🔧 BUILD 2021 VW Atlas 2.0T AWD Family Wagon

[blakbearddelite]

On our way to Florida, I was drafting my wife's SUV @65mph with the u-Haul and getting 40mpg. But the best I seem to get is about what you're getting, low 30's. I still like this SUV, just need to suck it up and get a tune.

 

[Jimy Bilmo]

On our way to Florida, I was drafting my wife's SUV @65mph with the u-Haul and getting 40mpg. But the best I seem to get is about what you're getting, low 30's. I still like this SUV, just need to suck it up and get a tune.

APR!

 

[Turtle]

On our way to Florida, I was drafting my wife's SUV @65mph with the u-Haul and getting 40mpg. But the best I seem to get is about what you're getting, low 30's. I still like this SUV, just need to suck it up and get a tune.

The Tiguan will get Apr tuned as soon as warranty is over.

Only have 12k on our 2020.

 

[blakbearddelite]

The Tiguan will get Apr tuned as soon as warranty is over.

Only have 12k on our 2020.

I guess that's the "problem" I have too. The warranty period on this car is extensive @ 6 years/72,000 (bumper-to-bumper). Working remote now, I will likely reach 6 years first.

 

[Jimy Bilmo]

I guess that's the "problem" I have too. The warranty period on this car is extensive @ 6 years/72,000 (bumper-to-bumper). Working remote now, I will likely reach 6 years first.

I couldn’t wait. It’s worth it, and plenty run it without issues. Worth the risk IMO.

 

[blue-sun]

I guess that's the "problem" I have too. The warranty period on this car is extensive @ 6 years/72,000 (bumper-to-bumper). Working remote now, I will likely reach 6 years first.

I only got a 3 year/36k factory warranty on the GTI. I think the 6/72 was only for a couple of years.

 

[blakbearddelite]

Yeah, I believe that was for the 18/19 model years.

 

[The Beast]

I couldn’t wait. It’s worth it, and plenty run it without issues. Worth the risk IMO.

If it’s a daily and not a race car I don’t see the point of tuning it if you are voiding a warranty.

Sucks when it goes boom and it’s not warrantied

 

[The Beast]

Yeah, I believe that was for the 18/19 model years.

When u first got yours on your thread we spoke about how great looking the the Tiguan is but when I test drove it was way underpowered but I’d rather have a warranty than void it if it’s my daily. It’s not fun when you have to pay for a new engine.

 

[Dan00Hawk]

If only running a Stage 1 from APR, it's fairly conservative/safe despite a nice bump in power and not really pushing any mechanical limits. And as a daily that isn't really being driven hard too often, even less is likely to go wrong. Different story in the hands of a teen driver that's racing around, of course. BUT VW seems to automatically flag them if they come in for service and their system can detect that it's been reflashed, even if put back to stock. It's a calculated gamble, of course, but it likely falls into the .01% or less chance of there being a problem with the powertrain.

If it’s a daily and not a race car I don’t see the point of tuning it if you are voiding a warranty.

Sucks when it goes boom and it’s not warrantied

 

[Bru]

Couldn’t be beat by my wife’s 28 mpg. 30.1 mpg on the return trip with me driving.

 

[Bru]

I just returned from a 2,200-mile road trip in the Atlas and tracked fuel economy via the Fuelly app. Total mpg over the 2,200 miles was 24.1 mpg, with the highest tank of 25.7 mpg. The trip computer read about 1.5-2 mpg higher than calculated numbers, and that’s disappointing because most cars aren’t that off.

The longest distance we traveled between fill-ups was 355 miles, which refilled 15 of the tank’s 18 gallons, but this tank’s average was also one of the lowest at 23.5 mpg. With two kids under 5 in the car, however, refueling wasn’t a factor in how frequently we stopped.

The AWD 2.0T’s highway mpg rating is 24 mpg, so it hit that even when driving at 80 mph on big long stretches loaded with cargo. The route was from Naperville to Jacksonville FL area and on the way down we went through Asheville so the driving included some elevation changes along the way.

I wouldn’t say the route was challenging at all, but in the mountains I liked to drive in sport mode to get the revs up; otherwise, the economy-minded programming lugs the engine and its out of its range of responsiveness. When I drive, I refuel with Premium because the car gets its max power ratings on 93 and I feel like it’s more eager to rev and the shifts are crisper, but that might be in my head. This trip was all on Premium, though around town it’s mostly on regular.

