If you have young kids, work in a bustling environment, or live in a crowded city, sometimes the only place to get any peace is inside your car. Unfortunately, some vehicles have noisy cabins, making it difficult to listen to music and podcasts or make hands-free calls. But not the Volkswagen Atlas. It ranks among a recent list of the quietest SUVs in 2021.

An overview of the 2021 Volkswagen Atlas

The Atlas debuted in 2018, and Volkswagen has slowly and steadily improved on its initial design. The 2021 model provides tons of seat space, plentiful storage, loads of standard safety features, and a straightforward infotainment system. U.S. News reviewers expressed displeasure at the presence of some lower-quality cabin materials, and they said the standard engine isn’t quite what you’d expect it to be. 

Even still, the Atlas is a great vehicle for families and individuals alike. It provides steady performance with a standard 2.0-liter, 235-hp turbocharged engine, though you can upgrade to a 3.6-liter V6 harnessing 276 hp instead. Either way, it has decent fuel economy for its class, getting 24 mpg on the highway. Neither engine will blow you away, but they’re more than adequate for everyday use. 

The 2021 Volkswagen Atlas starts at $30,545 for a two-row model, or you can get a base model with three rows for $31,545. Other trims, including the VW Atlas SE, SE with Technology, SEL, and SEL Premium, offer a wide variety of additional infotainment, safety, and other features for varying prices. 

The top model, the SEL Premium, starts at $47,195 and provides third-row seating. It also has all-wheel drive, leather seats, a 12-speaker sound system, hands-free parallel park assist, heated front and rear seats, and more.

The Volkswagen Atlas is a quiet sanctuary

U.S. News places the 2021 Volkswagen Atlas on its list of the 11 quietest SUVs this year. The cabin impressed them with how well it suppresses outside wind and road noise even at high speeds. 

People may not specifically shop for an SUV with a quiet interior, but once you drive a vehicle with as peaceful of a cabin as the Atlas’s, it’s hard to spend time in anything noisier. A quiet interior is great if you have long commutes and spend a significant time in your vehicle daily 

On its list, U.S. News assigned scores for each interior, and the VW Atlas received a commendable interior score of 8.6/10. Overall, U.S. News gave it a 7.9/10. Sure, other SUVs are more well-rounded and luxurious than the Atlas, but few vehicles have a cabin this serene. 

Other SUVs with notably quiet interiors

Other SUVs with quiet interiors include the 2021 BMW X3, Kia Telluride, and Mazda CX-5. They scored 8.1, 8.3, and 7.9, respectively, for their interiors. But all scored slightly higher than the Volkswagen Atlas overall. 

The only models on the list to beat the Atlas in interior quality were the 2021 Chevrolet Traverse and Lincoln Navigator, which both earned an impressive 8.9. The Navigator also scored much higher overall, but it costs over twice the Atlas’s price. The Traverse, on the other hand, scored only 0.1 higher overall than the Atlas but comes at a slightly lower price. 

So if you’re looking for an SUV with an interior as hushed as a library, you won’t regret getting a 2021 Chevy Traverse, Lincoln Navigator, or Volkswagen Atlas.