I am looking forward to seeing pics ..
Mine arrived!
Picked up my Atlas SEL 4Motion on Thursday! Well, it's not actually the one I ordered back at the beginning of August, but one came into a different dealer in the right color - Kurkuma Yellow, and with the right equipment. My dealer traded for it, and we didn't have to wait any longer. We had ordered no options, and this one had about $300 worth - rear trim strip on top of the rear bumper, roadside assistance kit, and cargo net. We insisted on the quoted price, and didn't pay for the extras. Dealer - LarryRoeschVW, was easy to deal with.
Initial impressions - this thing is big! However, after only about 60 miles of driving, found it easy to get adapted to. The engine stop/start is unobtrusive - not what I expected. The Adaptive Cruise Control is also fascinating, and works well. Love the blind spot traffic warning lights - I usually put blind spot mirrors on my cars, but I don't think I'll need them. After a couple more days of local driving, I'm heading to NJ, 800 miles each way. In the driving today, mostly highway, I got about 22mpg according the blue score on the dash. Sound system is good, but I wish I'd had the option of the buying the Fender system that comes only in the SEL Premium version. The Fender system in my wife's GTI is incredible, while the standard Atlas system is merely good.
So far, so good. I'll send pics when we get a dry day - wet weekend in Chicago.
Initial impressions - this thing is big! However, after only about 60 miles of driving, found it easy to get adapted to. The engine stop/start is unobtrusive - not what I expected. The Adaptive Cruise Control is also fascinating, and works well. Love the blind spot traffic warning lights - I usually put blind spot mirrors on my cars, but I don't think I'll need them. After a couple more days of local driving, I'm heading to NJ, 800 miles each way. In the driving today, mostly highway, I got about 22mpg according the blue score on the dash. Sound system is good, but I wish I'd had the option of the buying the Fender system that comes only in the SEL Premium version. The Fender system in my wife's GTI is incredible, while the standard Atlas system is merely good.
So far, so good. I'll send pics when we get a dry day - wet weekend in Chicago.
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Congrats!! We need pics now!!
Okay, I'll get pics this weekend. Just back from NJ, and now have just over 2k miles on the car. Varied the rpm's on the way out, by shifting down a gear or two at times, to break it in. I am very happy with this car - comfortable, quiet, and performance is good. Averaged over 23 mpg, with mostly highway miles, which is very good. Carried 6 adults to dinner one night, with everyone comfortable. Lots of compliments on the Kurkuma Yellow color, even unsolicited ones from women I didn't know. Maybe this is a good car for singles, if you need something this big! I thought there was a problem with the steering, until I realized that the Lane Assist pulls the car back between the lines. You can actually take your hands off of the wheel and it will stay in the lane. The Active Cruise Control will slow down if you come up on a slower car. Signal and move into the next lane, and it will accelerate to the set speed. It's great on a highway drive. I didn't think I'd like all of the electronics, but now like them. You can easily turn the Driver Assist items on and off, and I did turn off Lane Assist when it appeared to be icy. It could be hard to feel the difference between lane correction and loss of steering traction. Fit and finish are very good, and I have no issues. So far, very good.
Thanks for sharing your experience with us, it's great to see such a positive review. I didn't know that you can really feel the resistance of steering wheel with Lane Assist turned on. How strong is it?
It feels as though the tires are hitting a small curb, or grabbing a ridge in the road, but if you hold the position it will go through it. Activating the turn signal for a lane change turns it off while the signals are flashing. You can just hold the wheel lightly, and it steers itself. The dash will flash a message to retake control of steering if you don't give the wheel any input for a while.
Okay - found something that I don't like. The park assist tells you when you are close to a curb or another vehicle with a visual on the media screen and an audible warning. Nice if you are pulling into a space - keeps you from hitting the curb. However, if you are parallel parking, the rear camera comes on. Great, except when you put it into Drive to go forward, the camera screen stays on. It would be great to have the visual front warning when moving forward. INstead, you have to rely on the audible warning to know how close you are pulling forward. Better then nothing, but a shame the technology fights itself for dominance. The rear camera takes a long time to turn off once you start moving forward (probably 5 seconds, but it should be sooner).
I have to get the car washed tomorrow. Then, I'll take pics. Wanted to get the Atlas and GTI in the driveway together, but my wife took off for St Louis unexpectedly (her Mom took a spill, but will be okay).
Okay - found something that I don't like. The park assist tells you when you are close to a curb or another vehicle with a visual on the media screen and an audible warning. Nice if you are pulling into a space - keeps you from hitting the curb. However, if you are parallel parking, the rear camera comes on. Great, except when you put it into Drive to go forward, the camera screen stays on. It would be great to have the visual front warning when moving forward. INstead, you have to rely on the audible warning to know how close you are pulling forward. Better then nothing, but a shame the technology fights itself for dominance. The rear camera takes a long time to turn off once you start moving forward (probably 5 seconds, but it should be sooner).
I have to get the car washed tomorrow. Then, I'll take pics. Wanted to get the Atlas and GTI in the driveway together, but my wife took off for St Louis unexpectedly (her Mom took a spill, but will be okay).
