2027 Volkswagen Atlas First Drive Review: Calling All Helicopter Parents

Key Takeaways

• New generation, same VW quirks. The 2027 Atlas arrives with a turbocharged engine and updated tech, but lacks a hybrid option.
• Interior and tech updates. Features a large touchscreen and some real buttons, but some controls feel over-engineered.
• Spacious family-friendly design. Offers flexible seating and ample cargo space, but interior materials lag behind competitors.
• Overbearing safety features. Aggressive safety systems can be intrusive and frustrating for drivers.

Bottom line: The 2027 Volkswagen Atlas offers great space and tech for families but struggles with intrusive safety features and lacks the refinement of its competitors.

✦ AI assisted, editor reviewed

It only took a decade, but the second-generation Volkswagen Atlas has arrived. Remaining on brand, it shows up to the party with killer packaging but stumbles with its powertrain choices and over engineering of certain functions. VW continues to be VW.

The 2027 VW Atlas features a new turbocharged powertrain, new platform, a redesign that sticks to the script, and the latest technology, for better and worse. There’s no hybrid in sight, and above all else, a week with it taught me it’s a helicopter parent disguised as a car.

Joel Feder

The Basics 

The large three-row crossover SUV sits atop the VW lineup and has moved to the MQB Evo platform, which brings forth a new, more modern electrical architecture enabling the latest tech, like automated lane changes and predictive cruise control that adjusts with speed limit changes. There’s no hands-free driving, though, so both seem a bit unnecessary.

If you hated how the last VW Atlas looked, the new one might not be for you. The design updates are evolutionary. The front end is more upright, but we’ve gone back to a horizontal emphasis, like the first model before the two facelifts, thanks to thick grille bars. The headlights and daytime running lights are stacked with the latter catching your eye. The first-gen’s hard lines have been softened, as if VW didn’t get the memo that boxy and bold are back in style. The soft line from the front fender running down the side, dipping down at the doors, and kicking up on the rear fender is going to age and softens the entire look. In what might be the most complimentary bit for VW—though, I’m not sure how Porsche will feel about this—the LED taillight has a similar design vibe to that of the more expensive electric Cayenne, albeit a bit less polished and blockier on the VW. Still an odd family connection there.

Joel Feder

Inside the Atlas is a mixed bag, and ironically the first-gen model before the two refreshes might’ve been the peak of this model’s interior. The dashboard retains a low-set horizontal design theme with the focal point being the 12.9-inch touchscreen angled towards the driver, but the SEL Premium R-Line tested featured the available huge 15.0-inch touchscreen. It contains basically all the vehicle’s controls. It’s a lot of CarPlay, or maps, or music, or anything you have on the screen when not on the home screen. It’s paired with a configurable 10.25-inch digital gauge cluster.

Joel Feder

My daughter highlighted the real wood trim on the top-spec model tested and liked what VW calls Atmospheres. It’s a function that is engaged by pushing down the volume knob, which is huge, on the center console, and includes everything from Lounge and Joy to Nature and Minimal. Each mode adjusts the interior ambient lighting, gauge cluster lighting and formatting, and even the audio settings accordingly to set the tone. It felt gimmicky, but she found it fun.

Joel Feder

Less fun is the shiny piano black plastic slathered all over the front center console, which will inevitably look terrible. I’m a big fan of the two MagSafe wireless smartphone chargers in the center console. They worked each and every time, and flow up to 15 watts of power each. I also appreciated the storage area below the front center console that was perfect for storing my computer when on the go to kids’ activities.

The materials inside, from the stitched door panels and soft-touch dashboard to the seats with the suede trim are a cut above anything found in a Honda Pilot. But we are still a full step behind what’s found in the latest Hyundai Palisade and Kia Telluride. At least there’s built-in window shades for those in the back of the VW, something you still can’t get in an Escalade costing over twice as much.

Props to VW for realizing its mistakes and providing real buttons and toggles on the steering wheel along with real window switches and mirror controls on the driver’s door. The redesigned door handles, which are a lever you simply pull up on, is clutch. But the touch-based sliders for the temperature and volume controls below the touchscreen are still wretched. At least they are backlit this time.

Joel Feder

Family packaging continues to be the Atlas’ strong point. The second row is still on rails, and it slides fore and aft so second- and third-row passengers can horse trade for space, and the seats slide-and-tilt forward for third-row access. This means you can leave a car seat installed while still accessing the third row. That third row is adult friendly and not posing like some others. There are only seat belts for two people and it’s wide. There’s 21.2 cubic feet of space behind the third row, and that grows to a healthy 55.9 cubic feet of space with the third row folded flat. With the second and third rows folded, there’s 95.4 cubic feet of space for activities or cargo.

Joel Feder

Driving Experience 

Every 2026 Volkswagen Atlas is powered by an updated 2.0-liter turbo-four now rated at 282 horsepower and 258 lb-ft of torque sent to the front or all four wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission. When equipped properly the Atlas is rated to tow up to 5,000 pounds. There isn’t a hybrid in sight! In fact, Volkswagen’s so aware of the oversight and miscalculation it already announced a hybrid model will come later in the model’s life cycle. 

In Comfort mode the steering features enough weight as to not feel overboosted, but no one will mistake the Atlas for a GTI, despite, hilariously, these two vehicles sharing the same platform, albeit with stretched dimensions. Sport mode adds unnecessary heft to the steering but also cracks off quicker shifts, but it won’t retain upon a key cycle.

At first, the Atlas was a bit dull on its throttle inputs in Comfort mode. Throughout the week, however, the car’s powertrain and computer system seemed to adapt a bit to my driving style and felt a bit perkier to the point of me noticing.

Joel Feder

The suspension is firm and controlled, but absorbs broken midwest pavement without disruption to the cabin. The ride isn’t as soft or polished as the top-spec Palisade, which feels as if it’s grabbed from a luxury automaker’s parts being for bushings.

While the driving experience is what you expect from a VW—and an Atlas, at this point—the hyperactive safety systems that know better than you are downright atrocious. Take off your seat belt? Immediately the car still started dinging. I’m talking if a single person unbuckles. Heaven forbid a child unbuckles at school drop off for a split second. Get in the car, turn it on, and you or someone else isn’t buckled yet? The car wi

Source: www.thedrive.com — article syndicated from the publisher’s feed; all rights remain with the original publisher.