The Jetta and Beetle diesels do indeed FEEL very fast. These little engines make their torque peak in an RPM range such that they do a very good job pushing your body back into the seat. This coupled with the low vehicle weight make them fun to drive.

When you drive one, however, notice how the seat of the pants (or back of the seat) feeling seems to go away a second or so after you feel it.

Torque makes a car fun to drive while horsepower wins races. I am not saying that the TDI's can't do both because I don't know. I do know that other than their weird, front engine, super understeering characteristics making them handle like a phone booth on a skateboard, they are a bit of a kick to drive, at least on straight roads.

I do believe, that if you put a really stiff sway bar under the back and put some decent rubber on the ground, you would have a neat car to drive, as front wheel drive cars go.

In fact, if you had a magic wand that could turn that engine 90 degrees and put a differential in the rear where it's supposed to be, you could make a car that would be a real kick in the A$$ to drive. It also would make that nasty timing belt job a good bit easier too.

My $0.02,