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Consumer Reports Test VW Jetta Hybrid

America was, from the very beginning, a hybrid supporter.Volkswagen… not so much. But Toyota sold them in the millions, while the Germans kept true to their turbo technology, until they realized they can do both.
Jetta Hybrid 1 photo
Photo: screenshot from Youtube
The 2013 VW Jetta Hybrid is a car with both positives and negatives. The powertrain is without a doubt its main feature. Combining a 1.4-liter TSI turbo engine with an electric motor resulted in a car that VW USA believes could deliver around 45 mpg.

That's not as good a Prius, but then this has other advantages. For example, most of what you see and touch is typical VW premium quality. It's also got the smooth shifting and sporty dual-clutch gearbox.

Consumer Reports tested the car and found it had many good features and also some bad ones. For instance, the trunk is too small because they placed a battery there. But if you want a more efficient car that doesn't come gimmicks of a hybrid, this is it.

The biggest problem is the price, which starts at $24,995. The one CR tested was an SE model with alloys and leather, which meant it came in at $28,055. We think that's a bit unreasonable for a compact sedan. After all, part having an economical car is that you want it to save you money.

In case you didn't know, the Jetta Hybrid's 1.4-liter turbo makes an impressive 150 hp and is boosted by another 27 hp from the electric motor. It gets to 60 mph in 8.6 seconds and can run for little over a mile on battery power alone, provided you don't go over 44 mph (70 km/h).

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About the author: Mihnea Radu
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Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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