Topic: 2024 Volkswagen Atlas Execline

[Blueprint]

Ever since the Atlas came out I wanted to get my hands on a 2.0t version - it looked promising in C/D reviews. Of course, media cars are always top trim, always loaded, so all my previous reviews were of top-shelf V6 units that swallowed gas like a BOF yank tank.

But 2024 changes everything as the V6 is gone from all trims and the 2.0t revised for full-lineup duty. Let's go.

https://www.autohebdo.net/editorial/20240222/volkswagen-atlas-execline-2024-essai-hivernal/

[Blueprint]

Looks:

The Atlas always looked like a plus-sized Grand Cherokee, which is probably not a coincidence  . This is the SUV's second update, following 2021's milder refresh. This time the vehicle gets a full LED job outside with new optics, and front / rear caps are totally new, the front being the biggest styling departure. In a way it brings the Atlas closer to current VW designb language...but to me, it also recalls a F-150 Lighting from straight-on, with that thin light bar along the hood's lip. In any case, it brings some youth back to an elegantly square design, the vibe still being that of a muscular bod in a 3-piece suit.

[Blueprint]

Interior:

VW messed up. Yes, the previous kitchen counter was a bit drab, and this new IP has a MUCH more elegant flow to it. But... The haptic crap that every single journo hates with a passion has been lifted from the parts shelf and scattered around the interior. Puzzling headlight controls? Check. Haptic invisible sliders for HVAC? Check. Randomly structured infotainment? Check. Shifter thingamabob? Check. Scratch-as-you-touch piano black trim? Check. At least the steering wheel kept its mechanical buttons, there's that, and VW still has the best 2nd row folding mechanism out there.

[Blueprint]

Power:

Here's the pièce de résistance: the new revised (and mandatory) 2.0t. It looks lost under the hood, but it cures the Atlas' worst attribute: fuel economy. Not only that, but the four is now more powerful than the six was, at 269 hp, and driveability has improved - the old V6 never came to an understanding with the slushbox. Frankly, the V6's only endearing attribute was its sound. The four has an econocar's tiny voice, but it scoots really well and pulls its own - towing capacity is 5000 lbs. I'd get between 14 and 15 l/100 km with the V6 in shoulder seasons. This week, with remote start and snowfalls under January temps and remote start shenanigans, I got a compact SUV-worthy 12.5.

[Blueprint]

Driving:

Here it's copy-paste from my previous experiences. The Atlas has an odd mix of soft springs and firm damping. It goes down the road as softly has the BOF full-sizers it emulates, but impacts are sharply felt and heard. As always, I suspect the 21" tires shoved under the Execline are not snowbelt-appropriate and I'd bet the taller-sidewalled 18 inchers from the Comfortline are a better fit (speaking of tires, my tester made driving in semi-deep snow more laborious than it should have been - I should have known, it had a set of Michelin winter slicks). The only German attribute here is found in the firm seats. Otherwise, the Atlas behaves like a big US SUV - if one wants a German driving experience, seek a Mazda CX-90.

[Blueprint]

Room:

The Atlas feels like a minivan after a stint in a CX-90. The interior is airy, bright and cavernous. This is one of the rare 3-rows where a 6' tall adult can actually sit in the 3rd row with plenty of headroom. The optional 2nd row captain' seats feel like a waste of space (a bench is std in all trims), but they make the 3rd row more hospitable and less confining. The Atlas is so huge it almost feels like you're driving a Tahoe. Amazing that this is built on the same MQB platform as a MkVII Golf (streched out to the max though). In full cargo mode, the floor is quite flat and the trunk offers huge cubbies to stabilize things like windshield washer jugs.

[Blueprint]

Value:

The Comfortline is the value leader of the Atlas family. Heated steering wheel and washer nozzles, power hatch, triple zone auto a/c - it offers a lot of kit for $50k, unlike the new-for-2024 Peak edition, with $4k's "worth" of cosmetics. Should you need a sunroof, go up to the Highline at $57k and you'll get that plus leather and other goodies. My loaded full-lux Execline was $60k. While not cheap, these prices are market-competitive and, again, the Comfortline offers a lot of bang for the buck. Keep in mind though that build quality was not that great in my tester, lots of creaky plastics, especially the up on the door frame where your hand naturally grips to close the door. The new turbo four brings compact-class fuel economy to the equation and runs on regular gas too.

[bridgecity]

Definitely a nice looking rig with the 21" wheels.  I find the vehicle looks awkward with the smaller wheels.

I find it odd that every journo complains about piano black on the interior, yet manufacturers have been using it for years (my wife's '14 MDX has a fair amount and so does my '07 Tundra), and it doesn't seem to be going away. The buying public must like it.

Shame about the haptic crap.

[tortoise]

Great summary, thanks for writing it out.

Having spent time with the haptic nonsense, is it something you can get used to or is it a dealer breaker?

[Blueprint]

Final thoughts:

Refresh No2 fully adressed the Atlas' weakest link: the V6. The new four improves driveability, and especially fuel economy while not hurting the class-competitive 5000 lbs towing capacity. The older design still carries its weight with the updates, the fact that said updates don't look overly tacked-on helping. Not going for a full redesign saved VW pennies, and it shows with a very competitive base price of $50k for the well-equipped base version. The one faux-pas is the cognitive nightmare that are the new controls. Once set to automatic, forget them and use the steering wheel buttons as I did. Oh and I must add that the new h/k stereo in the Execline is as terrible as the previous Panasonic-sourced Fender unit was great. The new audio is not even set up for USB music, you can only connect it to apps on your phone, which reduces sound quality in my experience - the stereo is reason enough to stay with the base trim and save $10k in the process.

