10 Things You Need to Know About the 2017 Volkswagen Golf Alltrack

If you’ve been out shopping for an SUV or crossover lately, then you know there are literally scores and scores of choices available. Just about every auto brand, from Mitsubishi to Rolls-Royce, offers one. But if you are thinking instead about a wagon that can offer the driving dynamics of a sedan, but with the roominess and cargo utility associated with an SUV, the selection shrinks to just a handful.

The latest addition to the off-road-ready wagon segment is the 2017 Volkswagen Golf Alltrack. It offers all of the same MQB platform goodness that’s found in the Generation 7 VW Golf sedan and SportWagen, plus 0.6-inch raised ride height, taller-section tires, an off-road driving mode and standard 4Motion all-wheel drive.

Subaru has dominated the AWD wagon segment for many years with its midsize Outback and the increasingly popular compact Crosstrek. Bumper to bumper, the new VW Alltrack slots in between the two Subarus, being 5 inches lengthier than the Crosstrek but 9 inches more abbreviated than the Outback.

Volkswagen offers the Alltrack in a choice of base S ($25,850), midlevel SE ($29,430) and range-topping SEL ($32,890) trim.

The 2017 Volkswagen Alltrack may be decked out for backroad treks but its functional elegance is suitable for more sophisticated venues, as well. Complementing the black cladding protecting the rocker sills and wheel arches are silver body side moldings, roof rails, and lower fascia guards, plus fog lamps and chrome dual exhaust outlets—all riding on handsome 17-inch alloy wheels.

The Alltrack has been issued a 5-Star Overall safety rating by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration. In the event of a collision, VW’s Intelligent Crash Response system shuts off the fuel supply, unlocks all doors, and turns on the 4-way flashers after the crash.

The 2017 Volkswagen Alltrack offers about the same passenger space—just over 94 cubic feet—as the Subaru Crosstrek, but with the VW’s panoramic sunroof, feels more spacious. The big sunroof opens an expansive vista for all of the Alltrack’s five passengers, front seat, and rear. It’s standard on the Alltrack SE and SEL models and is a rare feature in this price class.

German-engineered cars are known for their great seats and the Alltrack holds up its end of the bargain. Standard on all models are these very firm-but-supportive, heated front chairs covered in durable V-Tex faux leather. Full power adjustable driver and front passenger seats are included on the top-of-the-line SEL trim, however, S and SE models make do with a manual passenger seat and a driver’s seat with a mixed bag of manual fore-aft and lumbar adjustment, barber-chair-style manual height settings, and power recline. Leather coverings for the steering wheel, shifter, and parking brake, however, are standard across all models.

The Alltrack’s rear seat doesn’t offer as much head- and legroom as the Outback’s and some horse trading between front and rear-seat occupants will be necessary to keep adults comfortable on long trips, but the Alltrack does offer more rear-seat head- and legroom than the Crosstrek. In addition to the 60/40 rear seatbacks, folding down a panel behind the folding center rear armrest can be opened to accommodate long items, such as skis.

Although aluminum-look trim dresses up the pedals and foot rest, the Alltrack’s instrument panel is otherwise businesslike and straightforward-looking, with manual climate controls on all but the range-topping SEL model. The Alltrack does, however, get VW’s latest MIB II infotainment system with proximity sensing. The 800 x 480-pixel 6.5-inch color screen is the gateway to VW’s App Connect smartphone integration and also includes standard Bluetooth for audio streaming, USB connectivity, SiriusXM satellite radio, HD Radio, an SD memory card slot, and Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility. A Fender premium sound system is standard on all but the base S model and navigation is available on the top-of-the-line SEL.

The business end of any SUV or wagon is its cargo bay. The Alltrack offers 30.4 cubic feet of space with the rear seats up, 66.5 with them folded. That’s not quite as much hauling space as the Outback brings but is significantly more voluminous than the Crosstrek’s hold. There’s also a significant amount of hidden storage—along with a fully inflated mini-spare tire—under the cargo load floor.

The Alltrack shares the same smooth and torquey 1.8-liter turbo 4-cylinder that powers all 2017 Golf models except the high performance GTI and Golf R. It’s considerably quieter than the boxer fours in the Subaru Outback and Crosstrek and much peppier than its conservative 170-hp rating would suggest—even on the recommended regular unleaded fuel. However, in the Alltrack the power gets spread a little thinner as the 1.8-liter turbo has to haul around the extra bulk of the wagon and its standard all-wheel drive system—amounting to an extra 400 pounds. The Alltrack is available with a 6-speed dual-clutch automatic or a conventional 6-speed manual. Stick-shift fans rejoice, the manual shifter is a pretty nice piece and its availability is a rare occurrence in the wagon or SUV realm. EPA estimates are 22 mpg city/30 mpg highway.

Aside from the SUV-like styling cues, the defining feature that makes the Alltrack stand out is the standard 4Motion all-wheel drive. The system is predictive in that it begins apportioning drive torque between the front and rear axles before a traction event occurs. It saves fuel by decoupling the rear axle when coasting or under low-load conditions. Electronic differential locks can apportion drive torque side-to-side by braking a spinning wheel. The system also has a cross differential system—originally developed for the GTI—that can aid cornering by braking an inside wheel to reduce understeer.

Unique to the Alltrack is a driver-selectable Off-Road Mode. Its access is via a console switch adjacent to the engine start/stop button. When activated, Off-Road Mode segues to less-aggressive anti-lock braking and throttle response curves to make for smoother going over not-so-firma terra and engages the hill descent control function. On SEL model Alltracks, it also displays altitude, steering angle, and compass settings on the navigation screen.

In addition to a full complement of airbags, stability control, 4-wheel anti-lock brakes and a standard backup camera, every Alltrack model can be optioned with adaptive cruise control that will maintain a set distance from the vehicle in front of you, sonar-based front and rear park assist to help prevent unwanted vehicular love taps, and forward collision warning with autonomous emergency braking that will initiate braking to mitigate a collision even if you don't. Range-topping SEL models can also be equipped with a lane departure warning system.