we love the Volkswagen Atlas we named it our favorite car 2018 and even this
year continues to get accolades as we named it our best family car of 2020
it's one of our favorite people movers but what if you don't need to move as
many people well bolts I can have an answer for that
the two row Volkswagen Atlas cross sport it gets rid of the third row and kind of
shifts packaging around a little bit gives it a little more stylish exterior
and it's the exterior dimensions and styling that is really what's gonna sell
you on this and I can't tell you whether it looks good or bad you're gonna have
to determine that for yourself because you really shouldn't trust my judgment I
currently have a 1977 Oldsmobile in my favorite car list that car's calm so use
your own judgement
that one's cross sport has a lower roof that dips down after the second row and
dimensionally the two row SUV is five inches shorter bumper-to-bumper and the
roof is two inches lower than the three row handless other than simply how it
looks here's what that means because there's
no third row the ultimate and shift to the second row position all the way
rearward compared with the Atlas three rows sliding second row while it looks
like there's more legroom on paper it's actually a fixed second row in the same
spot that the three row sliding second row would go to in its maximum legroom
position then result is you have similar amounts of space in the analyst cross
support as you do in the large Atlas three row the back seat is massive if
you're looking at this class of cars that cludes the Ford Edge Jeep Grand
Cherokee and Nissan Murano then this is top of the heap as far as backseat room
you do lose some Headroom because the roof is lower but there is plenty of
room to give and it's really comfortable back there the back seat doesn't slide
anymore but it does recline and boy oh boy is it
comfortable when that back seat is laid back there's less cargo room than the
three row Atlas and on paper it looks like you're giving up a lot with 15
fewer cubic feet of cargo space behind the second row it's the equivalent of
losing the amount of space a toyota highlander has behind its third row but
here's why that doesn't matter even slicing off all of that room from a
lower roof shorter length and new backseat position the Atlas cross sport
cargo room is still more than competitors by our measurement and not
the OEM specs we measured more cubic feet of cargo space than a Honda
Passport Nissan Murano Jeep Grand Cherokee and Ford Edge because the major
changes are in styling and packaging there's actually not a whole lot
different in how the cross sport drives which is good and bad good because the
Atlas is already one of the most refined and athletic driving SUVs in this class
I drove the 2.0 liter turbocharged four-cylinder with all-wheel drive and
that's the new combination that you previously weren't able to get in the
ant list prior to 2021 2020 model years in her
the Atlas 4-cylinder was only available with front-wheel drive which made it an
extremely limited offering I had never driven the 4-cylinder Atlas before this
in my introduction starts with an embarrassing story
after I picked up the car I got on the phone with Volkswagen for a quick
presentation and told them that I had never driven the four-cylinder Atlas and
I'd like to get one out to us for testing and I'm the a-hole because I was
driving the 4-cylinder but that's really a testament to how good Volkswagen's
turbo 4-cylinder is this is a similar turbo 2-liter that's in the Volkswagen
arteon and Volkswagen Jetta GLI it comes with similar caveats so for example you
can run regular octane gasoline all day and if you look at the gas door it's
gonna say regular octane recommended but you're not getting the advertised 235
horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque on regular octane open the owner's
manual and that's where you see that those power numbers are only made on
premium gasoline and Volkswagen recommends premium gasoline for the
maximum horsepower and torque we asked both wagon how much power and torque you
lose on regular octane but Volkswagen wasn't able to provide an answer before
we film this I honestly questioned whether you need the six-cylinder yes
you will if you plan to tow because the 2.0 liter is only rated to tow 2,000
pounds while the six-cylinder is 5,000 pounds that 5,000 pound capacity though
only if you have a trailer with trailer brakes and if you have the optional
hitch the four cylinders off the length run in a low rpm torque make it
perfectly adequate around town the four cylinder is down 40 horsepower compared
to the six cylinder but torque is only down 10 pounds feet and there's over a
hundred fewer pounds than the three row so it moves pretty good and if you
wanted the four cylinder actually drives well when you're driving for efficiency
the engine responds well increasing miles per gallon on our long term
Volkswagen Atlas six-cylinder there was not a wide range of fuel economy no
matter what you did you couldn't coax much efficiency out of the six owner
after 12,000 miles we averaged just 18 miles for
which was near its combined rating but there wasn't a whole lot of variance 2.0
T is rated was slightly better mile per gallon than the 6-cylinder and it's less
expensive but if you put the good stuff in the tank then the cost
evens out and you eventually spent more on fuel than you would if you just paid
for the v6 and put regular octane in it the other thing to know about the Atlas
cross sport is that yes it has sport in its name but the engine transmission
suspension the way it drives are just the same as the regular analyst so which
is not a bad thing but for something with sport in its name you're not going
to get any more sporting of an experience behind the wheel also not
different enough is the interior which is one of the main reasons why the Kia
Telluride and Hyundai palisade recently took the win in our three row SUV
comparison and the interior Emmaus cross sport is virtually identical except for
some new stitching and an optional dark red leather interior
you know the analyst cross sport is not just a utility player that's why you buy
a three row SUV so I'd like to see a little more opulence from the interior
quality especially because you can get near luxury interiors from competitors
at similar pricing both wagons targeting small families and empty nesters who
want something bigger than the Tiguan basically if you own you know third row
but you want an expansive backseat then the Atlas cross sport is right up your
alley the cross sport SEL I tested was a reasonable 42,000 dollars with
destination giving how much room there is in how well the Atlas drives it's
about a thousand dollars less than a comparable 2021 Volkswagen Atlas 3 row
ballast cross sport has all the merits of the regular Atlas and some of its
downsides which may not translate well into the two row mid-size class where
buyers aren't laser focused on functionality even so if you're
considering a Ford Edge on the passport Jeep Grand Cherokee or Nissan Murano
then the Atlas cross sport should be on your list too