You'd think the shift between rear and front camera would be almost instantaneous, but maybe VW will push out an update in the future to fix this problem. On the bright side, the drive assist sounds to be working perfectly for you. Can't recall which model, but I read that it's system kept shifting the car from left to right on the lane instead of keeping in the center.
Finally, a nice day, and Thanksgiving as well. Posted pics on the photo thread. I'm grateful that life has been rewarding in so many ways, including allowing me to own and enjoy these vehicles.
To WorldAtlas,
It might if the lanes are extremely wide, but I didn't experience that. The slow drift to either side of the lane caused by road camber or road curvature is gently corrected. A more severe curve is dealt with more severely. On I-80, I had taken my hands off the wheel and was making a change on the radio when the road made a sudden curve. The car caught the change and made a quick realignment even before the car hit the rumble strip. I was going about 75mph.
It might if the lanes are extremely wide, but I didn't experience that. The slow drift to either side of the lane caused by road camber or road curvature is gently corrected. A more severe curve is dealt with more severely. On I-80, I had taken my hands off the wheel and was making a change on the radio when the road made a sudden curve. The car caught the change and made a quick realignment even before the car hit the rumble strip. I was going about 75mph.
VW's auto cruiser control sounds like a worthy investment to me right now. May actually spring for it since the system seems to be working perfectly. Maybe the drift will be more noticeable o those single lane roads on the countryside and not the more anrrow highway lanes.
Found the answer
[QUOTE=Atlasuno;9098
Okay - found something that I don't like. The park assist tells you when you are close to a curb or another vehicle with a visual on the media screen and an audible warning. Nice if you are pulling into a space - keeps you from hitting the curb. However, if you are parallel parking, the rear camera comes on. Great, except when you put it into Drive to go forward, the camera screen stays on. It would be great to have the visual front warning when moving forward. INstead, you have to rely on the audible warning to know how close you are pulling forward. Better then nothing, but a shame the technology fights itself for dominance. The rear camera takes a long time to turn off once you start moving forward (probably 5 seconds, but it should be sooner).
Okay, the car is smarter than I am, because it offers tools that I didn't know about. Back into a space, and the camera is on. Put it into drive to pull forward, and just hit the button next to the Electric Parking Brake, the one with the P and a little cone on it, and the camera turns off.
[QUOTE=Atlasuno;9098
Okay - found something that I don't like. The park assist tells you when you are close to a curb or another vehicle with a visual on the media screen and an audible warning. Nice if you are pulling into a space - keeps you from hitting the curb. However, if you are parallel parking, the rear camera comes on. Great, except when you put it into Drive to go forward, the camera screen stays on. It would be great to have the visual front warning when moving forward. INstead, you have to rely on the audible warning to know how close you are pulling forward. Better then nothing, but a shame the technology fights itself for dominance. The rear camera takes a long time to turn off once you start moving forward (probably 5 seconds, but it should be sooner).
Okay, the car is smarter than I am, because it offers tools that I didn't know about. Back into a space, and the camera is on. Put it into drive to pull forward, and just hit the button next to the Electric Parking Brake, the one with the P and a little cone on it, and the camera turns off.
Just got my SEL premium in red this week
It's not often that all the sales reps stop and talk to you about the car you just picked up. Had to wait a bit for my dealer to horse trade to get color and options I wanted but it seems that it's worth the wait.:grin2:
It's not often that all the sales reps stop and talk to you about the car you just picked up. Had to wait a bit for my dealer to horse trade to get color and options I wanted but it seems that it's worth the wait.:grin2:
You have to be an educated consumer, and be willing to wait to get what you want. I feel badly for the people who bought an Atlas other than the SEL versions who want to tow anything substantial. The dealers want to move cars off of the lot, and sometimes give bad info because they don't know the right answer. I almost bought a Launch Edition, when the salesman said that the tow package could be added. Only partially true - you could add a hitch , but towing would be limited to 2000#. I tow an Airstream, much like the one in the Atlas brochure. Weighs about 4000# ready to go. Even here, it's an example of the factory breaking it's own rules. The owner's manual says not to use a hitch ball bigger than 2" for some reason. Every Airstream requires a 2 5/8" ball - marketing vs engineering vs legal dept.
I put winter tires and wheels on last weekend (Tire Rack). Michelin X-Ice, and I expect them to be great, as I've had them before on our GTI. The standard tire pressure for the Atlas is only 35psi. I feel a great improvement in handling has come from increasing the tire pressure to 40psi - quicker turn in and greater stability in a turn with just a small increase in ride harshness.
The max tire pressure is 44psi, so there is still room for more if fully loaded. I'm used to running 60-65 psi in the van I've towed with for years, so I expect I'll need the full 44psi when towing with the Atlas.
The max tire pressure is 44psi, so there is still room for more if fully loaded. I'm used to running 60-65 psi in the van I've towed with for years, so I expect I'll need the full 44psi when towing with the Atlas.
About 7000 miles on the Atlas, and the only problem I've had is that the convenience open for the hatch has stopped working. I thought it might be from snow slush and dirt accumulating under the back, but I've washed it without effect. So, I'll have to go to the dealer for that, but otherwise it's great. When the warm weather returns we'll get to test it as a tow vehicle - can't wait!
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