Ride firmness is good but impact harshness with the 20s remains poor and every bump makes a loud thwack sounds, which was apparent on the long drive. Perhaps a different tire would be better, but I’d really like to put 17s or 18s on the car at some point with more sidewall.

 

[PANDA]

Not bad gas mileage. I want to say Jennifers' Outback 3.6R gets about the same on the highway. Does the atlas require premium with the turbo?

 

[Bru]

It’s premium for best performance and economy, but you can drive on regular without issue and it says “87 octane” on the fuel door. Mostly premium will get you the maximum power in high heat or high stress conditions.

 

[Bru]

What I most appreciated about the trip was while packing, whenever we had the question of “should we bring it? “The answer was yes, throw it in, because the atlas fit everything you could imagine needing for a 2 and 5 year old

 

[Yaj Yak]

What I most appreciated about the trip was while packing, whenever we had the question of “should we bring it? “The answer was yes, throw it in, because the atlas fit everything you could imagine needing for a 2 and 5 year old

bring it ALL. always.

 

[Gav'sPurpleZ]

Always enjoy reading Bru's reviews

 

[Bru]

24,000-mile update: I’ve been hearing a clunk in the driver’s side front that I thought would be a sway bar bushing like many have reported on the Atlas forums, but, nope, needs a new steering rack! Will be covered by warranty, but parts are back-ordered. I have a 2023 Atlas loaner with the 3.6-liter and was reminded how good the 2.0-liter is. The 3.6 is wimpy, and also read 15.8 mpg on the 3,000-mile trip

 

[RedBeard]

Good info on your experiences with this. This is one of the contenders for the family hauler purchase come next year. Hadn’t read up enough on them and didn’t know they did add AWD to the E888 engine option.

Wouldn’t hate having two cars with the same engine in the garage. Already have some of the maintenance tools lol.

 

[Bru]

The 2024 Atlas has the evo4 E888 engine from the new GTI/Golf R/Arteon. Aside from more power, it also makes max power on regular 87 octane. Unfortunately, they added the ID.4 screen and controls, which is an awful way to control a vehicle.

 

[RedBeard]

The 2024 Atlas has the evo4 E888 engine from the new GTI/Golf R/Arteon. Aside from more power, it also makes max power on regular 87 octane. Unfortunately, they added the ID.4 screen and controls, which is an awful way to control a vehicle.

Yeah our price range will likely be $32-38k so would be shopping used. I can’t figure out which trim/year it is but almost all I look at have the most flat basic looking seats which makes the interior look cheap as shit to me especially compared to my GTI. Kinda looks like at some point there was an SEL trim and an SEL Premium trim and the premium got the better looking seats.

Right now I’m strongly considering 2020+ Highlander, Atlas and maybe a higher mileage 2014-2017 GX460 (vastly different than the other two but an end of world reliability/off road capable vehicle).

 

[Bru]

You’re correct, the SEL was leatherette, the SEL Premium was leather.

 

[RedBeard]

Yeah these seats in a $41k car vs what I got in my GTI for $26k ($32k MSRP). I’m totally fine with leatherette, what my GTI has, but the seat lacks any styling detail. Looking and it seems the 22-23 SEL got a little better than earlier ones. 2024 looks

 

[FirstWorldProblems]

I have a 2023 Atlas loaner with the 3.6-liter and was reminded how good the 2.0-liter is. The 3.6 is wimpy, and also read 15.8 mpg on the 3,000-mile trip

Try pulling a trailer with one lol. It’s soooooo sloooooooooooooowwwwww

 

[Bru]

After I got the car back from the steering rack replacement, the headlights were pointed way low. Like dangerously short beam throw, barely through an intersection and unsafe to drive at highway speeds. I dropped it off at VW thinking it would be easy to identify, but got the runaround that there was nothing wrong and the headlights matched another atlas there and that there was no way to adjust the headlights so how could anything be wrong. No freaking way. This car has always had amazing headlights (adaptive and load leveling) and now I was only seeing as much light on the left photo below. I mentioned that perhaps the load level sensor on the lower control arm was disturbed during the repair, to which they said impossible, but then said they’d reach out to VW. Five days later, VW tells them how to fix it but the service advisor couldn’t tell me what it was. Anyway, it’s fixed now (right photo below) and happy to have my sweet headlights back.