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If your family likes to stay active outdoors – whether you're hiking, biking, camping, or exploring New Mexico's natural splendor in some other way – shouldn't your vehicle reflect your lifestyle? Is it even possible to have a vehicle that blends sporting capability with the creature comforts we expect in a daily drive. The answer is absolutely – at least when the answer is the new 2026 Volkswagen Atlas Peak Edition. The Peak Edition is exactly the kind of 2026 Atlas we want for our New Mexico lifestyle. Peak Edition revisions begin outside, where it gains a unique grille, wheel arch protection, and exterior badging to help it stand out from the rest of the Atlas lineup. Peak Edition models also gain unique 18-inch dark-finished alloy wheels, which are wrapped in all-terrain tires for added traction and composure when venturing off the beaten path. Power comes from a 2.0-liter turbocharged engine, which delivers 269 horsepower and 273 pound-feet of torque. It is coupled to an eight-speed automatic transmission, which routes power to all four wheels through the 4MOTION all-wheel-drive system. Atlas Peak Edition is also rated to tow up to 5,000 pound. Here’s something to think about when looking at the 2026 Atlas Peak Edition. If you desire to take on a dirt or gravel road, press the Mode button on the lower center stack and press the Off-Road icon on the touchscreen, effectively locking the 4MOTION system and optimizing traction at all four corners. Drivers and passengers alike will love stepping inside the Atlas Peak Edition. All four doors open wide, making entry and egress easy – and that includes passengers heading for the third row of seats, thanks to a lever-type slide-away feature on both the driver and passenger side. All three rows of seats – including either a second-row bench or captains chairs – are trimmed in unique two-tone V-Tex upholstery, and there are plenty of cupholders and USB-C charging ports throughout the interior to satiate passengers. Atlas Peak Edition provides the driver with an advanced Digital Cockpit Pro instrument cluster, which is still configured in a dual-dial format in a nod to Volkswagens of the past. The steering wheel also incorporates tactile buttons for cruise control, instrumentation, and audio controls, making it easy to adjust various settings without taking hands off the wheel. If you like information and entertainment, it is all there in the12.0-inch center touchscreen. The system offers a variety of options for audio playback and connectivity, and includes App-Connect functionality, including the ability to mirror your iPhone or Android device on the infotainment screen. But what good is an active lifestyle vehicle if there isn't any room for your active lifestyle gear? Fear not; Atlas Peak Edition provides plenty of cargo space, even with all three rows of seats in use. With all three rows upright, Atlas provides 20.6 cubic feet of space, but that grows to 55.5 cubic feet with the third row folded, and jumps again to 96.8 cubic feet with both rows folded flat. The 2026 Atlas Peak Edition is the family SUV made for New Mexico. If it sounds like it's also made for you, contact us at Sisbarro Volkswagen and check one out soon!

The Volkswagen Atlas, as its name implies, is a large vehicle. The generously sized 3-row crossover was specifically designed for American families and is built in America within the Volkswagen assembly plant in Chattanooga, TN. While it's easy to assume the ample interior space and three rows of seats means the Atlas is adept at accomodating families of all sizes – including small children – Cars.com still had its child safety seat experts recently weigh in on how well the Atlas can accomodate different times of child seats. This Sisbarro Volkswagen post reports on their results. The Testers Cars.com editors Jennifer Geiger and Jennifer Newman, both certified in child safety seat installation, regularly perform these tests. Because testing every single child seat model isn't practical, they select one representative seat from each stage that best exemplifies most models in that category, and they use these seats consistently for all their testing. These seats are: Chicco KeyFit 30 infant-safety seat Graco Contender Extend2Fit 2-in-1 convertible seat (front-facing and rear-facing) Graco TurboBooster seat Seats are installed in the second row because that's where most are installed. For safety reasons, installing child seats in the front row isn't recommended when alternatives exist, mainly due to airbag deployment concerns. Infant and convertible seats are placed behind the front passenger seat, while booster seats are tested behind the driver. The driver’s seat is adjusted for an average 6-foot-tall adult, while the front passenger seat is set for a shorter person. For large families, editors also test the convertible seat in the forward-facing position in the second row to see if three child seats can fit side by side. Cars.com's assessments focus on how easy it is to access the LATCH anchor points and highlighting any potential installation