'19 VW Atlas SEL Premium

Originally Posted by gathermewool
Thought you were a classy man. Then, I saw the beer bottle...

Ain't nothing wrong with a Corona Familiar. Pinch of salt and we're in business!

I've got a fridge inside full of craft beer and a cabinet filled with an assortment of Islay's finest... But on a 70° NC day - sanding & staining shelves, washing the new ride, and grilling burgers...

I'll have a Corona.
 
Originally Posted by rooflessVW
So far I love it. The only thing I'm missing from a new Q7 is the supercharger and big Brembos. Some of the plastics in the Atlas are noticably cheaper, but it doesn't bother us. I would prefer air suspension, but my future sanity and wallet are glad it isn't available.

We both think it rides better than the Q7, and the interior feels much more spacious and usable. The trick folding second row is really what sold us.

As a longtime VW fan of course I love the VR6. Smooth with a great sound and plenty of power to get us down the road. The Aisin 8 speed is perfect in the Atlas - I hated it in our Volvo. I guess it's all in the programming.

I agree with everything except this.
I thought it has abysmal lack of power. It sounds great, but it just does not move. I went 5 times to dealer as I really wanted VW over anything else for family, but at this altitude, at least VR6, feels soooo anemic. I tried all modes, set ups, took for longer drives, it just feels weak. Actually my Sienna feels like much, much more powerful although weight is same, it is 21lb-ft down compare to VW, and 10hp down, but just feels so much more potent.
In everything else (well Sienna is really, really practical) Atlas is better, but power?
It could be that on paper they have same performance, but my butt dyno tells me otherwise.
 
Originally Posted by edyvw
I agree with everything except this.
I thought it has abysmal lack of power. It sounds great, but it just does not move. I went 5 times to dealer as I really wanted VW over anything else for family, but at this altitude, at least VR6, feels soooo anemic. I tried all modes, set ups, took for longer drives, it just feels weak. Actually my Sienna feels like much, much more powerful although weight is same, it is 21lb-ft down compare to VW, and 10hp down, but just feels so much more potent.
In everything else (well Sienna is really, really practical) Atlas is better, but power?
It could be that on paper they have same performance, but my butt dyno tells me otherwise.


All N/A vehicles in Colorado Springs feel anemic-- besides the weird weather, dust & constant wind, that was the worst thing about living there!

At sea level, it ought to be plenty capable given the specs on it. Many modern 24v DOHC engines outperform it (in HP at least), but the VR6 smoothness & sexy engine sound is worth trading a little upper-end power for.
 
Congrats! Great looking Atlas you got there! Wish we had nice weather right now, my GTI is no longer blue, but tan from all the mud and sand they use around here....

And now I know what those blocks in the boot are for, I got a set that came with my GTI and could never figure it out....
laugh.gif
 
Good color combo. Good luck with it!

My wife and I drove an Atlas a week ago but ultimately passed. The example we drove had a noticeable grittiness or roughness for the first second or ~30 feet when accelerating off the line which really bothered me and then when accelerating at speed (like a merge), even in sport mode, it would only downshift 1 gear even though it had plenty of RPM left, resulting in disappointing acceleration which bothered my wife because it was clearly faster from a stop. Oh and the nav. system kept insisting that we were in CA even though we were in NJ. It had a nice cleanly designed interior which we did like.
 
Originally Posted by gofast182
Good color combo. Good luck with it!

My wife and I drove an Atlas a week ago but ultimately passed. The example we drove had a noticeable grittiness or roughness for the first second or ~30 feet when accelerating off the line which really bothered me and then when accelerating at speed (like a merge), even in sport mode, it would only downshift 1 gear even though it had plenty of RPM left, resulting in disappointing acceleration which bothered my wife because it was clearly faster from a stop. Oh and the nav. system kept insisting that we were in CA even though we were in NJ. It had a nice cleanly designed interior which we did like.

Was that a 2.0t or a 3.6? '18 or '19?

Our VR6 seems to downshift at the slightest hint of throttle and is very responsive. As I said above I'm very pleased with the transmission programming in this car.
 
Originally Posted by rooflessVW
Originally Posted by gofast182
Good color combo. Good luck with it!

My wife and I drove an Atlas a week ago but ultimately passed. The example we drove had a noticeable grittiness or roughness for the first second or ~30 feet when accelerating off the line which really bothered me and then when accelerating at speed (like a merge), even in sport mode, it would only downshift 1 gear even though it had plenty of RPM left, resulting in disappointing acceleration which bothered my wife because it was clearly faster from a stop. Oh and the nav. system kept insisting that we were in CA even though we were in NJ. It had a nice cleanly designed interior which we did like.

