The video review examines the 2024 Volkswagen Atlas Peak Edition SEL, scrutinizing whether its off-road enhancements genuinely improve its capabilities or simply serve as a marketing ploy. This particular model distinguishes itself with features such as a revised nose, Peak Edition badge, all-terrain tires, synthetic leather interior, and unique door inserts but maintains the same mechanical underpinnings as the standard Atlas.

The prospected off-road prowess of the Volkswagen Atlas Peak Edition SEL is put to the test in varied driving conditions, including new off-road courses. Despite visually appealing upgrades and a well-designed all-wheel-drive system, the vehicle struggles due to its limited ground clearance and less robust off-road equipment. This review critically assesses how it fares against its claimed rugged persona and other vehicles in its segment such as the Honda Pilot.

Main takeaways:

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Key Vocabularies and Common Phrases:

1. cynical [ˈsɪnɪkəl] - (adjective) - Believing that people are motivated purely by self-interest; distrustful of human sincerity or integrity. - Synonyms: (skeptical, pessimistic, distrustful)

...or is it just a cynical cash grab?

2. proving grounds [ˈpruːvɪŋ graʊndz] - (noun) - A place where something is tested or tried out. - Synonyms: (testing area, test site, trial field)

But it's been almost a year since we filmed that video, and we've made a lot of improvements here at our peninsula proving grounds.

3. exemplary [ɪɡˈzɛmpləri] - (adjective) - Serving as a desirable model; representing the best of its kind. - Synonyms: (model, ideal, commendable)

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I found the fourth gen to be an excellent system in tricky situations.

4. articulation [ɑːrˌtɪkjuˈleɪʃən] - (noun) - The action or manner of jointing or interrelating. - Synonyms: (connection, jointing, coherence)

...obviously, articulation on this vehicle isn't great.

5. rugged [ˈrʌɡɪd] - (adjective) - Having a rough, uneven surface or being strongly built or simple; capable of withstanding rough use. - Synonyms: (tough, sturdy, strong)

...this is the off road looking Atlas, I think we need to try out its chops, see what it is capable of.

6. descent [dɪˈsɛnt] - (noun) - The action of moving downward, dropping, or falling. - Synonyms: (downward movement, decline, drop)

It has trees in the way. It also has a very steep descent on the other side.

7. underbody [ˈʌndərˌbɑːdi] - (noun) - The underside of a vehicle. - Synonyms: (underside, bottom, nether side)

There's no underbody protection on this thing.

8. cavernous [ˈkævərnəs] - (adjective) - Like a cavern in size, shape, or atmosphere. - Synonyms: (spacious, vast, expansive)

But this is good if you want a cavernous back, a vehicle that just isn't on every other street corner.

9. torque vectoring [tɔːrk ˈvɛktərɪŋ] - (noun) - A technology used in car differentials to individually manage the torque to each wheel of a vehicle, enhancing vehicle handling and stability. - Synonyms: (power distribution, traction control, differential control)

...optimizes the torque vectoring.

10. approach angle [əˈproʊtʃ ˈæŋɡl] - (noun) - The steepest angle of slope a vehicle can climb or descend without interference. - Synonyms: (climb angle, ascent angle, incline angle)

The approach angle is just over 18 degrees on this thing.

2024 Volkswagen Atlas Peak Edition Off-Road Review

These days, almost every car maker is offering off-road ready trims for some of their most popular family crossovers. Subaru has wilderness. Toyota has the woodland. Honda has trailsport. Kia has X Pro. And I think you get the point. Well, now it's time for the Germans to join the fun. This is the new for 2024 Volkswagen Atlas Peak Edition SEL. This trim is a $2,000 upgrade over the standard SEl package. With the peak edition, you get a revised nose, a peak edition badge, 18 inch alloy wheels wrapped in 255 60 all terrain tires, roof rails, a synthetic leather interior adorned with peak addition details and unique door inserts.

Under the hood is a standard two-liter, four-cylinder turbo engine, making a peak 269 torque. The transmission is an eight-speed automatic with power paddle shifters. Four motion all-wheel drive with active control and drive modes is also standard at this trim level. EPA rates economy at 18 miles to the gallon in town and 24 on the highway. Price as you see it here, with no additional options. $51,785 including destination. You can, however, just tell by looking at it that clearances are going to be an issue. Volkswagen claims a meager 7.1 inches of clearance overall with an approach angle of 18.9 degrees and a departure angle of 21.3 degrees.

If you are a regular viewer of this show, you know that we already tested a 2024 Atlas R line just last year in that video. We ran the Atlas R line through our easy course here at our prudential proving grounds, and it actually did really well. But it's been almost a year since we filmed that video, and we've made a lot of improvements here at our peninsula proving grounds. In fact, we have a whole new section that we're going to test with this new atlas. So let's buckle up and give it a try.

