It feels like the end of the manual transmission is right around the corner. Options keep dwindling, and we’re not only about to lose another reasonably priced three-pedal car, but see an automaker exit the row-your-own market altogether. The 2026 Jetta GLI will be the last stick-shift Volkswagen sold in America. That’s it.
You’ll still be able to buy a 2027 Jetta GLI, but it’ll only come with Volkswagen’s DSG dual-clutch automatic. This is the last chance to dance, but is this turbocharged 228-horsepower sport compact a suitable dance partner? I spent a week living with one to find out.
[Full disclosure: Volkswagen Canada let me borrow this Jetta GLI for a week so long as I kept the shiny side up, returned it clean with a full tank of fuel, and reviewed it.]
The Basics
Engine: Two-liter twin-cam 16-valve turbocharged intercooled inline-four.
Transmission: Six-speed manual, optional seven-speed dual-clutch automatic.
Drive: Front-wheel-drive, electronically controlled limited-slip differential.
Output: 228 horsepower at 5,000 RPM, 258 lb.-ft. of torque at 1,700 RPM.
Fuel Economy: 26 MPG city, 36 MPG highway, 29 MPG combined (9.1 L/100km city, 6.5 L/100km highway, 8.1 L/100km combined) for the manual; 26 MPG city, 35 MPG highway, 29 MPG combined (9.5 L/100km city, 6.7 L/100km highway, 8.2 L/100km combined in Canada) for the dual-clutch automatic.
Base Price: $35,020 including freight ($37,545 in Canada).
Price As-Tested: $35,475 including freight ($38,045 in Canada).
Why Does It Exist?
For the past half-century, the Volkswagen Golf GTI has been the archetypal hot hatch. Unfortunately, some Americans are still violently allergic to hatchbacks. Over the years, this has produced some styling travesties like the Ford Fiesta Sedan, but it’s also given us the wonderfully sensible Jetta GLI. It’s the sedan equivalent of a Golf, beefed up with more power and a crisper chassis tune. A perfect natural rival for the Honda Civic Si.
How Does It Look?
We’re now on the second facelift of the seventh-generation Jetta GLI, and it’s a slightly contentious one. Some of the shut lines on the nose are a bit clumsy, and the spokes of the diamond-cut wheels look a tad wispy, but it’s a Brooks Brothers suit compared to the Hyundai Elantra N’s boy racer look. If you wrapped the lipstick on the front bumper black and pulled the emblems off the doors, most people wouldn’t be able to tell the GLI from a regular Jetta. There’s something pleasing about that.
There’s a general handsomeness to this car’s profile, with chiseled lines breaking up the sheetmetal on a traditional silhouette. The creases low down on the doors continue to age like fine wine, and it’s pleasing to see two real exhaust tips poking out of the rear valence. That being said, I’m not so sure about the light bar across the upper grille at night. It’s a bit garish, and if I owned one of these, I’d be trying to unplug it before even leaving the dealer’s delivery bay.
What About The Interior?
Slide behind the wheel of the Jetta GLI, and you’ll immediately be greeted by the return of physical buttons to the steering wheel. It’s Volkswagen’s course-correction for going all-in on capacitive touch controls several years ago, and while the climate control panel is still unfortunately devoid of real buttons, I’ll never miss accidentally activating the heated steering wheel whilst steering hand-over-hand. Moving beyond the wheel, the general quality of the GLI’s materials is a big step up from the Hyundai Elantra N, but doesn’t touch the Honda Civic Si‘s wonderfully upscale cabin. The GLI gives you stitched textiles on the dashboard and door cards, soft-touch surfaces up top, and lovely aluminum pedals, but the giant slab of shiny black plastic on the face of the dash feels like a miss. Still, everything feels solidly made, with no undue squeaks, rattles, or wiggly panels.
As for the front seats and driving position, it’s all well and good here. The power memory driver’s seat offers solid comfort and support, and not only is the leather on the steering wheel gorgeous, but the tilt-and-telescopic column offers a huge range of adjustment. That being said, there are a few evident cost-cutting measures on display in the GLI. Little spring-loaded tabs in the cup holders to keep coffees secure would be welcome, as would rear seat air conditioning vents. Still, aside from the lack of rear air-con vents, the GLI’s not a bad place for backseat drivers. Although the middle passenger will need to get around a fairly typical hump in the floor, there’s a surprising amount of space back there once you’re situated, and outboard passengers can have their rears heated. Talk about bourgeoisie decadence.
How Does It Drive?
Under the hood of the Jetta GLI, you’ll find Volkswagen’s familiar EA888 two-liter turbocharged inline-four in a 228-horsepower state of tune. That might not sound like much, but between 258 lb.-ft. of torque coming in below 2,000 RPM and a reasonable curb weight of 3,247 pounds, this sedan flings itself down the road with admirable haste. Figure zero-to-60 mph in about six seconds, not a bad time at all for a fun daily driver. What’s more, this engine makes peak power on regular 87-octane gasoline, a significant advantage over the premium-sipping Honda Civic Si.
