Frisky Dingo

As it currently stands, only the last gen diesel cars are able to be 'fixed'. The earliest cars are being crushed. It's already happening. Cars that are newer, but not the last gen TDI's- 2012's-2014's- it sounds like it's up in the air. The later cars will most likely see resale here in the states.

I disagree.

They're not. These were pre-prod units. It was VW training. They'll hit lots the last week of April.

CVT is a vehicle this size......ugh, hard pass.

I mean, I don't know HOW TF they didn't see this coming. You mean a coupe, a sedan version of that coupe, another sedan that looks kinda more like the coupe than the sedan, a convertible version of that coupe, a wagon version of the sedan version of that coupe, and a pseudo-hatchback crossover monstrosity version of the sedan version of that coupe is too many models!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! NO WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Compared to the competition, which was a new Pilot and Exploder- Styling- Ford>VW>Pilot Interior design- Ford>VW>Pilot Space- VW=Honda>Ford Front seats- Ford=VW>Honda 2nd row- VW>Honda>Ford 3rd row- VW>Honda>Ford Cargo- VW>Honda>Ford Ingress/egress-VW>Honda>>Ford Interior materials- Ford>Honda=VW Tech- VW>Honda>Ford Ride- VW=Honda>>Ford Handling/steering- VW(just barely)>Honda>>Ford Acceleration- VW>Ford=Honda Transmission- VW>Honda>Ford Noise level- VW=Honda>>Ford Refinement- VW=Honda>Ford Overall, the Pilot and VW are pretty closely matched. They drive similar and have comparable driving dynamics for the most part. The VW has the slightest of edges in a few areas- trans tuning, body motion control, etc. I cannot say in truth the Pilot is a bad vehicle. It's quite a strong player, and I can see why it has no trouble finding homes. The Atlas has greater interior comfort levels and packaging however, which is a major plus in this segment. It's the best 3rd row seat in a CUV I've come across by a pretty good margin. I personally feel like the VW has better looks, but that's subjective. There was no question though that the Ford was considerably behind both the VW and Honda. It felt heavy, brittle, and often times rather sloppy. All in all, I think the Atlas is competitive with even the very players in this segment, and so long as VW can manage production and distribution, along with market and incentivize it properly, it should sell well. Anyone shopping in this segment is doing themselves a disservice to not at least consider and look at one of these. On the first part, I have no idea. I've never seen a MFR flip-flop on trim levels and change options and equipment so much from MY to MY as VW. It's crazy. GM was bad sometimes, but VW has them beat. I have lots of pictures I'll try to post when I get the chance.

Okay, gents. Long time since I did one of these. This one will be somewhat brief, as I only drove one powertrain option, and although the test drive loops were decently long, I didn't get the variety I would normally incorporate into a good test drive. What I am going to do with this is a 'Good' and 'Bad' list, and then a quick comparo against the other vehicles on hand for the ride and drive event. Good- * Appearance. Yep, I said it. In person, it's a handsome vehicle with a cohesive and non-fussy design. It's not going to turn any heads with its boldness, or lack thereof, but it's clean and understated and elegant. As for looking like other vehicles, I see more Grand Cherokee hints in it than anything. * Room. There's tons of it, and everywhere. The 2nd row slides fore and aft through a huge range. Third row is easily big enough to accommodate 2 real adults in comfort. And the ingress and egress to the 3rd row is a breeze. You can even get into it with a car seat in the 2nd row w/out having to remove it. You can put a stroller in the back with the 3rd row up. * Ride. It's very smooth and very quiet. We only got to reach speeds of around 55, but I'm confident based on how quiet it was that noise levels would still be very subdued at highway speeds. The suspension soaks up big holes and bumps with aplomb. It was comfortable even riding in the back. * Steering/handling. The steering is nicely weighted, with good accuracy and a linear feel. Body motions are very well controlled. There was a surprising lack of roll, dive, and squat to an impressive level. Credit partly the lightweight chassis, and the low-mounted VR6 engine which undoubtedly helps the center of gravity and polar moment. * Transmission. The 8AT is smooth, quick, and responsive. Even in it's most relaxed settings, it's not terribly reluctant to kick down and accelerate. In 'Sport', it happily downshifts and holds gears to give you the right now response you want. * Fit and finish. Everything fits together nicely and cleanly, with no unsightly gaps or edges. Bad- * Some materials leave some to be desired, especially on the SEL Premium. The faux wood on the dash is terrible and could been improved upon by literally just about anything else. More expansive leather and soft touch materials would have been nicer, too. That is a complaint I share with competitors, but it's a missed opportunity for VW. * Connectivity/plug-ins. There should just be more. GM is fantastic at this in their people movers. * Powertrain options. The VR6 is just fine here, and easily a rival for any other N/A V6 in the segment. And it plays nice with the 8AT. But it could have been updated with more power to stay competitive longer in the segment. A boosted 6 from elsewhere in the VAG family would have been a major trump card. Also, limiting the 2.0T to FWD only is a mistake. So-so- * Pricing. Hard to tell, as they didn't have final pricing and equipment info, but it seems the SEL Premium model will be priced ambitiously. It's value quotient is definitely stronger in lower trims. * Packages. Again, hard to tell for sure, but it seems as if they are going to complicate the trims and packages a bit. VW's normal clear structure and optioning may be thrown out the window on this one. For example, I heard there may be as 2 or 3 stand-alone options/packages on some trim levels, and all of them will have at least one. I hope this gets streamlined.

