In 2006, displacement jumped to 3.6 liters, fuel delivery changed from port to direct injection, and the bank angle tightened to 10.6 degrees, allowing the camshafts to be reassigned with one dedicated to intake valves and the other acting on the exhaust valves. It got a four-valve head and grew to 3.2 liters (remember the 250-hp Golf R32?) by 2003. Shorter than an inline-six and only slightly wider than an inline-four, the cleverly designed transverse-six-it also did longitudinal duties in the Porsche Cayenne and others-supplied V-6 thrust in a smaller package. It used two camshafts, each controlling the intake and exhaust valves for one bank of cylinders. debut in the 1992 Passat, the so-called VR6 (a marketing-department portmanteau of V and Reihe, the German word for inline) displaced 2.8 liters, made 174 horsepower, and featured a 15.0-degree bank angle capped by a single 12-valve head. Volkswagen wasn’t the first to build a narrow-angle, mono-head V engine (Italy’s Lancia did it in the 1920s), but it has certainly stuck with it the longest, even employing the principles on current Bentley and Bugatti engines. Like its namesake, this VW is strong enough to handle heavy lifting. The Atlas struts into dealerships this June, fully capable of shouldering the responsibility of transporting families and all their stuff as well as a big chunk of VW’s future in America. The digital cluster functions much the same as its Audi counterpart, but the map view isn’t quite as striking-read: large-and the controls are on the right steering-wheel spoke, not the left. The SEL Premium-V-6, AWD only-brings real leather, cooled front seats and heated second-row seats, a 12-speaker Fender audio system, and 20-inch wheels, along with VW’s version of Audi’s digital Virtual Cockpit, called Virtual Display here. All SELs include driver-assist features such as adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping assist, forward-collision warning, and park assist (all but park assist are available as an option on the SE). VW also ups the radiator fan’s motor from 600 to 850 watts and ditches the lower grille shutters to ensure air is always passing through the heat exchangers. Those looking to tow more than 2000 pounds will need the SEL V-6, which comes with a factory hitch and a 5000-pound towing capacity. Brake feel, something often overlooked in this class, is strong, too, with immediate pedal response and an intuitive correlation between effort and stopping force. Still, we didn’t find the Sport steering too heavy on our drive through Texas Hill Country’s winding two-lanes, and there is no wandering on-center. When switching among them, the most noticeable difference is the steering in Sport mode, which ups the heft. The all-wheel-drive Atlas comes with a dial selector for the self-explanatory modes: Snow, Offroad, Custom Offroad, and Onroad-the last offering four sub-modes consisting of Eco, Normal, Sport, and Individual. Solid-mounted front and rear subframes communicate chassis behaviors, although the steering is all but mute. It drives smaller-although not quite as small as a CX-9. We expect the V-6 Atlas to hit 60 mph in about 7.6 seconds, which is a little quicker than the pricier and smaller Touareg but well behind the Honda Pilot.įortunately, the Atlas doesn’t feel as big as it is. We didn’t have the opportunity to drive the four-cylinder, although it shouldn’t be terribly pokey around town because its torque peak is just 8 lb-ft shy of the V-6’s and arrives 1150 rpm lower, at 1600 rpm. The narrow-angle V-6 is good for 276 horsepower and is available with either front- or VW’s 4MOTION all-wheel drive. In this application, the turbo four makes 235 horsepower and 258 lb-ft of torque and comes only with front-wheel drive. Moving all that mass-up to an estimated 4550 pounds-is a task shouldered by one of two engines: VW’s ubiquitous EA888 turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four and a naturally aspirated 3.6-liter V-6. HIGHS: Legitimate three-row comfort, cushy ride, thrones suitable for a long haul, tows 5000 pounds.
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