I didn't know it'd be Audi week when I set out to do the laundry, I swear.
But remember when the crew at the NY Times hated on the new Jetta for abandoning the volks, and pretending that some chrome and wood trim made it an Audi?
Because in LA, Dan Neil eats that stuff up. For him, the new 200hp Jetta GLI is a winner precisely because it shares so much with its A3/A4 cousins. "In fact, if you're not too squeamish about the badge prestige," he writes, "the GLI pretty much tromps the Audi on a price-per-feature basis." And if you are squeamish about badge prestige--i.e., if you live in Southern California--just debadge it with a screwdriver and a heat gun. Which is a great look that'll fool everyone.
