[MUSIC PLAYING]
JONATHAN ELFALAN: We've been really
eager to get our hands on the all new 2018 Volkswagen
Atlas, partly because it's named after a Greek god,
but more so because it's now the biggest, roominess vehicle
that Volkswagen makes.
And it's not a minivan.
From the front, the Atlas isn't really recognizable
as a Volkswagen. In fact, if you cover up
the grill and the emblem, it actually
kind of looks more Jeep like, which isn't a bad thing.
You know, if you're going to try and appeal to the SUV customer,
Jeep is not a bad brand to channel.
Other things, the headlights-- this
is kind of now adopting their new signature look.
And you can see it on the new Volkswagen Tiguan.
Doesn't look so much like the other cars right now.
But I think that's the direction they're going.
So as we just kind of come around,
we've got some subtle fender flares here
that kind of add to the musculature of the car,
if the size wasn't enough.
And I think it looks pretty good.
As we kind of work our way down the side here,
you can see there's a definitive character
line that kind of travels and jumps over the arch here.
All of this kind of helps to break up
some of the big slab sidedness, kind
of gives it a little more athletic look,
as much as you can with a vehicle this big.
As we come around to the backside,
this actually starts to look a little more like the Volkswagen
that you would recognize.
The tail lights kind of look Passat-ish.
We have this nice chrome bar that again kind of works
to break up this big sheet metal area.
That kind of blends in nicely with the rear valence
and the dual exhaust pipes.
And the roof rail is also done in silver,
which is kind of a nice compliment
and works well with this color scheme here.
V6-- we have the optional V6 engine
and under that the 4Motion.
That is just Volkswagen speak for all-wheel drive.
So the first thing I want to discuss in this car
has to do a lot with what makes it feel like a smaller vehicle
than it actually is.
And that's the steering.
The Atlas's steering is light enough
that it doesn't feel like you have to use a lot of effort.
But it's also very precise.
And it responds well to your inputs.
The brakes are really good.
We had this out at the track, tested it out,
above average in the class.
So from an emergency braking standpoint, that's really good.
But even beyond that, the brakes just feel responsive.
We have the SEL premium model, which comes automatically
whipped with 20-inch wheels.
It rides surprisingly well considering
it's got these large tires.
And to be honest, I mean they look right.
I think this car riding on 18-inch wheels--
it's just going to look a little disproportionate.
Yeah, kudos to Volkswagen for tuning this ride
to work with 20-inch wheels.
The engine that we have here is the optional 3.6 liter VR6
engine.
It's actually a pretty nice engine, very smooth revving,
makes a good amount of torque down low.
But when you put it in a car this big,
276 horsepower just doesn't really go that far.
I think if you want to test drive by yourself
that it would be adequate.
But it's when we start getting up to speed
and we need to make a quick lane change and maybe speed up
is when we start to feel the power deficit.
That may be a deal breaker for some people,
just because if you plan to have--
if you have a big family and you plan
to have six, seven passengers in here on a regular basis,
I think this engine may prove to be somewhat inadequate.
If you are looking at a base Atlas,
that's actually a four cylinder.
And that makes even less power.
And we can only imagine what that engine
would be like with a full load of people.
So from that standpoint, I think you
would need the optional engine if you plan to use this the way
it was intended.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
The cabin of the Atlas is a bit of a mixed bag,
because over here you have Volkswagen's digital cockpit,
which is a very high-tech, very futuristic,
premium looking arrangement here.
And you have some nice materials.
You have some really nice supple leather on the steering wheel.
And when you put your elbows down,
the touch points here are really soft.
There's a lot of padding.
And you just get a really premium feel.
But then as you look around, you may
notice that there's some hard plastic here and there.
And it becomes a little bit more apparent.
And that kind of takes away some of the premium look.
And then you start to see a little
beyond kind of the nice amenities that you have here.
But with that being said, up front they've
spent money in the right place.
It's something you have to compromise on,
because this vehicle starts at about $31,000.
And if you option it up to the SEL
trim, which is the one that we're in,
you're touching upon 50k.
