When looking for the perfect vehicle for your family, you’re playing an incredible balancing act. You have to weigh so many different factors that you may feel like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders. But just like the mythological Atlas, there is a way to handle this pressure. In fact, the mythological titan’s namesake may provide you with the right answer: the 2024 VW Atlas Cross Sport gives you roominess, comfort, and convenience in a vehicle that is safe, affordable, and fun to drive.
This combination is not easy to accomplish, and it’s a testament to the design and engineering teams at Volkswagen. Part of this involves providing a proper balance between exterior ruggedness and interior luxury. It also involves providing the right blend of passenger and cargo space so you have all you need for your daily driving. Helping matters is that the 2024 model is a refresh, marking the first time in the five-year history of the Atlas Cross Sport that it’s undergone a significant remodel. In other words, if you explore an Atlas Cross Sport at your local VW dealer, you’ll find a midsize SUV that can check all the boxes for your family—which should lift quite a weight off your shoulders.
Solid Performance From an Efficient Engine
The 2024 VW Atlas Cross Sport features a choice of front-wheel and all-wheel drive—the Volkswagen 4Motion AWD system, which features Active Control and a Driving Mode Selector. The standard engine is a 2.0-liter Turbo I-4, and it comes paired with an eight-speed automatic transmission. This engine is turbocharged and intercooled, and it boasts a dual overhead camshaft configuration, providing 16 valves for its four cylinders. It has an iron block with aluminum heads and uses direct fuel injection to provide up to 269 hp at 5500 RPM and 273 lb-ft of torque at 1600 RPM.
This is one of the changes over the prior year’s model, which gave drivers a choice of a turbocharged I-4 and a V6 gas engine. Volkswagen has combined the best of both engines in the 2024 model of the Atlas Cross Sport. It is fuel efficient like the Turbo I-4 of last year’s model but also powerful like the V6; this is because VW has boosted the performance of the Turbo I-4 on the 2024 Atlas Cross Sport. As a result, it can tow up to 5,000 lbs like the bigger V6. However, it also gives you up to 23 MPG in combined fuel economy with front-wheel drive. Choosing all-wheel drive drops this slightly to 22 MPG in combined fuel economy, which is comparable to that of the 2023 model with the Turbo I-4.
When it comes to performance, the 2024 VW Atlas Cross Sport has you covered. The powertrain on this midsize SUV can get you from zero to sixty in just 6.7 seconds, with a top speed of 120 mph, which should be more than enough speed and acceleration for even the most lead-footed family driver.
Roominess, Comfort, and Convenience Come Standard
You’ll have a hard time finding another midsize SUV that provides comparable passenger and cargo space because the designers at Volkswagen have given the 2024 Atlas Cross Sport an exceptional 112 cu.ft. of room for passengers. What’s more, they have also done a great job of dividing this up evenly between the front and back rows, as front-row passengers will enjoy about 58 cu.ft., while those in the back will have a comparable 53 cu.ft. of room.
You can see how evenly this is divided by looking at some of the specific measurements. For example, the front row of the Atlas Cross Sport has 39.4 inches of headroom and 41.7 inches of legroom. This is only slightly more than the 37.8 inches of headroom and 40.4 inches of legroom in the back seat, which should be more than enough for you and your family.
This interior will yield plenty of room for your belongings, too. The trunk on the Atlas Cross Sport opens up to a voluminous 40.3 cu.ft. If you are a typical family driver, this will provide great space for your kids’ school bags, art projects, and sporting equipment. Volkswagen also makes this vehicle versatile; if you need more space to carry home improvement materials, simply fold down the rear seats to free up an amazing 77.8 cu.ft. of cargo space.
When it comes to comfort and convenience, Volkswagen has you covered in the 2024 Atlas Cross Sport. Every model has heated and ventilated front seats, and the SEL, SEL R-Line, and SEL Premium R-Line trims offer heated rear outboard seats as well. In addition, while the SE has perforated V-Tex leatherette seating, the SEL, SEL R-Line, and SEL Premium R-Line feature perforated Vienna leather. These materials are luxurious and give every model of the 2024 VW Atlas Cross Sport an upscale appeal.
Every 2024 VW Atlas Cross Sport features a 12.0-inch floating infotainment touchscreen display. This is another upgrade over last year’s model, which featured 6.5-inch and 8.0-inch touchscreens. This enormous screen makes it easy for you and your passengers to access your favorite features. This system provides App-Connect to hook up your smartphones. It also has wireless charging, so if you’ve left your charging cables at home, you can still keep your phones charged up.
In addition, each of the standard USB-C ports provides fast charging. The SEL models come with Discover Pro, which gives you a built-in navigation system. If your kids love music, then you might consider going with the SEL Premium R-Line for its Harman Kardon premium audio system, which is sure to keep them entertained for any length of a family trip.
Getting Wherever You’re Going Safer Than Ever
The VW Atlas Cross Sport was already one of the safest models in its class. For the 2024 model year, Volkswagen added several driver assistance features to the standard array to ensure you and your family get wherever you are going safely.
The IQ.DRIVE suite comes on all trims, and it includes lane centering, which will prevent you from drifting out of lane—a key way to combat driver fatigue on long road trips with your family. It can do this by capturing and processing information automatically from front and rear radar, a front camera, and several ultrasound sensors placed around the vehicle’s exterior.
The IQ.DRIVE delivers other assistance as well. Front Assist will help you avoid front-end collisions. Forward Collision Warning will alert you to an imminent crash, while Automatic Emergency Braking will either avoid a collision or reduce the impact. It even has Pedestrian Monitoring to prevent striking pedestrians who are in the path of your vehicle. If you get into a collision, the Crash Response System will turn off the fuel pump, unlock the doors, and switch on your vehicle’s hazard lights; this will assist first responders with their post-collision efforts.
The Atlas Cross Sport also features Active Side Assist, a form of blind spot monitoring. When you go to change lanes, this VW system will let you know if any vehicles are traveling in your blind spot. Similarly, Lane Assist will prevent you from drifting into adjacent lanes.
One of the newest features to become standard on the Atlas Cross Sport is Adaptive Cruise Control, which will adjust your speed for slower-moving vehicles in front of you when using the cruise control. When the traffic improves, this system will return you to your pre-selected speed. It also uses the lane-centering feature of IQ.DRIVE to keep you on the straight and narrow.
An Amazingly Affordable Package for the Whole Family
Volkswagen has demonstrated how to check all the boxes for a family driver with its 2024 Atlas Cross Sport. More than that, this model is affordable for most family drivers, with a base MSRP of $36,715; this will get you behind the wheel of a 2024 VW Atlas Cross Sport SE with all its standard performance, safety, comfort, and convenience features. Atlas may have shrugged, but you are sure to smile when you get behind the wheel of a 2024 VW Atlas Cross Sport.