Of course, the big story for 2026 is that it’s the last call for a stick-shift Volkswagen. After the discontinuation of the six-speed manual in the Golf GTI and Golf R, the Jetta GLI is the last VW flying the three-pedal flag, so is it worth ticking the box to row your own gears? Well, the shifter’s nowhere near as crisp as the one in a Civic Si, the gearknob itself feels like it came in a cereal box, and second gear is hilariously long, topping out at north of 75 MPH. However, the six-speed in the GLI is wonderfully easy to drive, unencumbered by the significant rev hang that plagues the Honda. Anti-stall throttle compensation’s baked in to avoid any embarrassing moments at the lights, and matching revs on downshifts just takes a slight blip of the skinny pedal. It’s the sort of gearbox that adds engagement without hassle, and that philosophy carries through to the GLI’s ride and handling balance.
Once up to speed, it’s hard not to marvel at just how well the GLI rides. The masterfully tuned adaptive dampers offer up three settings, all of which are set up for potholed streets rather than pool table-smooth tracks. In comfort mode, this sport compact is no harsher than a regular Jetta. Normal mode is nicely judged, and Sport tightens up body control without ever jarring occupants. Pitch the GLI into a corner, and the steering weights up naturally while body roll’s kept fairly low. If there’s a weak spot, it’s either the non-defeatable stability control or the standard-fitment 620-treadwear all-season tire package. Though quiet enough, they just don’t offer the grip of a dedicated summer. Still, the electronically controlled limited-slip differential does an admirable job of managing traction out of a corner no matter how leaden your right foot is, and higher cornering limits are but a rubber swap away. The end result is a car you can happily throw around when you want a spot of delight, but one that also settles down beautifully for the slog of the daily commute.
Does It Have The Electronic Crap I Want?
The Jetta GLI only comes one way: Loaded to the gills. Sure, the eight-inch infotainment screen is modestly sized by today’s standards, but you get navigation, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a huge moonroof, heated and ventilated front seats, a heated steering wheel, dual-zone automatic climate control, a properly configurable digital instrument cluster, radar-guided cruise control, and a full suite of driver assist functions all as standard. Apart from the capacitive touch climate controls, it’s all rather user-friendly, and it’s difficult to want for much more.
That being said, it’s reasonable to expect more from the GLI’s seven-speaker stereo. It doesn’t have the power of the Hyundai Elantra N’s Bose system or the clean low-end extension of the Civic Si’s Bose system, and overall dynamic range and clarity leave something to be desired.
Three Things To Know About The 2026 Volkswagen Jetta GLI
- This is the last year it’s available with a manual gearbox.
- You can run it on 87 octane regular gasoline.
- The list of standard equipment is absolutely enormous.
Does The Jetta GLI Fulfil Its Purpose?
In many ways, the Jetta GLI is the sport compact sedan that Goldilocks would choose. Far stronger in the engine department than the Honda Civic Si, able to settle down into true normalcy unlike the perma-rager Hyundai Elantra N, this thing brings real performance to the table without much in the way of compromise. Add in the enormous list of standard equipment, and you really do feel like you’re getting your money’s worth for $35,020. In this car, you can have genuine backroad fun on Sunday, then do the lunch run on Monday without a single co-worker complaint about ride comfort. If that sort of thing tickles your fancy and you simply must have a manual gearbox, go out and buy a GLI before the stick-shift goes away for good.
What’s The Punctum Of The Jetta GLI?
A great daily driver for people keen on driving.
Top graphic image: Thomas Hundal
It’s such a shame that the VB WRX is so ugly as to not even be mentioned as a comp here, even in the comments hah. When I look at this class of car, Si, Elantra N etc. my takeaway is I’d do WRX over everything besides an FL5 Type R.
Unnecessary shots fired.
The Fiesta was not the most attractive thing in the world, but there’s far worse out there, especially around its price point.
When it comes to small cars I really am kind of disturbed by the sedan variants. All I see is something that was tortured into a form it should never have taken to satisfy the weird American taste for the sedans. Fiesta, Versa (especially the earlier ones) and Mirage come to mind.
So the only manual VW is a $35,000 sedan?
That unibrow underneath the hood is… woof. It looks like those cheap “angry eyelid” stick-on things. Maybe on a black car it looks better.
I’d consider leasing this if necessary, but having owned a few VWs I’d never buy one for long-term ownership again without literally having a gun to my head. They’re just too fiddly and problem-prone and often complex to repair as they reach the 7-10 year mark, with things falling off shortly after the warranty for that particular bit expires. At 10-15 years, replacing brackets, sensors, etc… becomes a regular time-consuming hassle IME.
