Prior to the arrival of our long-term Volkswagen Atlas, I had the pleasure of stewarding our 2017 Mazda CX-9 for a year. Although the two vehicles are direct competitors, they take different approaches when it comes to packaging and design. The much more rectilinear Atlas, with its large, protruding fenders, blunt nose, and plastic fender liners, tries to convey a sense of strength and ruggedness in its exterior design. Inside, you find much of the same squared-off design; the dash seems to move straight across from the driver's door to the passenger side in an almost flat plane. It's efficient and provides vast amounts of interior volume, but I wouldn't call it beautiful鈥攐r even nice-looking, for that matter. The USB port in the center console cubby has never worked reliably, but it's now stopped working completely. I'll get this addressed at my next service appointment. Since I purchased my first GTI back in 2005, Volkswagen has been one of my favorite automotive brands.
VW always seemed to punch above its weight class in design and interior quality. Even an inexpensive Golf looked a little classier and felt a little more premium than its competition. Unfortunately, I can't say the same about our long-term Atlas. Compared to the sleek, crisp exterior styling and the beautiful, refined interior in my wife's 2017 GTI, the Atlas feels cheap. To say the Atlas doesn't have a driver-centric interior would be putting it mildly. It feels like you're sitting at a dining table with a steering wheel on top and some pedals underneath. In contrast, while it was smaller in every way, the CX-9 had a beautiful, coupe-like exterior design and a stylish, driver-oriented interior. One of my favorite things about the CX-9 was the palpable kinship between that three-row crossover and sportier siblings such as the CX-5 and Mazda3. You'd never mistake the CX-9 for a Miata, but with its competent chassis, luxurious cockpit, and stylish exterior, you could see and feel the brand's lineage. I got the feeling the Mazda3, CX-5, and CX-9 were developed by people who drove Miatas.
Since Volkswagen hasn't released full specifications on the Jetta GLI, we've had to rely on regular Jetta data to fill in the interior and exterior dimension gaps. These should be extremely close since VW has said that no interior space has been compromised with the addition of the GTI engine and multi-link rear suspension. And exterior changes should be minimal. With that in mind, the Jetta is most certainly the longest car, but the Civic and Elantra have slightly longer wheelbases. The smallest on the outside is the Subaru, with the shortest length, wheelbase and width. But in the width department, all of these cars are nearly identical with a spread of 0.2 inch. Inside, we can draw some interesting conclusions. If you're not carrying rear passengers often, the Subaru could be the way to go, as it offers the most possible front head- and legroom. The other three are better choices for rear passengers with the VW and Honda tied for best legroom, the Hyundai with the best headroom, and the Honda with best shoulder room. If cargo capacity is the most important aspect, though, the Civic is the winner at 14.7 cubic feet, and the Subaru the clear loser with 12 cubic feet.
The 2019 Volkswagen Jetta compact sedan earned a five-star crash-test rating from the federal government, the automaker said Thursday. Rising speed limits in the U.S. As many parts of the world begin to thaw after winter, it's time to give the cars a much-needed bath after months of snow, salt, slush and other road debris. The 0-60 mph time has been a measure of performance for a long time and cars have continued to reduce their times over decades. Ford made big news with its new Escape Hybrid and plug-in hybrid last Tuesday, but they weren't the only new plug-in SUVs the company announced. The Mueller report may not show collusion between Russia and President Trump's campaign, but European anti-trust regulators say they have found collusion among German automakers to avoid cleaning up tailpipe emissions. Towing a camper with a Tesla Model X: Thank Elon for Superchargers! Towing a camper with an electric SUV may be the ultimate test of any fast-charger network. And, for one couple at least, Tesla has passed.
