Your Jetta will only manage a top speed of 127 mph.
Normally, the Volkswagen Jetta is a humble, inexpensive compact sedan. The revised 2019 model, for instance, comes in fully-loaded for well under $30,000. With a 1.4-liter turbocharged engine making 147 horsepower, however, one thing the normal Jetta is not is a rocket. This Bonneville Jetta is a different story – and its name belies its intentions.
On the famed salt flats in Utah, Volkswagen just took a speed record in the 2019 Bonneville Jetta. Yep, a “humble” Volkswagen Jetta now has a Southern California Timing Association (SCTA) speed record. Using the 2.0-liter EA888 engine from the Jetta GLI, the 2019 Bonneville Jetta reached a speed of 210.16 mph (338.15 kph).
Of course, this car has very little in common with the standard 2019 Jetta you can pick up on a VW lot. On the dyno, the Bonneville Jetta pushes out 600 horsepower. It’s drag coefficient is down to a scant 0.27 – low enough to cleave the air with little in the way of resistance. To achieve that level of power, the 2019 Bonneville Jetta has stronger connecting rods, pistons, valves, camshafts, turbocharger and exhaust system. The block and crankshaft, however, are still stock.
Inside the cockpit
You can’t see much of it, but the dashboard still looks like a 2019 Jetta. The (non-functioning) infotainment system is even still there. Although, the instrument cluster doesn’t work – there’s a tablet with all the driving information instead.
Racer Scott Goetz took the car – developed by specialists at Ventura, California-based THR Manufacturing – to its limits on the salt flats. Goetz said of the Jetta, “the car inspired a lot of confidence at very high speeds. I have no doubt we could go even faster by running some more boost, but we are very happy to have the record, knowing that there is more to come in the car if we need it.”
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