Was that a 2.0t or a 3.6? '18 or '19?

Our VR6 seems to downshift at the slightest hint of throttle and is very responsive. As I said above I'm very pleased with the transmission programming in this car.

You know, I'm not sure whether it was a '18 or '19 as the window sticker was not on the test drive car. It was a 3.6.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by 92saturnsl2
Originally Posted by edyvw
I agree with everything except this.
I thought it has abysmal lack of power. It sounds great, but it just does not move. I went 5 times to dealer as I really wanted VW over anything else for family, but at this altitude, at least VR6, feels soooo anemic. I tried all modes, set ups, took for longer drives, it just feels weak. Actually my Sienna feels like much, much more powerful although weight is same, it is 21lb-ft down compare to VW, and 10hp down, but just feels so much more potent.
In everything else (well Sienna is really, really practical) Atlas is better, but power?
It could be that on paper they have same performance, but my butt dyno tells me otherwise.


All N/A vehicles in Colorado Springs feel anemic-- besides the weird weather, dust & constant wind, that was the worst thing about living there!

At sea level, it ought to be plenty capable given the specs on it. Many modern 24v DOHC engines outperform it (in HP at least), but the VR6 smoothness & sexy engine sound is worth trading a little upper-end power for.

Actually, this Sienna I have, with all flaws it has (and there are a lot) power wise feels pretty good. In every other aspect, Atlas is much better vehicle (well, van is always more practical). I was waiting 2019 to see if there is an indication that VW will bring to US 2.5 VR6 Turbo. But, it seems that will not happen anytime soon.
 
Originally Posted by rooflessVW
Originally Posted by gathermewool
Thought you were a classy man. Then, I saw the beer bottle...

Ain't nothing wrong with a Corona Familiar. Pinch of salt and we're in business!

I've got a fridge inside full of craft beer and a cabinet filled with an assortment of Islay's finest... But on a 70° NC day - sanding & staining shelves, washing the new ride, and grilling burgers...

I'll have a Corona.


haha. Not sure why the emoji didn't show... meant to end my post with:

Trolling.gif


My everyday beer is Founder's All-Day IPA. Lower alcohol and a true IPA (i.e., not super hoppy, piney or citrusy-tasting, like some craft beers), making it a great summer beer, also.
 
Originally Posted by gathermewool


My everyday beer is Founder's All-Day IPA. Lower alcohol and a true IPA (i.e., not super hoppy, piney or citrusy-tasting, like some craft beers), making it a great summer beer, also.



Went out to an early New Years Eve meal and had that for the first time. I liked it a lot, pleasant and not "too brutal" like some IPA's can be. Plus I was driving so the lower alcohol was a benefit.

Whimsey
 
The three row crossover market is going to explode here in the not so distant future. The Atlas should be a very good seller for VW. The Subaru Ascent is another one. BMWs X7 will also be a hit in the US.
 
VW finally woke up and built Americanized SUV's and voila almost 45% of sales are the high profit Compact(Tiguan) and Midsize SUV's(Atlas).

Both are actually really decent offerings.

I am tempted in the future to highly consider one of these used albeit with the 2.0T(FWD only
frown.gif
) with better MPG and decent pickup.
 
The 2.0T wasn't even a consideration for us because it's only available in the base model and FWD.

MPG has never been a primary concern of mine; I'm more focused on the performance, sound, feel, etc. As a VW geek I was always going to choose the VR6 and Haldex AWD.

So far we are getting better mileage in the Atlas than the Q7 and it only asks for 87 which saves me about $25/tank by itself.
 
Originally Posted by rooflessVW
The 2.0T wasn't even a consideration for us because it's only available in the base model and FWD.

MPG has never been a primary concern of mine; I'm more focused on the performance, sound, feel, etc. As a VW geek I was always going to choose the VR6 and Haldex AWD.

So far we are getting better mileage in the Atlas than the Q7 and it only asks for 87 which saves me about $25/tank by itself.


I would have chosen the same.

Any benefit to using 91 or better octane with the VR6? What do the forums say?
 
Originally Posted by gathermewool
Originally Posted by rooflessVW
The 2.0T wasn't even a consideration for us because it's only available in the base model and FWD.

MPG has never been a primary concern of mine; I'm more focused on the performance, sound, feel, etc. As a VW geek I was always going to choose the VR6 and Haldex AWD.

So far we are getting better mileage in the Atlas than the Q7 and it only asks for 87 which saves me about $25/tank by itself.


I would have chosen the same.

Any benefit to using 91 or better octane with the VR6? What do the forums say?

I would. VR6 was always premium gas engine. It is in the Atlas that they switched to regular.
 
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