple two years ago. Some of these items might be corrected for the 2015 model year, but the electronics and display had a bit of an old “Texas Instruments” calculator feel to it.