Compare the2024 Audi A4VS 2023 Volkswagen Jetta GLI

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Transmission
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Servicing Ease
Ergonomics
Recommendations

Safety

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For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Audi A4 have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Volkswagen Jetta GLI doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

The A4’s pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The Jetta GLI doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.

Both the A4 and Jetta GLI have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The A4 has power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The Jetta GLI’s child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.

The Audi A4 has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags helps prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Jetta GLI doesn’t offer knee airbags.

The A4 has a standard Audi Backguard System, which use a specially designed headrest to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the Audi Backguard System moves the headrests forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. At the same time the pretensioning seatbelts fire, removing slack from the belts. The Jetta GLI doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.

The A4 has all-wheel drive to maximize traction under poor conditions, especially in ice and snow. The Jetta GLI doesn’t offer all-wheel drive.

The A4 Premium Plus/Prestige has a standard Top and Corner View Cameras to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Jetta GLI only offers a rear monitor.

Both the A4 and the Jetta GLI have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, post-collision automatic braking systems, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, available blind spot warning systems and rear cross-path warning.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Audi A4 is safer than the Volkswagen Jetta GLI:

	A4	Jetta GLI
	Driver
STARS	4 Stars	4 Stars
HIC	164	247
Neck Injury Risk	26%	31.7%
Neck Stress	232 lbs.	354 lbs.
Neck Compression	55 lbs.	58 lbs.
	Passenger
STARS	4 Stars	4 Stars
HIC	236	315
Neck Injury Risk	25%	41.6%
Neck Stress	119 lbs.	152 lbs.
Neck Compression	47 lbs.	141 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Audi A4 is safer than the Volkswagen Jetta GLI:

	A4	Jetta GLI
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Hip Force	308 lbs.	317 lbs.
	Rear Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	277	306
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Max Damage Depth	12 inches	13 inches

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

Instrumented handling tests conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and analysis of its dimensions indicate that the A4, with its five-star roll-over rating, is 3.2% less likely to roll over than the Jetta GLI, which received a four-star rating.

For its top level performance in IIHS driver and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, side impact, roof strength and head restraint tests, its standard vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention system, its standard vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention system, and its available headlight’s “Good” rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the A4 the rating of “Top Safety Pick” for 2022, a rating granted to only 174 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Jetta GLI last would have qualified as a “Top Safety Pick” in 2017.

Warranty

The A4’s corrosion warranty is 5 years and unlimited miles longer than the Jetta GLI’s (12/unlimited vs. 7/100,000).

Reliability

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2023 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Audi vehicles are better in initial quality than Volkswagen vehicles. With 28 fewer problems per 100 vehicles, JD Power ranks Audi higher than Volkswagen.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2023 Auto Issue reports that Audi vehicles are more reliable than Volkswagen vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Audi 17 places higher in reliability than Volkswagen.

Engine

The A4 45 TFSI’s standard 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder hybrid produces 33 more horsepower (261 vs. 228) and 15 lbs.-ft. more torque (273 vs. 258) than the Jetta GLI’s 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder.

As tested in Car and Driver the A4 45 TFSI is faster than the Volkswagen Jetta GLI (automatics tested):

	A4	Jetta GLI
Zero to 60 MPH	4.8 sec	5.6 sec
Zero to 100 MPH	12.9 sec	13.8 sec
5 to 60 MPH Rolling Start	5.6 sec	6.1 sec
Quarter Mile	13.5 sec	14.2 sec
Speed in 1/4 Mile	102 MPH	101 MPH

Fuel Economy and Range

Regardless of its engine, the A4’s engine automatically turns off when the vehicle is stopped, saving fuel and reducing pollution. If the conditions warrant or the driver wishes, the system can be manually disabled at any time for the duration of a trip. Volkswagen only offers an automatic engine start/stop system on the Jetta GLI Automatic.

The A4 has 2.1 gallons more fuel capacity than the Jetta GLI (15.3 vs. 13.2 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups.

Transmission

The Audi A4 comes standard with an automatic transmission, for driver comfort, especially in the city. Automatic costs extra on the Jetta GLI.

The A4’s launch control uses engine electronics to hold engine RPM’s precisely in order to provide the most stable and rapid acceleration possible, using all of the available traction. The Jetta GLI doesn’t offer launch control.

Brakes and Stopping

The A4 stops much shorter than the Jetta GLI:

	A4	Jetta GLI
70 to 0 MPH	149 feet	174 feet	Car and Driver

Tires and Wheels

For better traction, the A4’s optional tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Jetta GLI (245/40R18 vs. 225/45R18).

The A4’s optional tires provide better handling because they have a lower 35 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Jetta GLI’s 45 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the A4 offers optional 19-inch wheels. The Jetta GLI’s largest wheels are only 18-inches.

