Compare the2024 Volkswagen AtlasVS 2024 Toyota Grand Highlander

In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Atlas are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Grand Highlander doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Atlas has standard Rear Traffic Alert with automatic braking, systems which detect vehicles approaching from the sides and can automatically apply the brakes to prevent a collision. Only the Grand Highlander Limited/Platinum offers Parking Support Brake.

Both the Atlas and the Grand Highlander have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, front wheel drive, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, post-collision automatic braking systems, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, available all wheel drive and around view monitors.

A significantly tougher test than their original offset frontal crash test, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety does 40 MPH small overlap frontal offset crash tests. In this test, where only 25% of the total width of the vehicle is struck, results indicate that the Volkswagen Atlas is safer than the Grand Highlander:

The Volkswagen Atlas achieved a “Top Safety Pick” rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) for the 2024 model year. This recognition was based on its impressive performance in the small overlap frontal crash test, updated side impact crash test, headlight evaluations, and pedestrian crash prevention testing. The Grand Highlander is not a “Top Safety Pick” for 2024.

The Atlas comes with a full 4-year/50,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire truck. The Grand Highlander’s 3-year/36,000-mile basic warranty expires 1 year or 14,000 miles sooner.

The Atlas’ corrosion warranty is 2 years longer than the Grand Highlander’s (7 vs. 5 years).

The Volkswagen Atlas’ engine uses a cast iron block for durability, while the Grand Highlander’s engines use an aluminum block. Aluminum engine blocks are much more prone to warp and crack at high temperatures than cast iron.

As tested in Motor Trend the Volkswagen Atlas is faster than the Toyota Grand Highlander turbo 4 cyl.:

In heavy traffic or at stoplights the Atlas’ engine automatically turns off when the vehicle is stopped, saving fuel and reducing pollution. The engine is automatically restarted when the driver gets ready to move again. If the conditions warrant or the driver wishes, the system can be manually disabled at any time for the duration of a trip. The Grand Highlander doesn’t offer an automatic engine start/stop system.

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the Volkswagen Atlas uses regular unleaded gasoline. The Grand Highlander Hybrid Max requires premium, which can cost on average about 82.8 cents more per gallon.

The Atlas has 1.4 gallons more fuel capacity than the Grand Highlander Hybrid’s standard fuel tank (18.6 vs. 17.2 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups.

The Atlas’ standard front and rear disc brakes are vented to help dissipate heat for shorter stops with less fading. The rear discs on the Grand Highlander are solid, not vented.

The Atlas stops much shorter than the Grand Highlander:

For better traction, the Atlas SEL Premium R-Line’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Grand Highlander (265/45R21 vs. 255/65R18).

The Atlas SE/Peak Edition’s standard tires provide better handling because they have a lower 60 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Grand Highlander XLE’s 65 series tires. The Atlas SEL Premium R-Line’s tires have a lower 45 series profile than the Grand Highlander Limited/Platinum’s 55 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Atlas SEL Premium R-Line has standard 21-inch wheels. The Grand Highlander’s largest wheels are only 20-inches.

The Atlas has vehicle speed sensitive variable-assist power steering, for low-effort parking, better control at highway speeds and during hard cornering, and a better feel of the road. The Grand Highlander doesn’t offer variable-assist power steering.

The Atlas’ drift compensation steering can automatically compensate for road conditions which would cause the vehicle to drift from side to side, helping the driver to keep the vehicle straight more easily. The Grand Highlander doesn’t offer drift compensation steering.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Atlas’ wheelbase is 1.2 inches longer than on the Grand Highlander (117.3 inches vs. 116.1 inches).

For better handling and stability, the track (width between the wheels) on the Atlas is 1.7 inches wider in the front and 2.2 inches wider in the rear than on the Grand Highlander.

The Atlas 4Motion handles at .84 G’s, while the Grand Highlander Platinum AWD pulls only .80 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

The Atlas SEL 4Motion executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 1.5 seconds quicker than the Grand Highlander XLE AWD (27.1 seconds @ .62 average G’s vs. 28.6 seconds @ .58 average G’s).

The Atlas has 1.9 inches more front hip room, 1.3 inches more front shoulder room, .2 inches more rear headroom, 1.6 inches more rear hip room, 1.7 inches more rear shoulder room, 1.1 inches more third row headroom and .2 inches more third row legroom than the Grand Highlander.

The Atlas has a standard third row seat which folds flat into the floor. This completely clears a very large cargo area quickly. The Grand Highlander doesn’t offer seats that fold into the floor.

The Atlas uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Grand Highlander uses a prop rod to support its heavy hood. It takes two hands to open the hood and set the prop rod, the prop rod gets in the way during maintenance and service, and the prop rod could be knocked out, causing the heavy hood to fall on the person maintaining or servicing the car.

The Atlas’ rain-sensitive wipers adjust their speed and turn on and off automatically based on the amount of rainfall on the windshield. This allows the driver to concentrate on driving without constantly adjusting the wipers. The Grand Highlander’s standard manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

Heated windshield washer nozzles are standard on the Atlas SEL to prevent washer fluid and nozzles from freezing and help continue to keep the windshield clear in sub-freezing temperatures. The Grand Highlander doesn’t offer heated windshield washer nozzles.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) conducts detailed tests on headlights for their range both straight ahead and in curves and to be certain they don’t exceed acceptable amounts of glare to oncoming drivers. The Atlas’ headlights were rated “Good” by the IIHS, while the Grand Highlander’s headlights are rated “Acceptable.”

The Atlas has a standard heated steering wheel to take the chill out of steering on extremely cold winter days before the vehicle heater warms up. A heated steering wheel is only available on the Grand Highlander Limited/Platinum.

The Atlas SEL Premium R-Line’s Park Assist can parallel park or back into a parking spot by itself, with the driver only controlling speed with the brake pedal. The Grand Highlander doesn’t offer an automated parking system.

The Volkswagen Atlas outsold the Toyota Grand Highlander by almost two to one during 2023.