2018 Tiguan's “B” Cycle Engine; Atlas First Drive; VW Ads

2018 VW Tiguan Gets a “B” Cycle Engine

May 23, 2017: VW goes for an A in Tiguan efficiency by using a “B” cycle engine. The upcoming 2018 Tiguan’s turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine, for example, features an innovative “Budack-cycle.”

In Volks talk, the new Tiguan’s mill is an EA888 Gen 3B. It uses a combination of turbocharging and intake valve timing to produce a shorter intake and a longer compression cycle. Under partial loads, this results in fuel economy associated with a smaller engine. When full power is required, different camshaft lobes open the valves longer, making the engine behave like a larger one.

Besides a boost in fuel economy, the engine offers improved responsiveness and power when compared with the firm’s 1.8-liter turbocharged engine.




2018 VW Atlas First Drive, “America” TV Spot

May 24, 2017 Elkhart Lake, WI: Your VWCA correspondent scored his 2018 VW Atlas test drive on a scenic route near Road America. The production Atlas with its V-6 engine proved polished—quiet, comfortable and composed. The vast interior has room for seven adults with an easy-to-access third-row seat. As one journalist noted: entering that row requires two hands to operate the second-row’s kneeling seat. Road manners were VW good. There’s an engine-start-stop setup for improved city-cycle fuel economy.



During May, VW’s Atlas advertising campaign’s second phase begins with an emotional Atlas road-trip TV spot a featuring an Irish widow (Marie Gallagher who has owned five VWs) and Simon & Garfunkel’s “America” as its music bed. The widow fulfills a her husband’s longtime wish by traveling coast-to-coast with her family to spread his ashes into the Pacific.

Later ads will focus on Atlas features such as its camping family’s escape into VW’s crossover from a tent-disturbing snoring dad and quick ingress and egress from the third-row seat prompted by a buzzing bee.