One thing that is special about this vehicle is that they actually give it its own gauge cluster. And it's a funky one. I kind of love it. So, last year, I did test the new atlas, and at first blush, it's pretty much identical to what we have here. We just have slightly different interior treatment. Of course, we have the all terrain wheels and tires. Beyond that, there's really not a lot different here. It just feels like another atlas.

Being that it's a high strung turbo four, it's very peaky, so you don't get a lot of low down power. Also, 7.1 inches of ground clearance is still pretty low, especially with a peak edition badge. They really should add an extra inch of ground clearance if they're going to badge it as a special off-road adventure edition. There's no underbody protection on this thing. It is basically relying on what I consider to be a pretty good all-wheel drive system because the Haldex Borg Warner system, I believe this is a fourth gen.

Now, obviously, what we're going to have a problem with today is probably geometry. That's going to be the number one thing to look out for. Rubbing on the front, rubbing on the back. Break over. All these things are going to be problematic. I mean, the approach angle is just over 18 degrees on this thing, which is not fantastic, because this is the off-road looking atlas.

Now, granted, I understand most of the people buying this are buying into the package. They're not going to be actually going off-road all that much. However, out here in the Pacific Northwest, a lot of people do go off-road with their regular vehicles, not even just off roaders. What we're actually gonna do with this vehicle today is we're gonna drive it on an all new course that I just built. This is an extension of the fun forest. The fun forest is basically the whole west side of the property now, and it contains a number of different routes.

So we're gonna take the easier of the two routes on this side and we're gonna do it in reverse. I haven't quite decided what the flow is gonna be yet, so this is gonna be kind of fun for me and educational as well. I have to say, this is the very first, first non highly capable vehicle I've taken on this trail. I have no idea if this vehicle can get through here. I really don't.

There's a climb up at the end with a very tight cut that we might not have enough breakover. Now, keeping in mind this vehicle has just over seven inches of ground clearance. That's not a lot. So hopefully I haven't raised the bar too much with this course that a vehicle like this couldn't get through it. But if this can't get through it, then that'll say something about this peak edition.

So let's go ahead and set up the vehicle. I am going to go ahead and go straight into the off-road mode. So this does have a front camera and I am happy to see that. I'm going to go ahead and just climb down here, listen for any grinding on breakover.

Owen, this is just a little tilty soft section. This will wear in more over time, of course. Shouldn't be too difficult for any vehicle. And it gets through it, no problem at all. A little slip there, but yeah, moving on.

Here's going to be my first real decision. Whether or not I go straight or if I go left now straight. I know that's complicated. It actually has a number of ditches. It has trees in the way. It also has a very steep descent on the other side. And I'm not sure this has the approach or breakover.

I think what we're going to do here is I'm just going to nose in up here and just kind of feel out the first part of the section to see if it's something I could even do with this vehicle. I'm guessing probably not. So we're going to continue here over the first log. Did not hit the body yet. That's good. Suspension is a little firm for this kind of stuff.

I'm just creeping along because I don't want to bottom out. Come on. It's actually giving me a pretty good crawl ratio here, all things considered. I'm gonna tilt. Okay. Come on. There we go.

Okay, so right here, we're gonna check out that all-wheel drive system, how well it can climb us out of this hole. Now, with these type of systems, you just lay in the throttle, and it sorts it out as it shifts power around. I am varying Throttle just a little bit. Come on. That's almost full throttle now.

Okay. Can we climb up this? Got a wheel up, probably. Can it lift? Ooh, that didn't feel good. Oop, we're slipping a little muddy here.

Oh, we've glossed over. Right. Well, I don't know if I can get up this. And that's okay, because this is supposed to be a harder section. Yeah. Oh, boy. What do we got here?

We're a little high centered there. We're about to stuff it up here. Actually, we have stuffed it a little bit, and then the tire has loaded up with dirt. So it's basically a slick. So clearly, these tires aren't up to it. And the geometry can't get us through this, which is great.

Let's see if we can get out the easier way. We're in reverse, and a little throttle. Brake comes off. Just going to roll it over. Watch that nose. I think we'll be fine. There's a lot of creaking in the body though.

So on the left here, we have another way out. It's steep, but it should be doable. I am a little concerned about the breakover though. So I'll be listening for any grinding.

So what we have here is dirt on the inside, gravel and rock on the outside. It is going to have a very tight breakover as we go over the top, especially on that inside. So we need to keep an eye on that. Otherwise, I think it'll do fine. Hopefully. Fingers crossed.

By the way, in case I didn't mention no underbody armor on this thing. Let's put it in drive. Up and over. So I'm gonna have more grip on the right. And I'm gonna try to cut it far right here. Optimize that break over. Get the feeling we're gonna crunch though as we come down here. This wheel base we're hitting, but are we lifting? I don't know if we are lifting yet.

