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Amarok raises the bar for bakkies

Second-generation premium pickup has SUV-like refinement and impressive safety, writes Denis Droppa

/Motor News Pages

After an extended teaser campaign, Volkswagen’s second-generation Amarok has hit the road. Larger and more sophisticated than its predecessor, with an expanded array of driver assist features, VW’s one-tonner is based on the new-generation Ford Ranger.

After an extended teaser campaign Volkswagen’s second-generation Amarok has hit the road, and Motor News drove it at the international launch held in Cape Town last week.

Larger and more sophisticated than its predecessor, with an expanded array of driver assist features, VW’s one-tonner is based on the new-generation Ford Ranger and both are built for the local market and export at Ford’s plant in Silverton, Pretoria.

Some sarcasm on social media has been cutting, but whether you want to call VW’s new pickup a “Fordarok” or “Amaranger”, automotive platform sharing is not a new concept and shouldn’t be problematic if there is enough differentiation between the products.

We will drive the new Ford Ranger at its South African reveal later this week to see if they are more than rebadged clones, but for now I can relate that, whatever its underpinnings, the new-generation Amarok is an impressive effort.

While not without its quirks, it is probably the most refined bakkie I have driven and feels more like an SUV than something built to cart manure on farm roads — though the Amarok is designed to do the latter too with its ability to lug loads up to 1.2 tonnes and tow up to 3.5 tonnes.

More than 830,000 units of the first-generation Amarok have been sold to date in Europe, South America, SA and Oceania. It’s been a niche seller in SA due to its premium price and positioning, but VW plans to chase bigger volumes with the second-gen bakkie which will be available in a larger line-up including single- and doublecabs when it is launched locally in the first quarter of 2023.

There will be lower-specced models priced beneath existing Amarok derivatives, with five trim levels offered: the entry level Amarok, followed by the Life and Style, and equal top versions will be the PanAmericana (offroad character) and the Aventura (on-road character).

The engine range — all Ford units — comprises 2.0l fourcylinder turbo diesels, V6 turbo diesels and a 2.3l petrol turbo. Most of our time at the Amarok launch was spent in the 3.0l V6 turbo diesel, which at 184kW is slightly down on the 190kW output of the outgoing Amarok’s Volkswagen-made V6 but remains the most powerful TDi you can get in a bakkie, while torque has increased from 580Nm to 600Nm.

Power is delivered through a 10-speed automatic transmission and there are several driving modes for driving on- and off-road (including Normal, Eco, Tow/Haul, Slippery, Mud/Ruts and Deep/SnowSand).

At sea level the Amarok feels smooth and lusty, delivering strong and lag-free pace across the rev range. The bakkie cruises and overtakes effortlessly and it’s very refined, with minimal wind or engine noise.

The Amarok retains coil spring suspension at the front and leaf springs at the rear, and the ride is a mixed bag. It feels very cushy on smooth roads and undulations, but with lowerprofile 20-inch tyres it was a tad firm on rippled surfaces and smaller bumps, and I’d recommend the comfier 18-inch wheels for owners who plan more off-road excursions.

The torsional rigidity of this solid bakkie really stands out, and there is no juddering or rattling. The steering is very light and made the big double-cab easy work to manoeuvre through busy urban locales such as Simon’s Town. The advanced drive assistance systems include active cruise control, lane assist and blind spot detection, with park assist that automatically steers the vehicle into perpendicular and parallel parking bays.

The interior is mostly a superior effort. The hard, scratchy plastic on the bottom half of the dash shows evidence of cost cutting but there are real touches of elegance in the cabin, including elegant soft-touch faux leather surfaces with decorative stitching on the instrument panel and the doors. I particularly liked the smart “Cricket” leather texture of the door armrests in the adventure-focused PanAmericana model.

The instrument panel is digital and a giant 12.3-inch infotainment screen dominates the centre of the dash, but there are physical controls to quick access some functions including a volume knob for the audio. The user-unfriendly sliders found in the new Golf are thankfully absent, and the Amarok finds a happy middle ground between physical controls and modern digitisation.

The high-end PanAmericana and Aventura models I drove bristled with features like ambient lighting, a 640W Harman Kardon sound system and front seats that were heated and electrically adjustable. The Amarok is not overendowed with USB ports though; there’s a single USB-A socket and one USB-C socket, with an optional inductive phone charger.

At 5,350mm Volkswagen’s new bakkie is 96mm longer than the outgoing model with a wheelbase stretched by 173mm, which provides a very roomy interior for four or five tall passengers. Like the predecessor model, all versions of the Amarok have an 80l fuel tank.

The new bakkie arrives with striking styling that’s more masculine than its predecessor — and, more importantly, it looks very different to the Ford Ranger. It’s characterised by an upright bonnet with narrow LED headlights, and optionally available with IQ.Light LED matrix headlights. Below the bars the radiator grille merges depending on version into a horizontal division of the front section or into an X-shaped design on the top specification models.

As the wheelbase has grown more than the total length, the bodywork overhangs are smaller for enhanced entry and departure angles when driving off road (up to 30° at the front and 26° at the back). The vehicle has a significantly greater fording depth for driving through waters than its predecessor, and 4x4 models come with a diff lock and low-range transfer case.

We took a bakkie fitted with high-profile 18-inch tyres on a short off-road route where it breezed through ruts and axle twisters, and displayed a comfy bump-soaking ride.

Full details and pricing will be revealed when the Amarok goes on local sale early next year.

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2022-12-08T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-12-08T08:00:00.0000000Z

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