Also, and I know this is just our dystopian reality, but wasn’t it just half a dozen years ago that this car was priced in the mid-upper $20Ks so that it undercut the GTI by a bit? Not that $35K is awful in today’s awful timeline, but (assuming you were going to have the car for more than a few years and actually own it for some masochistic reason) for that $ it really ought to have AC vents in back (along with a few USB ports) along with zero piano-black plastic considering how everyone’s been complaining about it for several years now. Also, for it’s price, the factory sound system ought to be of competitive quality.
If forced to buy/own one of these three: the GLI, the Si, and the Elantra N of course I’d drive all three, but would probably wind up buying the Honda. It hurts my heart a bit to admit this, as a former VW fanboy, but them’s the facts.
The track on the infotainment screen is def on purpose
I have a 2024 example, pre-refresh with the integrated infotainment and physical climate controls.
Got rid of the trash stock tires for Michelin Pilot Sport A/S meats, a worthy upgrade. Just installed a new Sportshifters knob this weekend, which makes for a much more satisfying experience.
Even the previous Beats sound system is pretty lackluster, but for some stuff it sounds decent if you work the settings properly.
Also real-world fuel economy is superb, i can get north of 30 mpg in rush hour commuter traffic and have seen north of 40 on the highway.
The 30 large (CDN) I paid for a very low milage CPO example was well worth the price of admission!
Once the warranty runs out next year i’ll be looking to add some more aftermarket performance parts to up the output, which, from what i’ve read, this car takes pretty enthusiastically.
I was curious to see how many stick shift GLI were actually available in the US, but it seems the VW dealers have a difficult time ticking the correct “transmission” box. Selecting “manual” in my search gave me a lot of listings for cars with automatic transmissions. Get your act together.
Best guess is there are less than 600 available nationwide. If you want one, get it before they’re gone!
I believe the dealers do that because the automatic can be put into manual mode. I had the same issue when purchasing my Miata years ago.
Salesman, “yea of course its a manual. Check out this plus and minus arrow on the PRND”
We removed the superfluous third peddle as it just made things more complicated when trying to text and drive. Plus who has the attention span to remember what gear they’re in? +/- is all you need. Let’s get you back into the finance office and seal this deal.
It’s hilarious the way VW describes the interior upholstery color as “Grigio with Red Crust”
First thing I’d do after taking delivery of one in Monterey Blue is get rid of the GTI badges, swap in the chrome trim and 17″ wheels from the SE, swap in a GTI golfball knob, and get some plaid seat covers on those seats.
Very surprised to see the Civic has better quality materials interior wise, I still remember when the Jetta was the winner for materials choices, even closing the door felt solid.
That ended in 2010.
This is better than the 2011+ generation that had GM grade plastics everywhere. The doors still shut solidly, though.
Pardon the ignorance (actually wondered it for years), what is the difference between a sunroof and a moonroof?
Interesting that this has 35bhp less than the GTI? Is it cheaper in America?
In marketing terms, a sunroof is a sliding steel panel and a moonroof is a sliding glass panel, but not every manufacturer abides by this convention.
Traditionally – A sunroof was a sliding steel panel.
A moonroof was a sliding glass panel on upscale American cars.
We don’t have moonroofs anymore, and rarely any steel sunroofs – Just glass sunroofs.
Thanks, for me both were sunroofs, metal or glass, but guess the differentiation makes sense. Thanks for the explanation to both!
My first “me” car had a moon roof, my first rental had a sunroof.
The moon roof was a class panel that I could tilt. It didn’t have a shade. If I wanted an opening, I parked the car, popped off the glass and put it in the trunk.
The sunroof was a metal panel that I could tilt to vent out some hot air, or retract into the roof to leave a big opening.
Most cars today have sliding glass panels that can do the moon roof thing (retract the shade and tilt), on the sunroof thing (retract the entire panel into the roof).
Ah, that makes sense. It’s not only the material, but the operation too!
I know it’s not your first mention of the rev-hang of the 1.5T Honda, having driven EA888s, 1.5Ts, and others, I cannot say that I’ve noticed the 1.5T to be particularly offensive or even more intrusive than others back to back.
When Toyota offered the 2.0 with a rev-matching 6MT in the Corolla hatch, I recall not liking that at all. It felt very off to me.
Back on the VW, though, it is a shame to lose this. I’m less saddened than losing the GTI/R manuals, but it’s sad nonetheless.
I like the looks of this, sounds like it would be a fun daily on normal roads. Would remove the pop up-dash and would love to take about 2-400lbs off the scale. Take that weight off I think would make it seem much more nimble and fun on some twisty roads. A light tune and some stiffening of the chassis, might give you a fun little “sleeper” with this.