funnily enough in light of these out
gate volkswagen is one of the few brands
along with Volvo and Subaru to preserve
the notion that you don't need a fuel
sucking SUV to meet your life carrying
needs and yes
VW's history of addressing off-road
desires with all-wheel-drive dates to
the mid-nineteen eighties with the
quantum synchro AKA pass at and Gulf
country the lighter sadly never came
stateside the latest offering towards
after his in 2017 volkswagen al track
what's in altre it's a slightly lifted
excited and bitched out version of the
golf SportWagen yes
formerly known as a jetted not to steal
out tracks thunder but starting in 2017
you can also get the standard sports
wagon with 4motion AWD which is
basically the same running gear for less
money
the owl track starts at twenty-six
thousand nine hundred fifty dollars the
for motions sportwagen starts at 24,000
930 dollars both of the dual-clutch
automatic available at launch any
discussion of dog wagons brings subaru
immediately to mind both the outback and
prison-based cross track
the Volkswagen now tracks it's between
the two and size at 180 point 2 inches
long
five more than the crosstrack in nine
point four inches shorter than the
outback the 2017 subaru outback starts
at 25,600 $45 and VW comparisons focus
on the outback which is understandable
given the similar starting price of
their bones cross track starts at 22,000
245 dollars but quickly gets into golf
price overlap the out rack into 4motion
golf SportWagen are superior daily
drivers to the subaru whether you're
doing an emergency lane change or just
trying to merge onto the interstate
meanwhile the crosstrack doesn't have
the refinement of the VW can we fall
subaru though it's set of sales record
every year in a row since 2000 Kenyon is
looking at about triple the sales volume
of vw's golf 4 2016 so we'll stick to
telling you what we think of the AL
track and let the dealer's fight for
your dollars
first things first yes you can have the
Gulf sports wagon and even the out rack
with the manual 6-speed gearbox the
7-speed DSG automatic is very good but
it's worth noting that any man well
gearboxes are rarity these days
especially when we're not talking about
the two-seat sports car you will have to
wait until early 2017 for this option
but it also saves you 1,100 dollars off
both my
second the AL track in for motion sports
legends getting identical engines where
their manual or DSG bwca 888
turbocharged one doc eight leader four
cylinder is under the hood horsepower is
a decent 170 at 4,500 revolutions per
minute but the w officials want you to
live all the torque 199 pounds feet and
just 1600 revolutions per minute the
subie needs to win the engine now to hit
store peak 174 pounds to put at four
thousand revolutions per minute plus the
out track is about 200 pounds lighter
than the outback
what they didn't say is that the AL
tracks 22 miles per gallon city / 30
highway fuel economy is vested by the
Subarus 25 city / 32 highway and that
even the more foot optional 3dr y6
leader for the outback is and terrible
at 2027 of a mile per gallon and more
muscular with 256 horsepower and 247
pounds but you do have to bring 30 4995
dollars to the party if you want that
bigger subaru engine while the
fully-loaded out tracks l stickers for
30 2890 dollars the AL track is Pepe
enough in part due to the quick shifting
dsg VW didn't have a manual for us to
test the press launch the VW never felt
over attached on the highway or when
climbing gravel strewn mounted two
tracks and it's an engaging powertrain
that also sounds good but only at full
stop at partial throttle you hear the a
muted engine note which is likely
preferable for anyone shopping for a
wagon of the sealed
a key to the Volkswagen s of the AL
track experience that makes it more fun
in the sub RS is the suspension and
steering field
eww lifted the out rack 0.6 inches to
offer six point nine inches of ground
clearance
this is nowhere near the eight point
seven inches of the outback
although nearly identical to the seven
inches of a nissan pathfinder with the
modest lift the Volkswagen retains on
center staring feel and excellent
cornering although it's not a GDI
obviously the al tracks on pavement
behavior is more planted and put in turn
to turn transitions than any SUV
remotely within this price realm and
although not as fast as the new volvo
v60 cross country it's equally refined
and ride quality and handling poise and
considerably more affordable
mechanically the AL track and for motion
sports wagon are almost identical
the only slight differences 10 dot 7
inch solid rear discs vs attendant rears
on the for motion model but the AL track
also gets both sports setting to the
transmission which holds your changes
longer but doesn't seem to affect the
aggressiveness of throttle tip-in and an
off-road mode that automates hill
descent control and under five mile per
hour loosens abs interference to allow
