Volkswagen’s Amarok gets a power boost

The Amarok launched to the South African market in 2010, has sold over 35 000 units in the single and double cab derivatives in the past decade. In celebration of this milestone, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles will be introducing the long-awaited and most powerful Amarok to date, which might just be South Africa’s most powerful production bakkie yet.

As of November 2020, the Amarok will consist of the following engines – the 2.0 TDI 103kW, 2.0 BiTDI 132kW and the 3.0 TDI V6 190kW.

The biggest development with this addition to the Amarok range is under the bonnet. The most powerful Amarok distinguishes itself from the rest of the range through the new 3.0-litre V6 190kW TDI engine, which has 25kW more power as well as 30Nm more torque than the outgoing 165kW derivative.

The Amarok 3.0-litre V6 TDI generates 190kW from 3 000 to 4 500rpm and 580 Newton metres of torque from 1 400 to 2 750rpm which is channelled through its standard eight-speed automatic gearbox. The Amarok with the V6 engine completes the zero to 100 km/h sprint in just 7.6 seconds and has a top speed of 207 km/h. It has an average fuel consumption of 9.5 litres per 100 kilometres.

With an over-boost function that powers the Amarok to a maximum power output of 200kW for 10 seconds, it is also one of the most powerful bakkies on sale in South Africa at the moment.

The new Amarok 3.0-litre V6 190kW TDI 4MOTION® will be available in two model lines – the Highline and the top of the range Extreme with Highline featuring the Vienna leather seats, winter package (seat heating), increased GVM from 2.8t to 3.0t (including heavy-duty leaf springs), Bi-Xenon headlights, front and rear Park Distance Control with rear-view camera, climatronic air-conditioning as well as the 18-inch Manaus alloy wheels as standard. Optional features on the Highline are the Discover Pro Media system which includes satellite navigation, rubber floor covering and 19-inch Milford alloy wheels.

The Extreme will in addition to the Highline features be customised through the addition of ‘Special Edition’ Nappa leather seats, Discover Pro Media system which includes satellite navigation and 20-inch Talca alloy wheels which also come standard. The optional features on the Extreme are the Increased GVM from 2.8t to 3.0t (including heavy-duty leaf springs), rubber floor covering, 19-inch Milford alloy wheels and a sports bar painted in body colour.

All and all it sounds impressive, and it will undoubtedly win a couple of drag races at the robots, but I feel it lacks some safety features that seems to be incorporated to all the recent updates from other manufacturers such as lane assist, active cruise control, collision alert to name but a few.

So, is this the last hoorah from VW before the new partnership with Ford next year? I hope not!

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