At Last! VW Launches the Atlas

The dawn of a new era at Volkswagen started today, with the launch of the Atlas, the biggest vehicle ever built at the company’s Chattanooga plant.

When it arrives for the 2018 model year, the Atlas will be the biggest Volkswagen on sale in America and will come with a choice of two engines, three rows, and 4Motion all-wheel-drive, as well a suite of new technology, including Volkswagen’s Digital Cockpit—similar to Audi’s virtual cockpit.

Both the 2.0-liter TSI and the 3.6-liter VR6 engines will be mated to an 8 speed automatic transmission. The four-cylinder TSI engine produces 238 hp, while the VR6 makes 280 hp.

At 198.3 inches long, 77.9 inches wide, and 69.6 inches tall, the Atlas is a little longer than the Honda Pilot and a little wider than the Dodge Durango. When it hits the showroom floor, it will be the biggest Volkswagen on sale in America.

And it makes good use of that space, with its seven seats (2-3-2) and room for cargo. The seats farthest back are big enough for two adults and can be accessed even if there is a child-seat in the middle row.

As well as the new digital cockpit, the Atlas will come with plenty of available tech. That includes a 12 speaker, 480-watt sound system, adaptive cruise control, forward collision warning, blind-spot monitoring, autonomous emergency braking, lane departure warning, and more.

Not only will this be the biggest vehicle at Volkswagen’s Chattanooga, Tennessee plant, it will be the first made on the MQB platform. Despite the fact that the US Passat—the other vehicle built at the plant—is not on the same platform, the two will share the same assembly line.

The post At Last! VW Launches the Atlas appeared first on VWVortex.

from VWVortex http://ift.tt/2eh4Epr
via IFTTT

Comments

2018 Lamborghini Aventador S Roadster Review

“Supercars just don’t excite me anymore.” These words, spoken to me over a month ago by another journalist, friend, and (so-called) enthusiast were echoing in my head for far too long, but they’ve finally been drowned out. Drowned out by the wail of a naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12 engine mounted in the middle of the new Lamborghini Aventador S Roadster. My friend’s point is that back in the good old days, there was a crop of supercars that captured the imagination with amazing style, sounds, performance, and more. Today, it seems like everything is capable of supercar performance, with large luxury sedans outdoing some of the best and most dedicated teams of car nuts, while former pillars of automotive excellence are suddenly pumping out family-friendly SUVs. Beyond that, another league of supercars, dubbed hypercars have cropped up with hybrid gas-electric powertrains that make magical things happen quickly, but at the cost of the acoustic drama, visual flair, and engag...

Project SportWagen: Going Stage 2 with APR

When we last left you, the humble little SportWagen was fresh from the development process with our friends at AWE Tuning, sporting a new downpipe, exhaust and intake, allowing things to breathe a bit easier. The car sounded great, but there was no getting around the fact that our wagon was still quite, well, slow. While we realize that nothing we do to the Golf SportWagen at this point will make it a race car, we still felt compelled to do something . To put it bluntly, we had a fever, and the only cure was more power. Flash forward a few hours, and we found ourselves at Waterfest, staring down APR’s palatial spread and the numerous tuned vehicles surrounding it. Earlier in the year, APR had hinted to us that their 1.8 TSI files would be quite impressive, and based on what they were able to do with the 2.0 TSI found in the new GTI and our time in their Golf R, we knew it’d be worth the wait. So with this in mind, we lined our G...

Event Report: Southern Worthersee 2015

There’s been much ado about this year’s SoWo since this past Saturday night, when Instagram, Facebook and other Social Media channels exploded with images and commentary focusing on the event’s bad eggs. But first, let’s chat a bit about the event itself. Our journey started early Thursday morning as part of the Orchid Euro/Coolwater cruise to the event. What should have taken about 12-13 hours ended up taking much more, as we stopped to help any Volkswagen that needed our assistance. And while the extended commute time wasn’t ideal, it proved to highlight the ‘no person left behind’ spirit of the Volkswagen community- arguably one of the scene’s best qualities. On Friday and Saturday, the town was flooded with enthusiasts, making this year’s event without a doubt the largest yet. Attendees came from as far as California, Mexico City, and event a few straight from the original Wörthersee in Austria, and for most it was well worth the trip. The quality o...

Vorderman Volkswagen

Search This Blog