I had an incredible time driving the Volkswagen Jetta GLI. My drives took me all over the Washington DC metropolitan area, through the hills of Appalachia in West Virginia, further west to I-76 to Pittsburgh, and eventually to Durham, North Carolina at Duke University.
The GLI and I went on an engineering tour, visiting Carnegie Mellon University’s engineering school in Pittsburgh and the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke.
We participated in several engineering outreach programs, including speaking with directors of outreach at both institutions.
It was truly an exceptional time inside the Volkswagen Jetta GLI, which boasts a lot of exceptional technology. The technology that really fascinated me was the power.
The GLI that I drove was a manual transmission, which starts at $21,995 for the Jetta. The model I drove was upgraded to the GLI Autobahn, featuring many cool features.
It had a digital cockpit and active safety features like adaptive cruise control. The car also had great colors and styling, with red inserts and great stitching. Underneath the hood is a 2.0L Turbo 4 engine that makes 228 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque.
It’s also fuel-efficient, getting an EPA-rated 36 miles per gallon on the highway. Additionally, it has a Beats audio system. I was able to listen to the music I made with the music department at Carnegie Mellon University and truly enjoyed the Volkswagen GLI. My younger brother actually has an older model, so this 2025 model was of great interest to him.
The base price of the model I drove is $32,715. Delivered, it came out to $35,045 with the black package, which adds 18-inch wheels and the King’s Red color. For more information, visit Volkswagen.