more wheel spin and slightly deadens the
throttle to allow easier modulation of
gas and brake when you're tiptoeing over
rough terrain much to the horror of
subaru fanboys the AL track doesn't have
constant all-wheel-drive but instead for
motion is a Haldex system that works by
an electro-hydraulic center gift clutch
back to send up to fifty percent of
power to the rear wheels instead of
merely working when the system detects
slip the Haldex unit also monitor
steering angle lateral acceleration and
the rotation of the video
Michael to send power reward in minute
doses side-to-side power is managed by
across differential lock XDS which
breaks the inside wheel during cornering
to prevent to understand there's also an
electronic differential lock EDS that
breaks any wheel that slipping
regardless of whether or not it's being
driven these last two items aren't the
mechanical traction solutions that say
jeep aficionados require but it's enough
for most drivers and most scenarios
testing the AL track on fire roads
outside Seattle we were able to get both
left and right wheels lifted off the
turf and they continue to turn that the
same speed as the ground it driven wheel
yet we saw no loss of power through the
rear drive train
nope we didn't get to push the AL track
through the muddiest most treacherous
terrain in the forest
either it was more than capable on roads
that any rap for or cr-v could tackle
however and that's fine because that's
just the kind of customer VW is hoping
for
speaking of which the out track is
beefier than the stock for motion sports
wagon both cosmetically and functionally
there's significant plastic or metal
clanging surrounding the entire lower
edge of the vehicle as well as light
underbody protection two key components
such as the oil pan
it's not a jeep wrangler but it's
legitimately more rough and tumble than
the stock for motion inside the seats
are easily best-in-class volkswagen
already does this very well and all its
cars default with ample sized support
during sport you're driving which is a
typical for a mid-sized dollar
twenty-five to thirty thousand dollars
crossover followed lights and VW's car
netapp connect comes standard on the
lowest spec and that includes both apple
carplay and android auto as well as a
color touchscreen display that's fairly
logical to use with tablet like Swiper
functionality a backup camera is also
standard and his hidden beneath the rear
hatch VW logo pivoting the badge out of
the way when you put the car in reverse
then disappearing like a scared
groundhog into its cover when you switch
to a forward gear
this may seem overly complex but it's a
good thing since it prevents the camera
lens from getting covered with grime
probably the best deal as far as options
go as the 845 dollars driver assistance
package that gets you adaptive cruise
control acc forward collision warning
and autonomous emergency braking that
can slow the car to almost a complete
stop this package also includes front
and rear park distance control and
parking steering a system that
automatically parallel parks the car you
get more if you step up to the SE
ourselves versions of the AL tract
including a panoramic glass roof that
comes standard with both of these models
we stuffed ourselves in the second row
and he found plenty of new room and even
a 6-footer seated behind the driver of
the same height fits in the second row
comfortably
that's because there's a great deal of
second row headroom and when equipped
with that glass roof the rear quarters
for Larry rather than claustrophobic
rights
here's the primary one if you are indeed
cross shopping the outback that wagons
35.5 cubic feet of storage act of the
rear seats in 73.3 cubic feet with them
folded smokes of UW's 30.4 66.5 cubic
feet the AL track looks yet worse
against true crossovers like the honda
crv 37.2 70.9 cubic feet
chalk up a win against the supercross
track the
which only has 22.3 and 51.9 cubic feet
only being relative here as 20 cubic
feet is huge forest sad and drunk this
likely isn't a dealbreaker Hendrick muth
volkswagen of America's vice of
president of product marketing and
strategy says the AL track is targeted
at a younger buyer who wants a car
that's more involved in the outback
he also cites the lower roofline that
enables loading bikes kayaks and other
outdoor sports equipment more easily
than rival off-road focused SUVs still
probably the biggest edge for the AL
track against the outback is really
aggressive pricing it also looks great
comes in sharp colors and of course
presents an alternative to would-be
subaru buyers who don't have either audi
or if although money
look for VW to keep up that kind of
bargain strategy going well into the
future because one way to help shorten
the memory of a where a consumer is to
offer them a great deal on a car that
does a lot of things better than more
expensive alternatives
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