Suspension and Handling

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the A4’s wheelbase is 5.4 inches longer than on the Jetta GLI (111 inches vs. 105.6 inches).

For better handling and stability, the track (width between the wheels) on the A4 is 1.4 inches wider in the front and .5 inches wider in the rear than on the Jetta GLI.

The A4’s front to rear weight distribution is more even (56% to 44%) than the Jetta GLI’s (58.6% to 41.4%). This gives the A4 more stable handling and braking.

The A4 Premium Plus handles at .97 G’s, while the Jetta GLI Autobahn pulls only .86 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

Passenger Space

The A4 has .2 inches more front legroom, .2 inches more rear headroom and .5 inches more rear shoulder room than the Jetta GLI.

Cargo Capacity

A low lift-over trunk design makes loading and unloading the A4 easier. The A4’s trunk lift-over height is 26.9 inches, while the Jetta GLI’s liftover is 28.7 inches.

With its sedan body style, valet key, locking rear seatbacks and remote trunk release lockout, the A4 offers cargo security. The Jetta GLI’s non-lockable remote release defeats cargo security.

A standard locking glovebox (which can’t be accessed with the valet key) keeps your small valuables safer in the A4. The Jetta GLI doesn’t offer locking storage for small valuables.

To make loading groceries and cargo easier when your hands are full, the A4’s available trunk can be opened just by kicking your foot under the back bumper, leaving your hands completely free. The Jetta GLI doesn’t offer a hands-free gesture to open its trunk, forcing you to put cargo down if your hands are full.

Servicing Ease

The A4 uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Jetta GLI uses a prop rod to support its heavy hood. It takes two hands to open the hood and set the prop rod, the prop rod gets in the way during maintenance and service, and the prop rod could be knocked out, causing the heavy hood to fall on the person maintaining or servicing the car.

The engine in the A4 is mounted longitudinally (North-South), instead of sideways, as in the Jetta GLI. This makes it easier to service and maintain, because the accessory belts are in front.

J.D. Power and Associates surveys of service recipients show that Audi service is better than Volkswagen. J.D. Power ranks Audi 8th in service department satisfaction (above the industry average). With a 32% lower rating, Volkswagen is ranked 28th.

Ergonomics

The A4 Prestige has a standard heads-up display that projects speed, warning and navigation instruction readouts in front of the driver’s line of sight, allowing drivers to view information without diverting their eyes from the road. The Jetta GLI doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

If the windows are left open on the A4 the driver can close them all at the outside door handle or from a distance using the remote. On a hot day the driver can lower the windows from a distance using the keyless remote. The driver of the Jetta GLI can’t use the remote to operate the windows.

Heated windshield washer nozzles are standard on the A4 to prevent washer fluid and nozzles from freezing and help continue to keep the windshield clear in sub-freezing temperatures. The Jetta GLI doesn’t offer heated windshield washer nozzles.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) conducts detailed tests on headlights for their range both straight ahead and in curves and to be certain they don’t exceed acceptable amounts of glare to oncoming drivers. The A4’s available headlights were rated “Good” by the IIHS, while the Jetta GLI’s headlights are rated “Marginal” to “Poor.”

In poor weather, headlights can lose their effectiveness as grime builds up on their lenses. This can reduce visibility without the driver realizing. The A4 Prestige has standard headlight washers to keep headlight output high. The Jetta GLI doesn’t offer headlight washers.

Manual rear side window sunshades are available in the A4 to help block heat and glare for the rear passengers. The Jetta GLI doesn’t offer rear side window sunshades.

The A4’s standard rear view mirror and optional side view mirrors have an automatic dimming feature. These mirrors can be set to automatically darken quickly when headlights shine on them, keeping following vehicles from blinding or distracting the driver. The Jetta GLI has an automatic rear view mirror, but its side mirrors don’t dim.

Both the A4 and the Jetta GLI have standard heated front seats. The A4 Prestige also has standard heated rear seats to keep those passengers extremely comfortable in the winter. Heated rear seats aren’t available in the Jetta GLI.

On extremely cold winter days, the A4’s optional heated steering wheel provides comfort, allowing the driver to steer safely and comfortably before the car heater warms up. The Jetta GLI doesn’t offer a heated steering wheel.

Both the A4 and the Jetta GLI offer rear vents. For greater rear passenger comfort, the A4 has standard rear air conditioning vents to keep rear occupants cool in summer or warm in winter. The Jetta GLI doesn’t offer rear air conditioning vents, only heat vents.

The A4 Prestige’s Park Assist can parallel park or back into a parking spot by itself, with the driver only controlling speed with the brake pedal. The Jetta GLI doesn’t offer an automated parking system.

Recommendations

Consumer Reports® recommends the Audi A4, based on reliability, safety and performance.

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