VW aims Atlas at heavy-lifting SUV duties
Volkswagen said it’s answering dealer demands by creating the 2018 Atlas SUV.
By John Gilbert
SANTA MONICA, Calif. — As Volkswagen stirs and juggles executives in the wake of its incredible diesel emission-cheating scandal, the company continues to make bold and aggressive moves to keep, and even attract new, customers. The latest moves for the 2017 model year have been toward the can’t-miss sport-utility vehicle segment.
First, Volkswagen restructured the popular SportWagen, which recently was switched from Jetta to Golf livery, then VW specifically reinforced it and altered its objective for all-terrain duty as its new Alltrack, a beefier sibling to the SportWagen. Having tested the Alltrack in the Pacific Northwest, I can attest to how impressive it is with its 4Motion system carrying its new and stiffer frame on some serious offroad trails.
Several unseen Atlas models awaited unveiling on Santa Monica pier
The Atlas is the largest SUV Volkswagen has ever built in overall dimensions, and it answers the demands of VW dealers and customers who have clamored for a VW that will haul a larger family. It is, officially, a midsize SUV, which differentiates it significantly from the popular compact crossover trend. It is 198.3 inches long, 77.9 inches wide, and 69.6 inches tall.
Right on the heels of the Alltrack, Volkswagen invited selected automotive journalists to Santa Monica, where we went out to a nearby enclosed facility on the beach adjacent to the legendary Santa Monica Pier for the unveiling of the Atlas — another new and still larger Volkswagen SUV.
“It is designed for American buyers and will be built at our American factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee,” said Hinrich Woebcken, CEO of VW Group of America. “We are adding $900 million to our factory, and that will help with our impressive electrification program. We intend to have 30 electirified vehicles by 2025.”The Volkswagen Atlas will, Woebcken said, “offer a feeling of strength and presence, with full seven-seat capability. “Our second-row seats will allow easy fit of child safety seats, and we think we have the best access to a third row of any SUV. And it’s lots of fun to drive,” Woebcken said.
That would be a carryover characteristic of all Volkswagen vehicles; they’ve always have had a secure handling feel to the suspension and steering, and a sportiness to the engines with built-in fuel efficiency.
Squarish and tall from the rear, the Atlas has 3-2-3 seating with abundant stowage.
Of course, missing in the equation is the always dependable VW turbo-diesel arsenal, all of which have been eliminated from sales, and even sales consideration, in the U.S. It goes back, of course, to the trick Volkswagen pulled to design an emission control system that would operate in full force whenever being tested for emissions, but would restrict some of the emission devices when not being tested, resulting in a bit more power and a bit better fuel economy.
When it was detected, nobody in the auto industry could believe the extent Volkswagen went to hide the system, disguise it, and appear surprised by it. Several top executives have lost their jobs in the aftermath, and the word now is that the popular turbo-diesel powerplants — known for being 300,000-mile type durable and 45-50 miles per gallon fuel efficient — would cease to exist as far as the U.S. is concerned. Volkswagen TDI owners are now getting their vehicles bought back by the company, because no efficient fix seems to be coming. So there won’t be any turbo-diesels in the new Atlas, or in the new Alltrack for that matter.
Fortunately for VW, its gasoline engines are all of the highest order right now, and their fuel economy has been increased to the point of actually being competitive with the exceptional turbo-diesel levels. The SUV-style vehicles won’t get that sort of fuel economy, but it should do well.
The Atlas, listed as a 2018 model, won’t reach dealerships until after the first of the 2017 calendar year, probably early summer. As a large and strucurally sound vehicle, it will require some power to move it, and that power will come from either a 2.0-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder with 238 horsepower, or the somewhat legendary 3.6-liter VR6, with 280 horsepower.
The VR6 has been a mainstay of VW for decades, although of course it has been upgraded to modern technology. A normal V6 has three cylinders firing opposite each other, driven by the same crankshaft at the bottom of the V; in the VR6, the two banks of cylinders are much narrower, actually alternating in location to facilitate the narrowness required for all the cylinders in both banks to be covered by the same cylinder head.
Plenty of storage space waits under the hatch, with or without the third-row seats folded down.
The engine has always been sufficiently powerful while delivering adequate fuel economy. In the Atlas, the 4-cylinder turbo will only be sold with front-wheel drive, while the VR6 will be available either with front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive — the aforementioned 4Motion system.
Both engines will be governed by an 8-speed dual-clutch transmission, which is a clutchless manual that shifts via two encased clutch units, each operating alternating gears — first, third, fifth and seventh shifted by one clutch, while second, fourth, sixth and eighth are shifted by the other.
Inside, the digital cockpit display is designed within a clean interior — Woebcken calls it “elegant” — and the A pillars along the leading edge of the front doors are designed very thin to aid visibility.
Digital connectivity is important to the company, and the Atlas will include Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and Mirror Link, standard, and an optional Fender audio system with 480 watts and eight speakers.
“We are making a brand new journey into the heart of the U.S, market,” Woebcken said, noting that the Atlas, will compete with the Ford Explorer, Honda Pilot and Toyota Highlander as its primary targets.
While the Atlas has a tall and somewhat blunt look, Darryl Harrison from VW’s marketing oversight, said, “It will be between the Touareg and Tiguan in size. It comes on the MQB platform, which is scalable, coming on the new Golf, and soon to come on the new Jetta and Passat.”
Wheelbase is 108 inches, which makes a rigid platform, better for durability, and VW always has been adept at making firm-handling vehicles feel supple enough to confront road hazards without being harsh.
Driver’s-eye view of the Atlas controls shows straightforward luxury and classy wood and leather everywhere.
The rows of seating are in a 2-3-2 configuration, with the middle second-row seat fixed, but the outside seats capable of sliding fore and aft independently for occupant comfort but also to allow easier access to the third row.
The Alltrack, by comparison, doesn’t look much different from the SportWagen, although it is reinforced considerably, and it is not only rock-solid on the highway, but will do a fair impersonation of a mountain goat whenever you’re tempted to go off-road.
The Alltrack slides under both the longer Touareg and the compact Tiguan, being a more-rugged Sportwagen. Lighter and more agile than we can suppose the so-far static display Atlas, the Alltrack also rides on the MQB platform and is powered by VW’s highly efficient 1.8-liter turbo 4, with fifth generation 4Motion all-wheel drive, which has an electro-hydraulic clutch-pack differential.
With Alltrack models starting in the mid-$20,000 range, the yet-undisclosed Atlas pricing will undoubtedly be mid-$30,000. As a dedicated fan of compact crossover SUVs (CUVs), I am partial to the Alltrack as a lower and more agile version of even a CUV, although it is a couple of inches taller for ground clearance than the SportWagen.
With the rush of 1.8, 2.0, and 3.6 engines, Volkswagen also is introducing a new 1.4-liter turbo 4-cylinder in the Jetta only for the new model year, but it is quick and fuel-efficient, and comes from a newer and more high-tech family than the long-running 2.0 or its 1.8 derivative.
All of those engines, performing so well and so fuel-efficiently but gasoline, and run strongly enough that it almost makes you forget about the late, lamented turbo-diesel.
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About the Author
John Gilbert is a lifetime Minnesotan and career journalist, specializing in cars and sports during and since spending 30 years at the Minneapolis Tribune, now the Star Tribune. More recently, he has continued translating the high-tech world of autos and sharing his passionate insights as a freelance writer/photographer/broadcaster. A member of the prestigious North American Car and Truck of the Year jury since 1993. John can be heard Monday-Friday from 9-11am on 610 KDAL(www.kdal610.com) on the "John Gilbert Show," and writes a column in the Duluth Reader.
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