Driving the 2025 Volkswagen Atlas SE with Expertise

The 2025 Volkswagen Atlas is among the roomiest mainstream midsize SUVs, with good-looking appears to be like, an upscale cabin, and a pleasantly purring turbocharged 4-cylinder engine.

Should you’re a Volkswagen veteran, you may probably predict its professionals and its cons. It has a unbelievable engine however middling dealing with (as I’d anticipate in a 3-row SUV), a sharp-looking cabin however a number of irritating usability quirks, and an excessive amount of similarity to Toyota and Honda SUVs with higher resale values.

Driving one for per week round suburban Washington, D.C., I walked away satisfied the Atlas is a stable alternative, and a bit extra distinctive than one other Highlanderhowever not clearly higher. That’s a plus, to me — I like a automobile that stands out, and possibly you must, too.

Which Trim Degree

Volkswagen builds it in 5 trim ranges. I spent per week with the SE with Expertise, the second rung on a 5-rung ladder.

It’s primarily the bottom mannequin with bigger wheels and some applied sciences that make it simpler to stay with daily, like a hands-free liftgate and parking sensors. You’d should step as much as a costlier trim degree for luxuries like actual leather-based upholstery and heated seats. My tester retailed for $45,020, together with a $1,425 vacation spot cost on the time it was delivered.

Favourite Function

Few patrons probably select a 3-row household SUV for the engine. However Volkswagen hit a candy spot with the 269-horsepower, turbocharged 4-cylinder engine below the lengthy, good-looking hood of the Atlas. It’s extra fuel-efficient than the V6 engines some rivals use, and tows a good 5,000 kilos. But energy supply is easy and assured.

An important engine is about aural high quality as a lot as efficiency, and this one makes a nice turbo buzz. Is it a sports activities automobile? No. It’s an inexpensive various to a minivan. Nevertheless it sounds prefer it is aware of race. That’s enjoyable in a household automobile. Sure, my favourite characteristic was the noise it makes. What number of household SUVs have ever impressed that sentence?

What It’s Wish to Drive

Aside from its pleasing buzz, the turbocharged engine produces regular energy that makes freeway passing simple. Braking is unexceptional, and in simulated panic stops, the Atlas stored its composure.

Dealing with is predictable, however crisp for a 3-row automobile. When it comes time to park, you’ll really feel the entire Atlas’s dimension (it’s longer than a Ford Explorer, nearly verging on full-size SUV territory).  

Inside Consolation and Expertise

Volkswagen generally positions itself as a near-luxury automaker, and the Atlas makes a good argument for that concept. The Atlas SE with Expertise Bundle has perforated V-Tex leatherette upholstery, which feels convincingly like leather-based.

This one is on the low finish of the Atlas trim ladder, nevertheless it comes with heated seats and a heated steering wheel. My tester had an inside design scheme Volkswagen calls Shetland Beige. It mixed cream-colored V-Tex with mild ash wooden trim, which lends the automobile a spacious really feel and possibly wears higher than black over time.

Passenger area is the place the Atlas really excels. I used to be snug even within the third row (although anybody over 6 toes tall wouldn’t be). Oddly, the third row has two USB-C chargers on the left-hand facet and none on the suitable.

Limitations

Volkswagen has taken some warmth in recent times for its devotion to capacitive contact sliders as a substitute of buttons. The corporate promised to carry again buttons in future designs, however the sliders are nonetheless right here within the Atlas for temperature and quantity management.

They’re not lit, so that they’re exhausting to make use of precisely at night time. You possibly can management temperature by means of the touchscreen, however not quantity. After a number of weeks in a automobile, you may in all probability regulate practically every part with out wanting on the controls. Nonetheless, house owners have complained about these sliders for years, and this is among the final VWs more likely to have them.

Key Concerns

Volkswagen gives a primary guarantee and a powertrain guarantee, each protecting 4 years or 50,000 miles. That’s an extended primary guarantee however a shorter powertrain guarantee than many rivals. Should you plan to maintain your subsequent automobile for a very long time, options with longer powertrain warranties may be price a glance.