[chittychittybangbang]

Winnipeg gets that cold? You're not talking wind chill right? Because wind chill is not temperature, it's a measure of skin temperature sensation. -30oC is enough so that any car could have starting problems. To be honest, I'm not 100% sure because but the glow plugs should be effective in getting the car started. You must consistently use diesel fuel additive in addition to the additives they cut the fuel with in the wintertime. All Canadian cars come with block heaters so as long as you have a plug you should be totally fine. I would also avoid the automatic transmission. It has greater parasitic load when that cold due to thick transmission fluid.

 

[chittychittybangbang]

Obviously your opinion is going to be biased here! The TDI drives nicer, holds resale better, and has more features that aren't in the 2.5 . One examples are rear disk brakes vs. drums.

Powerservice for winter is a good winter additive. It's in the white bottle.

I wouldn't worry about blocking the entire upper grille. The radiator has plenty of excess capacity and the TDI heats up slowly as is. I assume that the 2011 Jetta TDI kept the electric cabin heater that the 2010 and earlier had which provides not cold air, but in older TDI without the cabin heater it could take 15-20 minutes before the cabin was warm if it was really cold vs. 5 minutes in a gas car.

 

[chittychittybangbang]

Yep. The cetane boost also makes for easier starting. From their site:

This is the product of choice for optimal winter operation. Diesel Fuel Supplement® +Cetane Boost® contains the most effective antigel additive package available in the diesel industry - no blending with No.1 diesel or kerosene is needed to achieve maximum winter protection. Diesel Fuel Supplement® +Cetane Boost® keeps fuel injectors clean and boosts cetane up to 4 numbers for faster cold starts and a smoother running engine.