difficulties. When testing rear-facing seats, editors check whether it causes the front passenger seat to be pushed forward into an impractical position. For vehicles with a third row, like the Atlas, editors also evaluate how practical it is to install seats in that row. Each test is graded from A to F, with specific criteria defining each grade: A: Plenty of room for the car seat and the child; it doesn’t impact driver or front passenger legroom. Easy to find and connect to Latch and tether anchors. No fit issues involving head restraint or seat contouring. B: One room, fit, or connection issue. C: Marginal room plus one fit or connection issue. D: Insufficient room, plus multiple fit or connection issues. F: Does not fit or is unsafe. The Atlas Results Were Almost Perfect Of the five primary tests using the second-row seats, the Atlas earned four A’s and one B. It also did very well with third-row seat installation, earning three As. The following are their verbatim comments on the results of each test. 2nd Row Latch: Grade A “ Three sets of  anchors sit in slits in the upholstery, and three clearly marked top tether anchors sit midway down the second-row seatbacks. All anchors are easy to find and use.” 2nd Row Infant Seat: Grade A “ The car seat was easy to install and there was plenty of legroom for the front passenger in front of the car seat.” 2nd Row Rear-Facing Convertible: Grade A “ The seat was easy to install, and as with the infant seat, there was plenty of legroom for the front passenger. We used the Level 2 recline angle for the rear-facing convertible.” 2nd Row Forward-Facing Convertible: Grade A “ Installation was easy, and the convertible fit well. We removed the head restraint to situate the convertible flush against the seatback, and we had no trouble connecting to the top tether anchor. We installed this car seat with the seat belt for caregivers interested in that method.” 2nd Row Booster: Grade B “ The seat fit well after we removed the head restraint to situate the booster flush against the seatback. The buckles are on short stalks, so they might be tough for kids to grasp and use independently.” Will the 2nd row fit three seats? Yes, provided the Atlas in question is equipped with the 2 nd -row bench seat instead of the available captain’s chairs. 3rd Row Access: Grade B “ The second row moved out of the way easily to create a good-size passage to the third row, and the step-in height should be manageable for small kids.” 3rd Row Forward-Facing Convertible: Grade B “ There are no lower anchors in the third row, so we again used the seat belt to install this car seat; the seat fit well after we removed the head restraint. The third row has two top tether anchors on the seatbacks; they’re clearly marked and easy to use. Legroom is tight, though, so we had to slide the second row forward a bit to share legroom.” 3rd Row Booster: Grade A The seat fit well after we removed the head restraint. The buckles are on short but stable bases, which should make them easy to find and grasp. Cars.com has performed this test on other 3-row crossovers and found that some are not very good at accommodating child seats in the third row. The Atlas is far more accommodating, giving you flexibility in your vehicle seating arrangements. If you live in the Sisbarro area and are contemplating a new vehicle to better accommodate your growing family, visit Sisbarro Volkswagen and check out one of the many 2026 Atlas models in our inventory.

Sometimes, the trunk or cargo hold isn’t enough, and attaching a roof rack isn’t sufficient either because what you want to take is too large to pack in or on your vehicle. Sometimes, what you want to take is even a temporary home or a motorized toy for trail, snow, or water. Big trailers need a towing-focused vehicle, but what if you're towing something light? Can you do it with a regular Volkswagen? Possibly. Sisbarro Volkswagen discusses what you can and cannot tow with your Volkswagen. Cars used to be built differently, mostly with body-on-frame construction, where the chassis handled all loads, and the body was simply bolted on. This allowed a single model line to offer a range of body styles, including sedans, coupes, convertibles, and station wagons. Volkswagen, for example, built multiple models, including the Beetle, Bus, Fastback, Kammback, and Karman Ghia, on mostly the same chassis. Towing ability was common among these vehicles because load impacts were absorbed by the chassis alone. Rear-wheel drive also helped by limiting trailer loads to the frame between the rear axle and the hitch. Even the Beetle could tow up to 1,500 pounds, though steep inclines challenged its engine. Today, most cars and crossovers are built using unibody construction, in which the body itself serves as the frame.  There are several advantages of this, including weight reduction, which improves both performance and efficiency, and better handling because the body has less flex, enabling a more comfortable and quieter ride. Front wheel drive architecture in which the engine is turned sideways with the transmission beside it (instead of behind) and the crankshaft essentially lines up with the front axles.  