Story Ore Blog: vw jetta mk3

Sunday, October 16, 2011

vw jetta mk3

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The Jetta nameplate is a reference to the Atlantic 'jet stream', reflecting the period in Volkswagen's history when it named its vehicles after prominent winds. These also included the Volkswagen Passat (after the German word for trade wind), Volkswagen Bora (after bora), and Volkswagen Scirocco (after sirocco).

Europe and RoW: I4 petrol engines 1.1L 50 PS (37 kW; 49 hp) 1.3L 60 PS (44 kW; 59 hp) 1.5L 70 PS (51 kW; 69 hp) 1.6L 85 PS (63 kW; 84 hp) 1.6L 110 PS (81 kW; 110 hp) 1.8L 112 PS (82 kW; 110 hp) I4 diesel engines 1.6L 54 PS (40 kW; 53 hp) 1.6L 70 PS (51 kW; 69 hp) TD

The car was available as a two-door saloon/sedan (replacing the aging rear-engined, rear-wheel drive Volkswagen Beetle 2-door sedan in the United States and Canada) and four-door saloon/sedan body styles, both of which shared a traditional three-box design. Like the Volkswagen Golf Mk1, its angular styling was penned at ItalDesign, by Giorgetto Giugiaro. Styling differences could be found depending on the market. In most of the world, the car was available with composite headlights, while in the USA, it was only available with rectangular sealed beam lamps due to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 108 (FMVSS 108). The suspension setup was identical to the Golf and consisted of a MacPherson strut setup in front and a twist-beam rear suspension in the rear. It shared its 2.4 metre (94.5 in) wheelbase with its hatchback counterpart, although overall length was up by 380 millimetres (15 in). The capacity of the luggage compartment was 377 litres (13.3 ft3), making the Jetta reasonably practical. To distinguish the car from the Golf, interiors were made more upscale in all markets. This included velour seating and color coordinated sill to sill carpeting.

Volkswagen briefly considered producing the Jetta in a plant located in Sterling Heights, Michigan in the USA. However, due to declining sales in North America, the decision was postponed and finally abandoned in 1982. The site was subsequently sold to Chrysler in 1983 and is still in operation as of 2009. This generation was also produced in Bosnia under the joint venture Tvornica Automobila Sarajevo (TAS) for the Balkan area.