During my 20-mile run on Sunday, we were looking for topics of conversation to wile away the 3 hours and 47 minutes we spent pounding the pavement along the Chicago lakefront. Invariably, the question came up: So, what do you do for a living?
Thus, the conversation turned to cars. Specifically, my co-leader for the 11-minute-mile pace group wants to trade her 5-year-old SUV in for a vehicle that gets better gas mileage but still gives a higher vantage point. We talked about the new wave of small crossovers before she said the “W” word: Wagon.
There are actually a lot of nice choices in this category, which many people overlook, because somehow wagons just aren’t cool. I’ve got another “W” word for you: Whatever.
We talked about several of the wagons on the market, but in my running-induced haze, I left out a great vehicle that I’d just driven: The 2009 Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen.
I had the opportunity to drive a decked-out SportWagen SE model complete with navigation, leather seats and automatic transmission as well as the base S model with a five-speed manual transmission. I actually liked both the base vehicle, which has a starting price of $19,649, as well as the SE model, which had an as-tested price of $26,899.
The base S model was, as you’d expect, pretty basic with the pure beige cloth seating surfaces and plain audio interface, neither of which bothered me. The center stack was simply designed with intuitive placement of dials and knobs. The seats were soft and comfortable, and my only contention was with the bright beige color. Because of my active lifestyle, I’d prefer the darker anthracite cloth or perhaps some kind of leather to fend off the dirt factor.
The SE model had the optional navigation system ($1,800) that worked pretty well but wasn’t anything special, and the map itself was a little small for my tastes. I also found it a bit odd that the car had navigation but not steering wheel audio controls. The leather on the up-level SE model was slightly stiff but mostly comfortable. The heated seats worked OK, but with a system that allows for five different levels of heat, I would have expected them to be a bit warmer.
My favorite feature on the SE model was the optional power panoramic sunroof ($1,300). The whole roof appeared to be glass, which looked really neat when closed. Then, when the sunroof was open, it offered an excellent open-air experience.
I think wagons, especially sporty ones like the Jetta SportWagen, are the new SUVs. The utility is certainly there. Behind the second-row seat, you have 32.8 cubic-feet of cargo volume. With the seats folded flat, you’ve got 66.9 cubic-feet of cargo volume. In the VW family alone, that bests the cargo volume of the all-new Tiguan crossover and comes within 3 cubic-feet of the Touareg 2 SUV.
The SportWagen also has a rear hatch with tall opening. This is nice for loading larger packages. However, I had a bit of a problem because of my petite size: The rear hatch opened so high that I had a hard time closing it once it was open. Unless I was wearing high heels, I had to do a bit of a jump for the handhold.
Cargo capacity is nice, but the true bonus of the SportWagen comes into play when you look at fuel economy. The SportWagen gets 21 mpg in the city and 29 mpg on the highway, while the Tiguan and Touareg (and pretty much every other SUV and crossover) get city/highway mileages that are sometimes significantly less. The Tiguan has an estimated fuel economy of 19/26 mpg, and the Touareg drops down to 14/19 mpg. The whole “W” proposition looks better and better.
Volkswagen claims that the Jetta SportWagen is “The Wagon that thinks it’s a Sports Car.” While you’re not going to see sub 5-second 0-to-60-mph times in the SportWagen, you are going to experience a certain amount of driving fun.
Both test vehicles came equipped with the base 2.5-liter inline 5-cylinder engine that delivers 170 horsepower and 177 pound-feet of torque. Equipped with the six-speed Tiptronic automatic transmission, the SE model had a nice smooth acceleration that wasn’t quite sedate, but it wasn’t quite stomach dropping either. The S model with the five-speed manual, however, was definitely fun, and I really felt like I could get the exact amount of power out of the engine that I wanted.
For the record, the 0-to-60-mph time for the manual is decent for a wagon at 8.4 seconds. The automatic 0-to-60-mph time is slightly higher at 8.7 seconds.
If this isn’t enough power or enough fun, the SportWagon does come with an up-level turbocharged, inline four-cylinder engine that delivers 200 horsepower and 207 pound-feet of torque. The 0-to-60-mph times are 7.2 seconds for the manual and 6.9 seconds for the automatic.
Though I liked driving the manual transmission better, bringing the petite factor into the equation, I’ve got to recommend the optional automatic transmission ($1,100) for anyone in the 5-foot-tall range. The manual was easy to shift and fun to drive, but the problem was in the seat position. I felt a little penned with my seat far-forward enough to push in the clutch all the way. Additionally, with the seat adjusted for height, my left foot didn’t touch the floor.
Overall, I liked the way the Jetta SportWagen handled. It drove with the alacrity of a regular Jetta, but it adds the utility of a vehicle that’s larger than the new Tiguan. Combine that with fuel economy numbers nearing 30 mpg on the highway, and you definitely have a vehicle worth checking out.
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