Almost every all-wheel-drive vehicle uses a front-wheel-drive architecture, including all modern Volkswagen models. One drawback of unibody construction is that it limits towing ability. This is because the towing pull stress is now distributed across the entire vehicle body, and the front-wheel-drive architecture exacerbates the problem. This doesn’t mean that no unibody vehicles can tow, but most will tow less than similar-sized body-on-frame vehicles, which are now mostly pickup trucks and SUVs on pickup-truck chassis. This may lead you to wonder if any VW vehicles can tow at all.  The answer is some can, and some cannot. Cannot Tow In general, towing increases with the vehicle size. Thus, it is the smaller models that are not recommended for towing of any kind.  These include: Golf GTI and Golf R Jetta and Jetta GLI Taos Can Tow The Tiguan, when fitted with a Class 1 hitch, can tow up to 1,500 pounds with FWD and 1,800 pounds with AWD.  This may be enough for a compact camping trailer with room for one double bed and a small kitchen.  It may also be enough for a trailer containing a single mid-size ATV or two dirt bikes. With a properly installed hitch, the Atlas and Atlas CrossSport are both rated to tow up to 5,000 pounds regardless of whether they are FWD or AWD.  This is enough for most pop-up campers and light travel trailers from 15 to 20 feet that sleep four and have amenities like a bathroom and even a single slide-out to expand the living space.  Some small boats and trailers may also come under this figure. Can Tow But… Electric motors' high torque aids towing; the ID.4 has a max capacity of 2,200–2,700 pounds, depending on the model, and the ID.Buzz can tow 3,500 pounds with AWD and 2,700 with FWD. Range reduction limits practicality for long-distance towing. Towing reduces a vehicle’s efficiency—but it’s more critical for EVs because they have limited stored energy. The larger 82kWh battery of the ID.4 holds about 2.4 gallons of gas, and the electric motor’s efficiency enables up to 291 miles on a full charge, but trailers can reduce this range. Know Your GCWR Knowing the trailer weight isn't enough for safe towing; you must also consider your model’s Gross Combined Weight Rating (GCWR), the maximum total combined weight of your vehicle and trailer, including passengers, cargo, and fuel. Exceeding GCWR can cause brake failure and damage. For example, the Atlas's GCWR is about 9,000–10,000 pounds, depending on the model. If fully loaded with passengers, cargo, and additional trailer cargo, you may go over the limit. It's best to weigh your vehicle and trailer at a public scale and add passenger and cargo weight before towing. If you have something you want to tow with your Volkswagen, ask the experts at the Sisbarro Volkswagen Service Department about the best steps to take.

Summer in New Mexico and West Texas is very enchanting and very enjoyable. However, the heat can be a challenge for everyone. It could mean less comfort for everyone.  When it comes to keeping you comfortable, Volkswagen offers a lineup of family-friendly SUVs designed to beat the heat. Inside each of our models in the lineup are features designed to keep you cool, comfortable, and refreshed upon arrival at your destination. Let’s start with front ventilated seats. When you turn them on from the climate control system, they simply cool the seats through vents inside them. You can turn on the fan to maximize seat cooling. They can be found on higher-trim versions of the 2026 Atlas, Atlas Cross Sport, Tiguan, Taos, ID.4, Jetta, Jetta GLI, Golf GTI, and Golf R. Other systems offer precise temperature control, along with a range of fan speeds. Vents are positioned where you really want them to be – especially in three-row vehicles, such as the 2026 Atlas and 2025 ID.Buzz. For two-row SUVs, sedans, and hatchbacks, you may find a rear vent that keeps you comfortable. Upper models of the 2026 Atlas and Atlas Cross Sport may feature a three-zone climate control system with a separate rear climate setting. On the 2026 Tiguan SEL R-Line Turbo, there is a separate control panel for the rear passengers to control their own temperature. Another feature that may come in handy is a 115-volt outlet located in either the front or rear seating area. When it is enabled, you can run your power cooler to keep drinks and snacks cool. This is available on some 2026 Atlas and Atlas Cross Sport trim levels. When it is really hot outside, you dread getting out to unlock the doors, start up the vehicle, and turn on the climate control. The solution is right in your hand with the myVW app. You have several functions available at your fingertips, such as remote start, remote lock and unlock, and cabin pre-cooling. You can even find your vehicle through the last parked location. Your Volkswagen should be compatible with myVW and myVW+ services from your smartphone. When the heat is on, get ready to stay cool in a Volkswagen. Contact us at Sisbarro Volkswagen so we can show you all the great features that make your summer on the road a relaxing one.