[Blueprint]

Great summary, thanks for writing it out.

Having spent time with the haptic nonsense, is it something you can get used to or is it a dealer breaker?

Set the headlights to automatic and forget about that panel - I went through trial and error to turn on the lights for pics! And as for the HVAC, ignore the haptics and go with the screen.

That reminds me a critical omission in my review:

THERE IS NO HARD BUTTON FOR DEFROST

This is borderline dangerous, when a sudden fog-up requires your to stop, remove gloves, push the haptic pad below the vents to get HVAC menu on screen menus and find the defrost function. This should be a legal requirement, as with the hazard switch.

[OliverD]

The lack of hard buttons for the most commonly used functions is very frustrating.

I do think this refresh looks great though. The Atlas always looked fine to me if a bit boring. The new headlights and taillights are a big improvement IMO.

[Blueprint]

The lack of hard buttons for the most commonly used functions is very frustrating.

I do think this refresh looks great though. The Atlas always looked fine to me if a bit boring. The new headlights and taillights are a big improvement IMO.

In full agreement !

[PJungnitsch]

Isn't the defrost button in that pod down by the left knee? By the headlight switch (for some reason)

Have not experienced haptics yet but beautifully made buttons like the RX has are bad too if they are identical, functions are randomly thrown together and they are scattered around the cabin

Funny how you don't appreciate good controls until you don't have them. In the spirit of 'Masters of the Air'

Fitts' data showed that during one 22-month period of the war, the Air Force reported an astounding 457 crashes just like the one in which our imaginary pilot hit the runway thinking everything was fine. But the culprit was maddeningly obvious for anyone with the patience to look. Fitts' colleague Alfonse Chapanis did the looking. When he started investigating the airplanes themselves, talking to people about them, sitting in the cockpits, he also didn’t see evidence of poor training. He saw, instead, the impossibility of flying these planes at all. Instead of “pilot error,” he saw what he called, for the first time, “designer error.”

The reason why all those pilots were crashing when their B-17s were easing into a landing was that the flaps and landing gear controls looked exactly the same. The pilots were simply reaching for the landing gear, thinking they were ready to land. And instead, they were pulling the wing flaps, slowing their descent, and driving their planes into the ground with the landing gear still tucked in. Chapanis came up with an ingenious solution: He created a system of distinctively shaped knobs and levers that made it easy to distinguish all the controls of the plane merely by feel, so that there’s no chance of confusion even if you’re flying in the dark.

By law, that ingenious bit of design—known as shape coding—still governs landing gear and wing flaps in every airplane today. And the underlying idea is all around you: It’s why the buttons on your videogame controller are differently shaped, with subtle texture differences so you can tell which is which. It’s why the dials and knobs in your car are all slightly different, depending on what they do

https://www.wired.com/story/how-dumb-design-wwii-plane-led-macintosh/

[tortoise]

I'm pretty sure he was referring to defrosting the windshield and not the rear window

[Blueprint]

Isn't the defrost button in that pod down by the left knee? By the headlight switch (for some reason)

#headpalm. Sometimes I see things in my own details pics that I did not actually see as a driver. You can't use that pad while driving. You can't even see it. It never occured to me that these would be controls for the front defrost and the rear electric defroster. That probably covers legal requirements, but location / ergonomics are 173% stupid. Or maybe 194%  .

[Layne]

Doesn't this VW have voice controls and if so, can't you ask it to turn on the rear defrost?

My experience with the Golf R is that the haptics are much ado about nothing.  Even modern BMW's have some buttons that are haptic.  I mean, the haptic buttons still 'click.'

Regardless, thanks for the review!  I actually really like the exterior design of this - looks chunky and purposeful.

[Blueprint]

Doesn't this VW have voice controls and if so, can't you ask it to turn on the rear defrost?

My experience with the Golf R is that the haptics are much ado about nothing.  Even modern BMW's have some buttons that are haptic.  I mean, the haptic buttons still 'click.'

Regardless, thanks for the review!  I actually really like the exterior design of this - looks chunky and purposeful.

I gave up on voice controls years ago. Every car has its own cues you need to know, plus they don't "get" our French-Canadian accent. I don't use it in my own cars. The only ones I found intuitive were the early Ford systems, back when people were smashing their screens out of rage (Ford was the first to push infotainment screens in mass market cars).

[rrocket]

Great summary, thanks for writing it out.

Having spent time with the haptic nonsense, is it something you can get used to or is it a dealer breaker?

Set the headlights to automatic and forget about that panel - I went through trial and error to turn on the lights for pics! And as for the HVAC, ignore the haptics and go with the screen.

That reminds me a critical omission in my review:

THERE IS NO HARD BUTTON FOR DEFROST

This is borderline dangerous, when a sudden fog-up requires your to stop, remove gloves, push the haptic pad below the vents to get HVAC menu on screen menus and find the defrost function. This should be a legal requirement, as with the hazard switch.

Your gloves don't work with haptic stuff?

Time for new gloves maybe.

[Blueprint]

Great summary, thanks for writing it out.

Having spent time with the haptic nonsense, is it something you can get used to or is it a dealer breaker?

Set the headlights to automatic and forget about that panel - I went through trial and error to turn on the lights for pics! And as for the HVAC, ignore the haptics and go with the screen.

That reminds me a critical omission in my review:

THERE IS NO HARD BUTTON FOR DEFROST

This is borderline dangerous, when a sudden fog-up requires your to stop, remove gloves, push the haptic pad below the vents to get HVAC menu on screen menus and find the defrost function. This should be a legal requirement, as with the hazard switch.

Your gloves don't work with haptic stuff?

Time for new gloves maybe.

Some "click", others like the temp sliders don't. And you can't even see or feel the things when driving.