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VW Atlas Gas Mileage

47153 Views 45 Replies 29 Participants Last post by  Barry T
Hello!

My wife just got an Atlas SEL Premium 4Motion (V6). We love it! This is our also our first VW. For the first two gas tanks, we are getting 13-14mpg (city and highway driving). Anyone else getting bad gas mileage with their Atlas? I'm at a bit of a loss. She got out of Chevy Tahoe LTZ (V8) which got better gas mileage than the Atlas. My Bimmer (V8) gets 19-20mpg with the Auto Start/Stop turned off. Any tricks with the VW brand to getting better gas mileage?

Thanks!
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Have itchecked at the dealership. You should be getting about 17-19 in the city
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congrats on the new Atlas! We are getting about 22-23 mpg as measured at the pump with mixed driving but mostly highway. When I had it in the sport setting I was getting 19-20. In normal driving it seems like the Atlas wants to save gas... it wants to be in a higher gear. When the Atlas down shifts to a lower gear it does seem to drink quite a bit of gas. I would agree that you should get it checked at the dealership if you are always getting 13 - 14.
Sure sounds like this is a model that should go hybrid, last i heard VW has plans to go that direction somewhere in the line up and there just isn't anything better than this from the way I see it. When that happens we'll see compact-car like range from a big SUV like this!
I am seeing 14-16 mixed mode and 22’ish freeway.
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I am seeing 14-16 mixed mode and 22’ish freeway.
What are your driving habits like in the city?
Also what mileage do you have on the engine so far?

Can't wait for VW to start an aggressive hybrid and EV program because I bet you that the Atlas will be part of it!
I am seeing 14-16 mixed mode and 22?ish freeway.
What are your driving habits like in the city?
Also what mileage do you have on the engine so far?

Can't wait for VW to start an aggressive hybrid and EV program because I bet you that the Atlas will be part of it!

I currently have 500 miles so far on the Atlas. As for my drivewayng habits I try to stay below 3k and easy starts off the line. Highway is normal drivingng nothing to the floor since its still in break in period.
LE 4motion here. Currently sitting at 3100+ miles on the OD. I do mainly 30 city / 70 highway mix. And I'm seeing 25 mpg average on the "extended average" calculation, and this is pretty accurate to my calculation at the pump. Running on 87 oct.
V6 S 4Motion. My first tank of gas (premium 93) said 20.3 MPG on the computer. I calculated 20.7 (using mileage and gallons). This is mixed highway and town. I get the best around 55 MPH it seems.

On my second tank now...
I have had my Atlas since Dec. 2017 and I have never gotten anything over 15 mpg. I mostly do low-speed city driving and on average I am getting 14 mpg. I have yet to take my Atlas on a long trip, so I can't comment on the highway mileage yet. This weekend will be my first interstate trip with the Atlas. I am eager to see what mpg I get on this trip.
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Do you think this is the all wheel drive model? My se with tech is getting 16, and 25ish on the hwy.
Driving on highway speeds of 70-75 I am seeing 19-20mpg.......About 5 mpg less than my bigger and heavier Durango got. I expected better from an 8 speed.
Figured I would chime in here. Just over 3,100 miles on my SE w/Tech, 2-wheel drive. Mostly highway driving 70-75 mph, with some city driving. I have seen a low of 18.3 mpg and a high of 24.1 mpg by my calculations at the pump for an overall average of 20.6 mpg so far. This is with 12 trips to the pump to date.


I have recently started to compare my mpg calculation to what the vehicle is reporting for average mpg for the last 6 fill-ups. I have seen the reported mpg be as much as .8 mpg higher than my calculation as well as 1.1 mpg lower than my calculation so far. This is a disparity of 4% to -5.5% for the reported mpg versus my calculated values.


Biggest influence on mpg for me so far is whether the A/C compressor is on. Unfortunately, in south Texas I normally need to run the compressor even with the heater due to the high humidity. 90% of the driving so far has been with the A/C on.


Hope this helps!
Driving on highway speeds of 70-75 I am seeing 19-20mpg.......About 5 mpg less than my bigger and heavier Durango got. I expected better from an 8 speed.
As I understand it this car was designed to have a TDI primarily but they have to use an older existing VW engine instead with that blowing up in their face. I agree gas milage is abysmal for a new car model. Highway in particular has to be better than 23. Hopefully a hybrid comes out in MY#3
Its odd/just plain stupid to come out with a vehicle that gets 5 mpg worse than all its competition, Durango, Pathfinder, Traverse, etc......
with under 1k miles I believe my Wife is getting +14 mpg. Not a healthy start. but I will report back once we get 2k+ miles. She drives very conservative on Standard/Normal Mode with auto Start/Stop active. Her commute is only 18 miles round trip and about a third is Freeway. Even then, it shouldn't be 14 mpg.
On average, we MAY get the 17 city, and MAY get 20-21 hwy (weekday commute), but have not taken a long road trip. Short trips are definitely in the 14-15mpg range. I feel like the Atlas gulps gas, but I think it is misleading since it has a small fuel tank. almost 8-9 gallons less than out previous Jeep Grand Cherokee. I tried ECO setting, and it didn't seem to make a difference. Frustrating, my 2014 Audi Q5 V6 has much better fuel economy.
I will echo that...the gas tank is pretty small on the Atlas, limiting its range on a tank, but my wife is getting better mileage in her SEL V6 4Motion than in her previous 2013 Buick Enclave. Mixed city/highway driving and it reads 21.9 mpg average over the extended period. This is with about 5,000 miles on the OD. I wonder if those getting poor mileage during the initial break-in period should wait until they have 1,000 miles on it? I didn’t really check mileage during the break-in, so I can’t say for certain.
I have had a 2018 V6 AWD, with predominantly city driving. No use of AC. Set to normal road and Eco mode. Only getting 13.5 mpg. I have only been filling up with regular gas. I called Service Center at dealership and was told to use Premium gas. This didn't necessarily seem right to me. At this point, we really like the car, and have had no issues with it. What kind of gas is everyone else using? Could this really make that much of a difference?
I have my v6 SEL 4motion since May.2018 and have mostly 50 city / 50 highway 19.7 in eco mode and start/stop active.
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