{"id":53424,"date":"2021-12-10T14:45:00","date_gmt":"2021-12-10T22:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/life\/car-review-2021-volkswagen-atlas-cross-sport\/"},"modified":"2021-12-10T14:45:00","modified_gmt":"2021-12-10T22:45:00","slug":"car-review-2021-volkswagen-atlas-cross-sport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/life\/car-review-2021-volkswagen-atlas-cross-sport\/","title":{"rendered":"Car review: 2021 Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Larry Lark, contributor<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport full-size SUV has been refreshed for the 2021 model year and now offers a bolder design, interior upgrades, advanced connectivity, new driver-assist features and broadened powertrain availability.<\/p>\n

My tester was the V6 SEL Premium R-Line, the top-of-the-line Atlas.<\/p>\n

Atlas is available in eight trim levels — S, SE, SE w\/ Technology, SE w\/ Technology R-Line, SEL, SEL R-Line (sold order only), SEL Premium and SEL Premium R-Line (sold order only). For the first time, the turbocharged four-cylinder engine is available on top trims, and all-wheel drive is available with both the turbocharged four-cylinder and VR6 engines.<\/p>\n

That’s quite a menu. Base models start at around $31,000 and my fully loaded model just crosses the $50k threshhold. Atlas seats seven adults in comfort, and delivers 23 miles per gallon down the highway as estimated by the EPA.<\/p>\n

Powered by a 3.6-liter, 24-valve, DOHC narrow-angle V6 engined paired with an eight-speed automatic transmission. It also came with Tiptronic 4MOTION, making it all-wheel drive versatile. The direct-injection engine delivers 276 horsepower at 6,200 rpm and 266 lb-ft of torque at 2,750 rpm. The engine utilizes a crossflow aluminum-alloy cylinder head design, twin overhead camshafts, four valves per cylinder, and variable valve timing.<\/p>\n

Atlas Cross Sport adds more aggressively-styled front and rear bumpers. A bold three-bar grille extends into the front light signature, creating a more sophisticated presence. The sportier R-Line trim incorporates stylish air intakes at the front, and a diffusor in glossy black paint at the rear, as well as side skirts, emphasizing its premium profile.<\/p>\n

All Atlas models with 4Motion all-wheel drive feature Active Control, which allows the driver to select specific vehicle profiles based on driving conditions. It has four settings: On-road, Snow, Off-road, and Custom Off-road. Within the On-road setting, additional options are offered: Normal, Sport, Comfort, and Individual. These alter operating parameters for drive systems like the engine, transmission, steering, and adaptive cruise control, as well as traction-assistance systems like hill descent assist and hill start assist.<\/p>\n

The interior design of the Atlas is classic Volkswagen—clean and functional, with a premium feel. Driver controls are positioned for easy use, and simple, driver-centric displays enhance involvement behind the wheel.<\/p>\n

Atlas makes maximum use of its three-row seating layout to offer space. The model delivers a cavernous 153.7 cu-ft of total passenger volume with front captain’s chairs, and second- and third-row bench seats.<\/p>\n

Across all three rows, an array of available inputs (12V, USB, auxiliary), cup holders, bottle holders, storage nets, and cargo containers provide convenience for all passengers. Atlas has a maximum cargo volume of 96.8 cu-ft behind the front-row seats when all rear seats are folded down. With just the third-row folded, cargo capacity is 55.5 cu-ft, and with all seats up, cargo capacity is 20.6 cu-ft.<\/p>\n

Creature comforts are not lacking – in fact – they are delivered in spades. My favorites were the<\/p>\n

Fender premium audio system with 480 watts and 12 speakers, hands-free power lift gate, wireless charging, dual-zone climate control, and ambient lighting. But that just scratches the surface.<\/p>\n

The Atlas Cross Sport is completed with safety and drive assistance technology to provide a sense of security for your most precious cargo – family. IQ Drive features lane assist, emergency assist, forward collision warning and autonomous emergency braking, blind spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, rear view camera and a security system.<\/p>\n

Base Price: $49,970<\/p>\n

Price As Driven: $51,615<\/p>\n

Destination charge is included in base price. Vehicles are provided by the manufacturer. List price may vary at local dealerships.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Larry Lark, contributor<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":53425,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53424"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53424"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53424\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53424"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=53424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}