2027 Volkswagen Atlas Is A Feature-Heavy Family Hauler With A GTI Engine

The Volkswagen Atlas has been an incredibly important car for the automaker since it first hit the streets for the 2018 model year, selling over 572,000 units through 2025 in the U.S. alone. It and its coupe-ier little sibling, the Atlas Cross Sport, accounted for 30% of all of VW's sales last year. But the Atlas is in its eighth model year, so it's been a bit long in the tooth for a while. Luckily for all you Atlas-heads out there, Volkswagen is giving its big crossover a major overhaul for 2027.

Its sophomore project is promising more upscale looks, a hell of a lot of standard and "family-friendly" features, tech that can run with the best of them and — above all else — tons of space for lots of occupants and their crap thanks to an upgraded platform. Oh, and VW's engineers managed to squeeze more power out of its GTI-derived EA888 turbocharged four-popper for all the car enthusiasts out there who accidentally had a few too many kids.

The first-generation Atlas wasn't a bad-looking vehicle by any means, but it certainly lacked a bit of the upscale vibe of VW's previously-largest SUV, the Touareg. With the second-gen crossover, VW's designers were clearly trying to recapture some of that magic with a strong beltline, harder angles and a more upright grille. It has more muscular fenders and side skirts, as well as a more pronounced spoiler at the back that sits above a tailgate that now lies flush with the rear bumper. Volkswagen also added three new colors that, for the most part, are real colors, to the Atlas lineup for 2027: Blackberry, Sacramento Green and Sandtone. I'm sure they'll be a really nice choice for people to skip over before going with black, white, gray or silver.

Of course, there are plenty of modern touches that are all the rage in the auto industry right now, like LED lightbars for the front and back and illuminated VW badges. The new Atlas does keep one element that harkens back to the last Atlas — a stacked headlight design.

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Equally modern are the wheel sizes. VW says that all trims except for the base car get new 20- or 21-inch aluminum-alloy wheels that'll be available with machined or black finishes. Buyers of the base Atlas will have to settle for 18-inch rims. Overall, VW's designers were really able to make this car look a lot more upscale than it really is, resembling something similar in shape to a Porsche Cayenne Electric rather than a family-hauling minivan alternative. While it's certainly not nearly the true luxury car the Touareg was, from the outside, at least, it's a step in the right direction.

Similar to the outside, Volkswagen's designers obviously wanted to spruce up some of the less-than-nice things about the current Atlas' interior. That's why there's a far more upscale interior to be found in the 2027 Atlas. There's plenty of soft-touch materials, real wood and metal to be found on all trims, according to VW. There are also going to be four color options available: Pebble Grey, Black, Dark Grey, and Deep Wine. Leatherette is standard on the base car, and the top two trims offer Varenna leather and Nappa leather.

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Most things on the dashboard are placed within a central loop that runs the width of the car, and it looks pretty neat, if you ask me. It frames the side air conditioning vents, a funky light-up LED design thing, and your two screens, a 10.25-inch digital gauge cluster and a 15-inch center infotainment touchscreen (the base car gets a 12.9-inch center screen).

Volkswagen made the brilliant decision to move the car's transmission lever to the steering column, which frees up tons of space on the center console for two oversized cup holders on the right, two wireless charging pads at the front, and a neat little Driver Experience Dial on the left that'll let the driver control their audio volume, drive modes and Atmospheres features. I'm not sure how intuitively it'll operate, but it does seem sort of neat.

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I know you're dying to know what Atmospheres are all about and what the deal with that bizarre dashboard pattern is, well, wonder no more. It's basically a fancy ambient lighting system. There are 10 colors to choose from as standard, but the top two trims get 30, and the Atmospheres feature coordinates both lighting and audio settings to get the vibe just right, whatever that vibe may be. I assume some sort of soundtrack will play through the 14-speaker Harman Kardon sound system (the base car has to make do with a 9-speaker setup). The top two trims add that funky illuminated dashboard panel, and ones like it in the door panels of the first and second rows, with light that "twists and morphs" through perforated backlit panels. Is it necessary? No. Is it cool? Sure.

While this is all well and good, the real things that matter with the 2027 Atlas are what it can do for families, and VW says it has packed in more features as standard than ever before. It threw in things like a power liftgate, rear sunshades, an auto-dimming driver-side mirror, and front and rear park distance warning right from the jump. There's a new front center airbag, bringing the total to seven, and VW's IQ Drive driver-assistance system remains standard.

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Volkswagen also added air vents on the B-pillars to help with second-row ventilation, and an improved driver's seat with 12 ways of power adjustment with enhanced four-way lumbar support on all models. A panoramic sunroof and second-row captain's chairs are also available on nearly every trim level. On upper trims, drivers get thigh support and a four-way massage is available on both front seats, which is perfect for when your rat-ass child disappoints you for the millionth time and you just need to take a breather.

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The automaker says the Atlas' third row remains "generous" thanks to the fact that the car now runs on an upgraded version of Volkswagen Group's MQB Evo architecture. We don't have exact measurements, VW says the new crossover is about an inch longer than the old one, while width, wheelbase and height remain the same. That means it's about 201.7 inches long with a 117.3-inch wheelbase. We'll need to wait a bit longer to see how that extra length impacts interior space.

That's enough of the boring stuff, though. What about power? Raw, exhilarating power. Well, it's got a bit more of that. The Atlas' EA888 evo5 turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-4 puts out a heart-stopping 282 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque. That's 13 more hp than its predecessor, and VW says that makes it the most powerful Atlas ever, dethroning the mighty VR6 that used to be offered. However, torque takes a dip. It's now down 15 pound-feet over the old car. I doubt there's a single Atlas buyer who will notice, though. What they will notice is the fact that it's supposed to get better fuel economy than before, and its towing capacity remains the same at 5,000 pounds for models with a factory-installed trailer hitch. Payload is also unchanged.

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Volkswagen hasn't quoted any sort of performance metrics just yet, but it says the 2027 Atlas will come with front-wheel drive as standard, and 4Motion all-wheel drive is an option. Both setups will receive their power through an eight-speed automatic transmission.

There's even a hybrid coming, but we'll have to wait for a mid-cycle refresh a few years down the road to get that bad boy. For right now, though, that's all we know. Volkswagen says more information, like exact specs, trim breakdowns and pricing, will be announced closer to when this rig launches in the fall.