New Atlas Drive

[Frisky Dingo]

Okay, gents. Long time since I did one of these. This one will be somewhat brief, as I only drove one powertrain option, and although the test drive loops were decently long, I didn't get the variety I would normally incorporate into a good test drive. What I am going to do with this is a 'Good' and 'Bad' list, and then a quick comparo against the other vehicles on hand for the ride and drive event. 

 

Good- 

* Appearance. Yep, I said it. In person, it's a handsome vehicle with a cohesive and non-fussy design. It's not going to turn any heads with its boldness, or lack thereof, but it's clean and understated and elegant. As for looking like other vehicles, I see more Grand Cherokee hints in it than anything.

* Room. There's tons of it, and everywhere. The 2nd row slides fore and aft through a huge range. Third row is easily big enough to accommodate 2 real adults in comfort. And the ingress and egress to the 3rd row is a breeze. You can even get into it with a car seat in the 2nd row w/out having to remove it. You can put a stroller in the back with the 3rd row up.

* Ride. It's very smooth and very quiet. We only got to reach speeds of around 55, but I'm confident based on how quiet it was that noise levels would still be very subdued at highway speeds. The suspension soaks up big holes and bumps with aplomb. It was comfortable even riding in the back.

* Steering/handling. The steering is nicely weighted, with good accuracy and a linear feel. Body motions are very well controlled. There was a surprising lack of roll, dive, and squat to an impressive level. Credit partly the lightweight chassis, and the low-mounted VR6 engine which undoubtedly helps the center of gravity and polar moment. 

* Transmission. The 8AT is smooth, quick, and responsive. Even in it's most relaxed settings, it's not terribly reluctant to kick down and accelerate. In 'Sport', it happily downshifts and holds gears to give you the right now response you want.

*  Fit and finish. Everything fits together nicely and cleanly, with no unsightly gaps or edges.

 

Bad-

* Some materials leave some to be desired, especially on the SEL Premium. The faux wood on the dash is terrible and could been improved upon by literally just about anything else. More expansive leather and soft touch materials would have been nicer, too. That is a complaint I share with competitors, but it's a missed opportunity for VW.

* Connectivity/plug-ins. There should just be more. GM is fantastic at this in their people movers.

* Powertrain options. The VR6 is just fine here, and easily a rival for any other N/A V6 in the segment. And it plays nice with the 8AT. But it could have been updated with more power to stay competitive longer in the segment. A boosted 6 from elsewhere in the VAG family would have been a major trump card. Also, limiting the 2.0T to FWD only is a mistake. 

 

So-so-

* Pricing. Hard to tell, as they didn't have final pricing and equipment info, but it seems the SEL Premium model will be priced ambitiously. It's value quotient is definitely stronger in lower trims.

* Packages. Again, hard to tell for sure, but it seems as if they are going to complicate the trims and packages a bit. VW's normal clear structure and optioning may be thrown out the window on this one. For example, I heard there may be as 2 or 3 stand-alone options/packages on some trim levels, and all of them will have at least one. I hope this gets streamlined. 

 

 

Edited March 22, 2017 by Frisky Dingo

[David]

@Frisky Dingo Could the packaging be a side effect of the Diesel Gate emissions and VW cutting down the number of auto's offered worldwide and streamlining their options?

Any pictures of the auto you test drove to post?

[Robert Hall]

Interesting..didn't realize these were out yet.

[Frisky Dingo]

Compared to the competition, which was a new Pilot and Exploder-

Styling- Ford>VW>Pilot

Interior design- Ford>VW>Pilot

Space- VW=Honda>Ford

Front seats- Ford=VW>Honda

2nd row- VW>Honda>Ford

3rd row- VW>Honda>Ford

Cargo- VW>Honda>Ford

Ingress/egress-VW>Honda>>Ford

Interior materials- Ford>Honda=VW

Tech- VW>Honda>Ford

Ride- VW=Honda>>Ford

Handling/steering- VW(just barely)>Honda>>Ford

Acceleration- VW>Ford=Honda

Transmission- VW>Honda>Ford

Noise level- VW=Honda>>Ford

Refinement- VW=Honda>Ford

 

Overall, the Pilot and VW are pretty closely matched. They drive similar and have comparable driving dynamics for the most part. The VW has the slightest of edges in a few areas- trans tuning, body motion control, etc. I cannot say in truth the Pilot is a bad vehicle. It's quite a strong player, and I can see why it has no trouble finding homes.

The Atlas has greater interior comfort levels and packaging however, which is a major plus in this segment. It's the best 3rd row seat in a CUV I've come across by a pretty good margin. I personally feel like the VW has better looks, but that's subjective.

There was no question though that the Ford was considerably behind both the VW and Honda. It felt heavy, brittle, and often times rather sloppy.

 

All in all, I think the Atlas is competitive with even the very players in this segment, and so long as VW can manage production and distribution, along with market and incentivize it properly, it should sell well. Anyone shopping in this segment is doing themselves a disservice to not at least consider and look at one of these.

1 hour ago, dfelt said:

@Frisky Dingo Could the packaging be a side effect of the Diesel Gate emissions and VW cutting down the number of auto's offered worldwide and streamlining their options?

Any pictures of the auto you test drove to post?

On the first part, I have no idea. I've never seen a MFR flip-flop on trim levels and change options and equipment so much from MY to MY as VW. It's crazy. GM was bad sometimes, but VW has them beat.

 

I have lots of pictures I'll try to post when I get the chance.

[Frisky Dingo]

2 hours ago, Cubical-aka-Moltar said:

Interesting..didn't realize these were out yet.

They're not. These were pre-prod units. It was VW training. They'll hit lots the last week of April.

[regfootball]

nice write up.  when i saw it at the auto show a couple weeks ago, it looked decent if bland on the outside.  Didn't convey VW just from the outside without seeing the badge.

They opened it up to show some people and i looked in a bit, it looked roomy but plagued by interior cheapness like the passat and jetta.

 

I can't wait to give it ride though.