2021 Volkswagen Arteon review: Star without a spotlight

The Volkswagen Arteon is a incredibly nice motor vehicle that nobody’s acquiring. Alright, nobody is a little bit harsh, but with much less than three,000 models bought in the US as a result of September of this yr, the Arteon is one particular of the slowest-offering autos from a mainstream automaker. And which is a damn disgrace.

“It can be unquestionably superior than four hundred models a thirty day period,” a Volkswagen executive explained of the Arteon during an job interview earlier this yr. But honestly, at this position, even four hundred models a thirty day period would be an improvement. So in the hopes of placing the having difficulties Arteon on a superior system, Volkswagen is providing it a amount of considerate updates for 2021, each one one particular of which will make this good sedan even less complicated to like.

Visually, the Arteon’s smooth silhouette won’t improve (which is a superior issue). The frameless home windows are neat and the hatchback form will make this sedan tremendous practical. Element of the 2021 redesign, described air intakes flank possibly aspect of the front bumper, and the R-Line styles have an LED light-weight strip that spans the width of the fascia, cleanly built-in into the grille bars. Restyled eighteen- and twenty-inch wheels are out there (in addition to a set of 19s that have more than from the past Arteon), and a few added paint shades are on the docket, way too.

The major updates are essentially located within the Arteon, where by the cabin gets a thorough zhushing-up. The dashboard design is a minimal more upscale and you will find a redesigned (and Arteon-particular) steering wheel with haptic contact controls. New air vents line the best of the dash, and 30 ambient lighting shades span the width of the cabin, flowing into the digital gauge cluster and together the doors, both of those front and rear. Ultimately, Volkswagen’s old, frumpy-searching local weather controls are absent and in their position you can expect to uncover a swanky new digital/contact setup, although oddly, compared with the steering wheel, these buttons really don’t have any haptic feedback. Bizarre, proper?

In addition to the regular digital gauges, each Arteon arrives with Volkswagen’s MIB3 infotainment technique, housed on an eight-inch touchscreen. MIB3 has embedded navigation, as effectively as wireless Apple CarPlay, Android Automobile and VW’s App Link smartphone integration. The MIB3 technique is relatively simple to use, with menu buttons that quickly existing them selves when the technique detects your grubby fingers approaching. 

Usually talking, the Arteon has a premium aura which is been missing from a ton of Volkswagen’s new goods. It has the significant-excellent in good shape and finish I recall from the company’s more mature autos — an attribute that really set VWs apart from other mainstream suppliers. The seats are supportive and relaxed, and they are heated and cooled on my entirely loaded SEL Top quality R-Line tester. The sloping roofline kind of impedes rear headroom, but you will find a shocking total of legroom, so just slouch, I guess. As well as, really don’t fail to remember, you can fold the again seats flat, revealing 56.two cubic ft of cargo house. That is massive.

There aren’t any noteworthy mechanical adjustments for the 2021 Arteon, but I constantly preferred the way the old one particular drove, so I am not complaining. A two.-liter turbocharged I4 is the only engine out there, with 268 horsepower, 258 pound-ft of torque and an eight-speed automated transmission. The base Arteon SE is only out there with front-wheel travel, but 4Motion all-wheel travel is optional on the SEL and regular on the SEL Top quality.

The Arteon is just not necessarily rapid, but the turbo punch is adequate to get this four-door up and out of its have way. The transmission does have a tendency to maintain gears ensuing in a little bit of drone during acceleration — to the position where by one particular passenger essentially requested if the motor vehicle experienced a CVT — but gear-adjustments are yet rapid and smooth when they do at last transpire. Picking out Activity manner sharpens the throttle, transmission and steering calibration, and you will find a Custom placing where by you can set a whole bunch of driving parameters to your liking. Me? I desire to just go away it in Standard or even head more than to Comfort and ease. The quiet, refined nature of the Arteon is ideal skilled in these configurations, with nicely tuned steering, smooth very low-stop torque, superior cornering features and a compliant experience many thanks to the adaptive dampers — even on the SEL Premium’s twenty-inch wheels.

Small reward: The 2021 Arteon is a bit more gasoline-effective than its predecessor, at the very least on the highway cycle. Evaluating 2020 and 2021 model yr Arteons, front-travel variations are both of those EPA-estimated to return 22 mpg metropolis, but whilst the old motor vehicle was rated at 29 mpg highway, the new version gets 32 mpg. Stepping up to all-wheel travel minimizes those people figures a bit, to twenty metropolis and 31 highway. Even so, right after a week of blended driving, I am looking at an regular effectively higher than the EPA’s 24-mpg merged score.

The base Arteon arrives geared up with forward-collision aid, blind-spot checking, rear cross-traffic warn, rain-sensing wipers and a few other niceties, but if you want factors like entire-speed adaptive cruise control or LED headlights, you have to pony up for the SEL. The only bits of driver-help tech the SEL Top quality provides are front and rear park length control, as effectively as automated parking aid.

Pricing for the 2021 Arteon commences at $38,a hundred ninety including $one,195 for destination, and you are unable to get into an all-wheel-travel version for considerably less than $forty four,590. Go for the gold and you are searching at $48,a hundred ninety out the door for an SEL Top quality R-Line.

The Arteon is kind of a odd tweener in the sedan house Volkswagen suggests it targets the Acura TLX and Nissan Maxima as opponents, as effectively as entry-amount luxury sedans. The most obvious rival is the superb Kia Stinger, which expenditures considerably less on the base stop and can be experienced with a 365-hp twin-turbo V6 on greater trims. In point, the Stinger is currently outselling the Arteon more than a few to one particular so significantly in 2020. And, effectively, nice as the Arteon is, the Stinger GT is more entertaining to travel and is each little bit as practical, so it really is in all probability the way I would go. On the other hand, if it really is convenience and tech you are right after, the Arteon probable will make more sense. But at that position, so do a ton of entry-amount luxury sedans, not to mention a whole bunch of compact crossovers.

It can be a strange problem to have: Currently being so likable and practical, but getting pigeonholed into niche status since you are combating with so many car or truck segments all at the moment. The Arteon is more interesting and more refined than prior to, and it really is a motor vehicle I would be rapid to propose. But till Volkswagen throws some more advertising pounds its way — or till consumers’ tastes start out to shift — I am concerned this one particular will constantly be a very low-volume participant, even if it justifies a whole ton more awareness.