Volkswagen’s Atlas has always worn its size like a badge of honor. It’s the largest vehicle in VW’s North American lineup. And for 2025, it returns with a mid-cycle refresh that dials in more refinement, more tech, and just enough attitude to make it interesting again. I spent a week in the new Atlas to see if this three-row SUV still holds its place among full-sized crossovers.
Highs:
- Cavernous interior with adult-friendly third row
- Smooth, torquey turbo engine
- Quiet and composed on the road
Lows:
- Touch controls still frustrate
- Fuel economy just okay
- No hybrid or performance option (yet)
The 2025 Atlas doesn’t reinvent the wheel, it just smooths it out. The updated front fascia adds a bit more visual width with a revised grille and new LED lighting signatures that lean into VW’s corporate design language. It’s more upscale now, though still very much a blunt-force instrument in terms of styling. From the side, it’s a rolling rectangle, but one that owns its proportions unapologetically.
This thing is big. As big as most full-sized sport utilities. It dwarfs the Tiguan and even looks down its nose at some mid-sized rivals like the Highlander. But with that size comes one of the more usable third rows in the segment; not just a bolt-on afterthought. Adults can fit back there without contorting like a circus act, which is more than I can say for many crossovers pretending to be people-haulers.
Under the hood are some big downsizing changes as well. Gone is the VR6 of years past. For 2025, Volkswagen simplifies the lineup with a single 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder, making 269 horsepower and 273 lb-ft of torque. Those are healthy numbers, and paired with an 8-speed automatic transmission, the Atlas never feels particularly underpowered. It won’t pin you to your seat, but it gets out of its own way, even fully loaded. Just don’t mind the lag.
The turbo-four is also noticeably less smooth and not as refined than the outgoing six. Fuel economy is improved slightly (20 mpg city, 27 highway for the front-wheel-drive model), and the noise levels are down across the board. All-wheel drive remains available and is the obvious choice for those living in places where the phrase “wintry mix” is a seasonal inevitability.
For something that resembles a shipping container with windows, the Atlas drives with a surprising amount of grace. Steering is light but accurate, and the suspension does a good job of ironing out rough roads without feeling floaty. It’s no canyon carver, but the Atlas feels planted and confident, even on twisty backroads.
Volkswagen has also put some effort into noise reduction. It has the kind of quiet that makes you notice how much better the sound system sounds—or how loud your kids are.
Speaking on the interior, the 2025 Atlas gets a much-needed tech refresh. Every model now comes standard with a 12-inch infotainment screen and a 10.25-inch digital cockpit display. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are onboard, as is VW’s latest infotainment software; which, in true Volkswagen fashion, is both slick-looking and occasionally maddening to use.
The touch-based climate controls are still here, and I still hate them. It’s a setup that looks clean in a design studio but becomes frustrating when you’re fumbling to adjust fan speed on a bumpy road. Gimme back my knobs.
Materials have improved across the board, with soft-touch surfaces where they matter most and fewer of the hard plastics that made earlier Atlases/Atlasi feel cheaper than they were. Higher trims get quilted leather upholstery, ambient lighting, and a panoramic sunroof that practically turns the cabin into a greenhouse. In every way that implies, but it has a shade. So that’s nice.
The Atlas’s calling card remains its cavernous interior. Behind the third row, there’s still a usable amount of cargo space, and folding the second and third rows flat creates a truly van-like 96.6 cubic feet of space. This is one of the few crossovers in which hauling full sheets of plywood can be done in the real world, not just commercials.
Towing is rated at 5,000 pounds with the proper setup, which puts it in good company for a family hauler. It’s not a replacement for a pickup truck, but it’ll handle boats, campers, and weekend projects just fine.
The 2025 Volkswagen Atlas is a big, honest family hauler that prioritizes space, comfort, and straightforward capability over flashy gimmicks. The updated engine and tech make it better than before, though some usability quirks remain.
If you need a three-row crossover that doesn’t feel cramped or compromised (and you can look past the stubbornly touch-sensitive controls) the Atlas continues to be a strong contender. It’s not the flashiest SUV on the block, but it might just be the one that fits your life the best.
