Why does my 03 VW jetta GL decelerate when going up hill on 5th gear?

I have an 03 jetta GL 2.0, it seems everytime I'm going about 80mph on the freeway and i hit an area where i need to escalate even just a little bit, my car looses power and it feels like I am slowing down, I have to pop it into 3rd or 4th gear at that time so that it can accelerate again. Can you guys please help?Why does my 03 VW jetta GL decelerate when going up hill on 5th gear?Hi the gear is too high to go up hill your car is strugglig to turn the higher ration gear... Your are putting a lot of strain on the engine and the gear box. 5th gear is not overdrive... its a cruising gear for use on the highway. As you go up hill you notice the car loosing power change to 4th gear... if you notice its still loosing power drop to 3rd gear.... thats the way to drive a manual. You are doing the right thing dropping to lower gears... do it as early as possible to maintain speed so you dont have to accelerate back up to speed....Why does my 03 VW jetta GL decelerate when going up hill on 5th gear?
5th is overdrive. Your engine hasn't enough torque to do what you're asking it to do with the gear ratio you selected. This is the same reason big trucks end up crawling up hills in low gear much to the annoyance of cars.Why does my 03 VW jetta GL decelerate when going up hill on 5th gear?Because the 'two point slow' Jetta doesn't have enough torque to haul itself up hill at 80 in top gear.Why does my 03 VW jetta GL decelerate when going up hill on 5th gear?
tony b is correct. In a nutshell, your cars to weak to climb a hill in that gear, are you driving @ low rpms? try gaining speed before the hill so you can maintain your speed as you climb. Lots of imports have a higher rpm range for thier power band so maybe your boggin down and puttin too much of a load on your motor depending on what rpm your at?my mazda doesnt need to be shifted till 4800 rpm and my honda is 5000. At those higher rpm's you can acctually feel your motor being more responsive because imports are high reving motors. Ultimately its cause you dont have the torque to turn your gears at low rpm. thats the problem with imports. you wanna fix that, you need more power pumpin through your motor, either upgrade you motor, or buy something bigger.Why does my 03 VW jetta GL decelerate when going up hill on 5th gear?It is called "lack of horsepower" That is why you have gears. You select a lower gear. No different than riding a 10 speed bike. You don't drive up a hill in 10th, you gear down, so you (the engine) work a little faster so that you can get up the hill. Same same.