JSW 2.5 v Golf TDI v JSW TDI anyone driven them all?

Looking for a used car so I drove a JSW 2.5 DSG and liked the car but was not super impressed with the performance. Looking for a family car so I was not too concerned with it but the dealer had a Golf TDI manual so I decided I'd drive that too. Wow was I impressed, the car was downright sporty. Decide then I wanted a TDI. Found a manual JSW at another dealer and took it for a spin the next night. Found it more comparable to the 2.5 DSG than the Golf. At first I though mabye something was wrong with the JSW or that it weighed more with four doors and the panoramic sunroof and that accounted for the poorer performance. Was thinking about it today and am wondering if the Golf was tuned. Has anyone driven both and found the same? I did buy a used truck from a dealer once with a chip I was not told about, so I guess it could happen.

JSW is 10-15% heavier, so it's not going to feel as quick.

I drove a Golf for a few thousand miles before switching over to the Wagon. I found virtually no difference in the performance in the switch. Yes, I realize that there HAS to be a difference based off the numbers/stats, but the butt-dyno was indifferent.

I can't speak for the gasser, however. Based off the butt-dyno results many have spoken about after their Stage 2 results (ie: Malone), it seems as if you may have driving something with a 'tune'.

Of course, if "Lehigh Valley" is PA, there's a salesman that can fix this much quicker.

Went from a 2 door Golf TDI to a base model JSW TDI. Big difference in performance, specially when it comes to acceleration. Interestingly enough, switching tires on the JSW made a pretty big impact, but the JSW does NOT drive like the Golf.

I made calculations based on HP and weights, and in order to keep the same power/weight as the Golf you'd have to get a tune on the JSW. On the bright side, all tunes add about 25HP and all you need is an extra 13HP to match the Golf's power to weight ratio.

According to the VW site, there is less than 300 pounds difference between the 2 door Golf TDI and the fully loaded JSW TDI. The biggest difference in feel is the stance of the Golf TDI. It's a little lower to the ground, is a little wider, and has a beefier suspension. Seats are also more bolstered and firmer. Becasue of all these things together, the Golf TDI handles the corners better and likes to be pushed through the curves. To me it feels sportier and asks to be driven harder than the JSW, however, I do not feel much difference in aceleration. I would constantly be in trouble if I were driving the Golf.

The Golf TDI is much stiffer-feeling than the regular Golf or JSW. I thought the JSW TDI and gasser felt the same as far as ride was concerned. I think the TDI wagon felt like more fun just because of the power delivery. The TDI does feel very slow from a dead stop, but so does the Golf 2.5 gasser automatic. The best feeling of ample right-now power seemed to be the TDI with a manual. I think it was better than the GTI for power right now.

kjclow said:

According to the VW site, there is less than 300 pounds difference between the 2 door Golf TDI and the fully loaded JSW TDI.

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300lbs is...about 10%

I had a MkVI Jetta sedan TDI w/ manual and going to the JSW TDI DSG felt a pretty big difference. There is the weight difference, but I think a lot has to do how I used the clutch versus how the computer handles the clutch(es) in the DSG.

Sometimes if you get it just right, not too little throttle and not too much throttle the take off and pull through the first three gears of the DSG is pretty fun and how fast is bangs through the gears - and that's even in D.

I like both, but if I had my choice I would drive the 6 speed manual.

If you want to get a feel for a JSW TDI drive a used one with at least 7K miles an drive it hard after it is warmed up. They take a while to break in. I drove a new one at the dealer and my friend's car after 7K. Real improvement and a lot more fun.

poweredbytdi said:

If you want to get a feel for a JSW TDI drive a used one with at least 7K miles an drive it hard after it is warmed up. They take a while to break in. I drove a new one at the dealer and my friend's car after 7K. Real improvement and a lot more fun.

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Good to know, my JSW TDI 6M will have 7000 on it by early next week.

poweredbytdi said:

If you want to get a feel for a JSW TDI drive a used one with at least 7K miles an drive it hard after it is warmed up. They take a while to break in. I drove a new one at the dealer and my friend's car after 7K. Real improvement and a lot more fun.

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That's a good point, you can actually tell that after a few thousand miles the car seems to like being driven more. I guess one problem of asking for other's opinion is that opinions are so subjective. It is right that the difference between a golf and a jsw is only 300lbs, but I can tell a difference in acceleration when I have a passenger in the car, and if 300lbs didn't make a difference VW would not be bragging about the 200lb weight reduction of the MKVII Golf.

They're similar in feel when you're sitting in the cars when parked,they're completely different beasts on the road. The jsw is a very fun car to drive, it takes corners just fine but its nothing like a golf, that thing begs to be driven hard and almost entices you to take corners as fast as you dare.

One thing to note about your 2.5 experience...2.5s have a normal Tiptronic automatic, not a DSG. There are significant differences between the two in terms of performance. If you want a fair comparison involving the 2.5, test a manual. If you want the best car with an automatic, get either of the DSG JSWs...the TDI or the rare 2.0t SEL gasser.

The best S to get is the 2013, since it has a lot of upgrades not present in older S JSWs.

Outrider6 said:

One thing to note about your 2.5 experience...2.5s have a normal Tiptronic automatic, not a DSG. There are significant differences between the two in terms of performance. If you want a fair comparison involving the 2.5, test a manual. If you want the best car with an automatic, get either of the DSG JSWs...the TDI or the rare 2.0t SEL gasser.

The best S to get is the 2013, since it has a lot of upgrades not present in older S JSWs.

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This. The transmission is a big part of the overall feel. With the autos...a mushy slow shifting regular auto compared to a quick precise dual clutch would be a night and day difference on the same engine....just like how 2 people driving the exact same manual transmission car could have 2 completely different experiences if one knew how to work it optimally while the other was an excessive clutch slipping slow shifting type driver. If you've been around enough people with manual transmissions, I'm sure at some point you've run across both extremes...someone who can make a boring non-sporty car scoot along pretty good for what it is, compared to someone else who has a legitimately powerful sporty car that can barely keep up with grandma in a camry next to them while rowing gears.


You still have the other variables though...most power down low while falling flat up high with diesel vs nothing down low and having to rev up high to get most power from small gas engines...but most importantly with the JSW vs Golf TDI..I don't think the weight difference plays near as big of a part as the suspension and other minor differences between the 2. Just being smaller and stiffer alone can feel like it is doing something more then a larger softer more lumbering vehicle even if both were accelerating and all exactly the same.

Thanks for all the replies. Just picked up a used 2010 JSW. Love it so far, only had it 2 days though. Is actually a little faster than I remember from the test drive.

You'll find it a lot faster on the road than you remembered to. At 70, the engine is so quite. Being the passenger feels like the car is running much faster too.