Ugh. You'd have to pay ME to own one of these.

The Atlas has no more hard plastic on the door panels than the Traverse. The actual switch gear being better on the Traverse I will give you, but the upper dash material is not nicer. It doesn't have anymore soft touch materials than the Atlas. Also, the area immediately surrounding the infotainment screen is cheaper looking, with its terrible faux wood finish. Same thing the Atlas is guilty of on the dash and door panel. And the overall fit and finish is worse on the Traverse. I've seen more instances than I can count of flimsy interior pieces breaking off and coming loose in Lambdas. Especially around the seats and floor.

Lol, the materials in the Traverse are NOT better than the Atlas. Not by a long shot. That's just comical. The dash trim on the higher models is where the biggest criticism can be levied against the Atlas. The center stack and console areas are as good as or better than the rest of the class I've been in. Which is everything but the new Koreans.

This is great news. It would obviously take the shape of a traditional 5 dr upon actual production.

Plenty of other vehicles in this class have loads of hard plastic in them. This is nothing new. And they all have their own shortcomings, as well.

Now this is just funny, because the Passat's interior is anything but cheap. The fit and finish is among the best in the class. Just more evidence of people mistaking over the top styling and design for quality.

It takes a while for tech to trickle downstream.

Well, this is a no-brainer. If you want sustainability as a mainstream maker, this is a necessity. They better get something smaller than the new Tiguan out stat! Also, pony up and give us a damn Amarok already!! On a realted note, I get to go drive the new Atlas next week

Be that as is may, there's an even bigger gap between people who buy 60-75K cars and those who buy 1 million dollar 918's.

I haven't driven one, so I can't speak from experience. But shallow though it may be, I know I would personally much rather have a six cylinder than a double-boosted I4. Pass.

Assuming a starting price of 62Kish, which I totally don't doubt, that's only 2x as much as the average new car cost from 2015. For a Porsche. That will likely qualify for tax incentives. That's pretty obtainable for a very large group of people.

Idk the specifics, but I know our Volvo store is being flooded with XC90's for powertrain and electronic related issues. Take it with a grain of salt, but I have nothing against Volvo whatsoever, and wouldn't baselessly criticize them.

I'm torn with this bit of news. On the one hand, it's great that Porsche of all people is not going to price this thing exorbitantly where it only ends up in the hands of the rich. Allowing this technology to reach the masses is good to see. On the other hand, the fact that this will be so cheap causes me to worry that the concept won't make it to production very intact. It would be a huge disappointment to see the car watered down from a styling/design standpoint. I'm w/ @dfelt in that this is a Porsche I could see myself personally interested in. Especially if there are incentives it will qualify for.

Still shouldn't be. Those engines are overstressed and too high strung. Lots of them are having issues. They're not limited to engines, though. Plenty of electronic issues, too. No way would I consider a new Volvo anything.

Not sure there's enough room to position this below the 86. That car is underpowered as is, and is already very light and small. Unless they have plans of taking it upmarket, which they seem to have no interest in, and which would also overlap with the base model Supra, I don't see how they could make a business case for having 3 sports cars.

Not only that but VW is a company that makes two different variants of certain cars, so they obviously see the value in catering to a specific market- the US, in this case- if the rewards are great enough.

A car with so much potential, but squandered to mere mediocrity.

Awesome that they are bringing this here, but damn it's ugly. Still, more hot hatches the better!!