Yahoo Autos 2024 Volkswagen Atlas SUV Takes Two Steps Forward, One Step Back
When it first arrived for the 2018 model year, the VW Atlas easily met expectations for what buyers in the three-row SUV segment were looking for. It was a big box with lots of room inside and enough family-friendly features to keep both kids and parents satisfied. But the arrival of the Kia Telluride and Hyundai Palisade just a few years later reset the bar, helping those same families realize they could get far nicer interiors and even more features for around the same money. For 2024, VW is giving the Atlas yet another refresh—it already had one for 2021—and this latest update is clearly focused on upping the SUV's interior game to play catch-up with the Koreans.
The interior changes are effective on a first-impression basis. The materials are far nicer than before, with fewer hard plastics and more stitched leather bits and soft-touch materials on the dashboard. VW also added quilted leather upholstery on upper trim levels, and there are multiple trim options available such as wood, brushed metal, and carbon-fiber-look materials that add some much-needed texture to the door panels. And the Atlas remains one of the roomiest three-row SUVs you can buy, with a generously sized second row available with either a three-person bench or captain's chairs and a two-place third row that's habitable for adults.
Unfortunately, the cabin redux also means that Volkswagen's frustrating touch-sensitive controls and overly complex infotainment system have made their way into the Atlas. This makes the driver interface far less intuitive and removes many of the physical controls—such as the previous model's tactile HVAC knobs and buttons—in favor of menus buried deep within the touchscreen. Even the sunroof is controlled by a touch slider, and while Volkswagen touts its expanded voice commands and gesture controls, we didn't find those to be satisfactory alternatives. The screens themselves are big—a 10.3-inch digital gauge cluster and a 12.0-inch central touchscreen are standard—but we're not fans of this approach. As in other models such as the GTI and Golf R, VW's software is simply not user-friendly.
The other significant change for the 2024 Atlas is a revised turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four that's now the only engine choice. The old 3.6-liter VR6 is gone, and this new engine is more powerful than the outgoing base turbo four thanks to a larger turbocharger and revised tuning. Its 269 horsepower and 273 pound-feet of torque are adequate if not class-leading, and it retains a 5000-pound towing capacity and offers improved EPA-estimated fuel economy of between 20 mpg and 23 mpg combined, depending on trim level and whether you choose front- or all-wheel drive.
VW also claims an 0.8-second improvement in 60-mph acceleration compared with the old VR6 AWD model, but that's not saying much given that we measured a previous Atlas VR6 at a laggard 7.8 seconds in that metric. The previous 2.0-liter turbo, which had just 235 horsepower, was significantly quicker in front-wheel-drive form when we tested it in 2018, getting to 60 mph in 7.1 seconds, so we expect the new engine to provide similar if slightly better performance than that. VW also seems to have improved throttle response, and the eight-speed automatic transmission downshifts promptly to help the new powertrain feel peppier than before.
