2018 VW Atlas SEL w/4Motion and 3.6 VR6 6 year review

[edyvw]

I did some 0-60 runs using my Dragy and of I remember it was in the 8 sec range...not bad to me for a big vehicle. The VR is smooth and sounds good. The new Evo gen 4 turbo 4 will have more go but the 3.6 VR can tow up to 5K lbs. It's got plenty of power if you don't drive it like a grandma.

New one is also 5k towing.
EA888 doesn’t have issues towing that much. It was more decision by VW to sell with VR6.

 

[edyvw]

It really does have low miles, my wife was at-home until just the last year so mainly just scooting around to the store etc. Now back at it as a teacher with a short-ish commute. Then just highway trips a handful of times a year.

I'm glad I did the 18s when we got it and yeah, 265/60s seem to be a good "one up" size to use. Tire choices are pretty bad in these sizes as it's really just a big car. Also consider Solowerks coilovers. My friend runs that business and I've spoken to him about them, seem like a good way to go. I reached out to Bilstein about the possibility of adding B6s to their lineup which would be fantastic on the Atlas.

This is what I'd get:

Solo Werks S1 Coilover System - VW Atlas including Cross Sport

Solo Werks L1 Height Adjustable Lifting Coilover Kit

solo-werks.com

Hmmm, that looks interesting. Though I wouldn’t go that high.
265/60/R18 have plenty of choices. I was looking in detail and Tire Rack carries around 91 different models of tires for this size. Costco also has bunch of options including their own X LT.
They are 30.5” which is same as base camp recommendations. I really like new Defender. Scorpion Zero I had 255/50 R20 are 33lbs per piece. Current 235/65 R18 snows Blizzak DM-V2 are 34lbs. New Defender in 265/60 R18 are 34lbs and give nice balance between on road and bit of off-road capability.

 

[dgunay]

Empty VR6 with driver only cannot keep up with my 2.0T full with luggage, 3 bikes on rack and 4 passengers at Eisenhower Gauntlet. Not even close.
VR6 sounds really good, but here at altitude? Turbo rules.

I'm glad it had a driver when you were racing lol

As much as I like the VR6 sound, EA888 offers peak torque at much lower RPM, that's why it accelerates more effortlessly, I haven't tried it but I'm sure it can tow just as good, if not better. It also has lots of aftermarket/tuning potential. The gen 4's come with detuned Golf R engine, same turbo etc. You should be looking around 340-350 horsepower with just a simple ECU tune.

Gen 3's were also very capable, they were just treated as a base engine as there were an V6 engine option with higher trims, that's why it wasn't pushing a lot of horsepower in an Atlas.

 

[edyvw]

I'm glad it had a driver when you were racing lol

As much as I like the VR6 sound, EA888 offers peak torque at much lower RPM, that's why it accelerates more effortlessly. It also has lots of aftermarket/tuning potential. The gen 4's come with detuned Golf R engine, same turbo etc. You should be looking around 340-350 horsepower with just a tune.

Turbo is far less susceptible to power loss at serious altitude. Ike Gauntlet is at 10,000+ft.
I don’t plan any tuning. As it is is perfectly fine torque wise. It holds 258lb-ft between 1,600-5,000rpm.