So you've got to compromise somewhere.
The seats in the Atlas are pretty nice.
And at this trim level, we get real leather.
We also get heated and ventilated functions.
We have kind of a shallow bin up here.
We have a bin here that's rubberized,
obviously to store your smartphone,
because you have your USB connector.
And then we have a pretty good sized glove box here.
So getting back to the virtual cockpit,
again this is probably one of my favorite parts
of this interior.
And it's really only available on the higher trim models.
But it gives you this really sleek
looking customizable dash.
There's a ton of views, a ton of information
that you can kind of put on display here.
It not only looks good, but it serves a function as well.
So if we go over here, focus back on the touch screen,
it's a really nice interface.
We've got this piano black surround here.
The system itself is touch sensitive.
It kind of has the new gestures very
similar to your smartphone, so you
could swipe to change menu screens,
you could pinch to zoom, all that sort of stuff.
But most importantly, they kept the volume knob and the tuning
knob, which is excellent, because trying
to do any of that by touch is just an infuriating experience.
The climate control is very straightforward, very nice.
We've got dials, both hard buttons for the seat heaters
and seat ventilators.
I'm sitting in the second row of the Atlas.
And I'm not especially tall.
I'm about 5' 9".
But I have a lot of space, like I can kind of slouch
down and just lounge out.
Same goes for head room.
I have quite a bit of headroom here.
And again, I'm not especially tall.
But anybody six foot and roughly around
there shouldn't have any issues.
You have the option to recline.
We also have the rear privacy shades,
which is always a nice touch in case you don't
want to get roasted by the sun.
There is another adjustment.
You can slide this [INAUDIBLE].
So if you have nobody sitting in the back,
you can take up all of the leg room.
And now I am in the executive seating position.
Like I said, as we move back in the cabin,
you start to notice a little bit more
of where the cost cutting comes.
The door uppers here are no longer soft touch.
So you've got kind of this hard plastic.
With that said, there are some luxuries
back here to keep your backseat passengers happy.
We have two USB ports down here.
We actually also have a 115-volt AC outlet,
so in case you're back here with a laptop.
And this particular model also comes with three-zone climate
control and heated seats.
So yeah, backseat passenger's not a penalty in the Atlas.
You have a ton of space, a ton of outlets
to keep all your devices charged up,
and you can recline, which is--
oh, yeah.
That's good stuff.
Now we typically don't do shots in the third row.
But we wanted to show you just how usable this space is.
My knees are not touching the seat back, which is incredible.
And my feet actually fit underneath the seat.
I wouldn't recommend somebody six foot sitting back here.
Somebody of more average proportions,
like myself, would be much more comfortable.
And before you go ahead and start
thinking that this is still a penalty box,
we have our own vent back here as well as a 12-volt power
source.
Maybe not quite to minivan standards,
but hey, if you're completely against getting a minivan,
the Atlas is probably your next best bet.
So when it comes to hauling cargo,
the Atlas has a number of useful features.
Even if you're carrying a full load of passengers, seven,
and you're using the back rows, there's
still quite a bit of space behind the third-row seats.
You have about 20.6 cubic feet of space.
And say you need more?
Well, now you have 55.5 cubic feet of storage capacity.
There might be some vehicles that have some underfloor
storage here.
That's not the case with the Atlas.
But it's because we have this really cool fender
subwoofer in back.
I'd rather have this than have any sort of marginal storage
I would gain from not having that.
And underneath that is the spare tire.
So let's say you don't have any passengers to take.
You just need a whole bunch of cargo space.
You can fold the second row.
And that will fold flat, giving you 96.8 cubic feet of storage.
So flexibility really is one of the Atlas's strong points.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
All right, so there's a lot to like about the Atlas.
It's got great versatility, flexibility.
We love the cargo and space.
The tech features are also very cool.
If it had a little more power, it would probably be perfect.
So if you're considering a car in this class,
I think the Toyota Highlander and the Honda Pilot
are still very strong options.
Let us know what you think.
Feel free to comment below.
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