I think we are. We're setting down. Pull it up a little bit. Yeah. We're definitely grinding there. I don't think I can go anywhere else on the outside to make this any better.

Unfortunate. So neither of these trails are doable with a crossover. But I'm very happy with the way that course worked. It was complicated enough that I feel like you really have to have some off-roading capabilities to get through it. You can't just slap all-terrain tires on and call it good like volkswagen did here.

I am going to do a slightly easier off-road section in a little bit. But first I want to see how well this thing handles at speed on gravel roads. So we're in drive. We're in off-road mode. Let's see what it can do and floor it.

Traction cutting in. Oh, man. Floaty going back. Gonna hit about 30 mph for the bump. Whoa. That's not a great impact. Yeah. Not good for that.

So if you want to use the atlas to bomb down fire roads, I mean, it's okay. It's okay. I mean, the power is peaky. So it charges forward at over 3500. Revolutions per minute. The suspension is soft, very bouncy, so it's not ideal if you really want to blaze trails down forest roads.

I think, overall, I think we've determined pretty safely that, yeah, this is a badge. It's still the same atlas as before, which is very good in very limited situations because you're limited by geometry of the vehicle. The tires are all terrains, but they're very mild. They load up very easily. Overall, I do kind of like the Atlas thinking.

This crowded marketplace of just so many good options that this one wouldn't be the top of my list. And the sales show that this vehicle sells about 20,000 a quarter compared to the Toyota Highlander, which sells like 30,000 a quarter. The Toyota being a much, much more popular vehicle, of course. But this is good if you want a cavernous back, a vehicle that just isn't on every other street corner. And it has a good all-wheel drive system that I think would work especially well in snow.

Now, let's see how well this vehicle does with a slightly easier technical section. And that's on our Ridge Road right here, which I have actually modified the entry. So this is going to be, again, another test to see how difficult it is. I don't think it's going to be that hard, but it might at least give us an opportunity to see some of that power shifting in action.

I'm just going to make sure that I'm in off-road mode, which I already am. Off-road mode will optimize the torque vectoring. It also automatically turns on hill descent control, which we haven't needed yet because we haven't gotten up anything to be able to get down it yet. Again, shouldn't be that difficult. This is the kind of stuff that I see in the forest roads around Washington state all the time.

We should be able to get up, no problem. We've got a little bit of traction issue here. Let's climb up at that Borg Warner all-wheel drive system. Gets the job done, I think. Come on. There we go.

We're getting a little bit of that traction system. Shifting power around is doing a good job. Okay. It is decent when the job isn't too hard. I'm guessing where the road is. I think I go over here.

I know for a fact that this ditch right here is too deep and too abrupt for the approach angle. So I'm going to hug to the right, see if we can just dip our wheels in and get through this. Yeah, do without kidding. Little bump, but we're good.

Okay, so we had success. So now we're going to continue on to the mogul section of the course. Actually, I'm going to cheat to the right a little bit because I know clearances are going to be an issue as I go down here. Wheel down. Listen for grinding. Come on, .

Haldex all-wheel drive system. Do your thing. Turn out those parking sensors. So it's detecting is a wheel is up. And so instead of all the power just spinning out of that wheel, because power will go path of least resistance, it'll add brakes, which shocks power back to the other side, and that helps get us through.

Now, obviously, articulation on this vehicle isn't great. So it's having to use wheel braking way more than you would need to use wheel braking in a vehicle like, you know, a Toyota Tacoma, for example, which would have way more articulation.

Okay, well, let's get through the moguls and then we'll wrap this up, assuming we get through the moguls. Okay. With the moguls here, we have basically a series of cuts, which is going to force a vehicle go side to side, removing power off opposite wheels. Now, we might rub a little bit. I've never taken a vehicle with this little ground clearance through here before. I don't know if you can hear all that creaking.

There's a lot of creaking going on. Lifting a wheel. Big dime on the hole there. Now, because we're going downhill, it's less reliant on that power shift and more on just the geometry. But, you know, it's actually doing an okay job here. There's no rubbing so far. If you were to run into some holes like this on a trail, you would be just fine.

And as we saw in the sand slide there, the power system can shift power when it needs it if the geometry allows it to go onward. What do you think about vehicles like this that promote themselves as being adventure oriented vehicles, but really have no more capability than the standard vehicle? Is this okay? Let's talk about it in the comments section below.

For driving sports tv, I'm Ryan Douthat. Thanks for watching, be sure to, like, subscribe, share videos, really enjoy making them, and I hope you enjoy watching them. We'll see you again right here real soon. So this video is essentially done already, but I realized you probably wanted to see the Atlas Peak edition go up the moguls. So I've thrown this camera down here, and we're gonna do it and see if it can get up, look for wheel braking.

Volkswagen, Off-Road, Crossover, Automotive Review, Technology, Innovation, Driving Sports Tv