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| The 8-speed Amarok, does 0-100 in 10 seconds, or any dune it sees anytime. Check the video. |
FIRST off, a full disclosure: I am a Volksie fan — but in defence
of the somewhat partial consumer advice that follows below, note I am not
alone.
Last week, the VW Group, which includes VW, Porsche, Skoda, Seat,
Bentley, Bugatti and Audi (which last year bought Italy’s Ducati motorbikes),
announced it had delivered a record 9,07 million cars to customers during
2012.
But it was not in the interests of these millions of fellow Volksie
fans that I speedily accepted VW South Africa’s invitation to a launch of the
eight-speed auto Amarok on the dunes of the Namib Desert.
I did it for the family on my mother’s side, who farm sheep in the
Karasburg mountains.
Tanned like mahogany, with sinews like steel, members on this side
of the family don’t talk much, except when it comes to arguing which bakkie is
the best dune rider.
For in the Namib, a farmer and his bakkie are only as good as the
last dune they crossed was high.
Our host on the launch, none other than legendary racer Sarel van
der Merwe, knows all this.
Which is why he was a bit worried about challenging a bunch of
city-dwelling media — some still sporting milky white tans from the UK — to race
the Amarok’s new auto box up a series of ever steeper dunes.
Matt Gennrich, general manager of communications at VWSA, however,
had no doubts that VW’s eight-speed auto would empower even the most pallid of
urban scribes. It has, after all, already proven itself in both Audi and VW
sport utilities, albeit with faster gear ratios.
The divisional head for VW’s commercial vehicles, Jaco Steenkamp,
explained that the auto box in the Amarok has a 4,8:1 ratio in first gear, which
works as a low-range gear in off-road conditions, or when pulling a heavy
trailer.
By comparison, Nissan’s five-speed auto box in the Navara, which
was the first automatic 4x4 to impress me in the Namib, has a 3,827:1 ratio,
which needs a bit more revs to go faster.
The lower ratios has also upped the Amarok’s towing capacity to
match the three tons of the Ford Ranger and Mazda BT-50.
Steenkamp described the transmission, which has only five elements,
and shifts using a torque converter, as “super-quick”, and he was not
exaggerating. Whether racing up a dune or cruising along a dirt road, the rev
needle stays in the optimal power band without the driver being aware of any
shifting taking place.
VW combined the automatic box with VW’s 132 kW, 2,0-litre bi-turbo
TDI engine, which is specced at Euro three emission standards and “easily lives
with 500 ppm diesel”, according to Steenkamp.
He said VW’s Blue Motion technology can be fitted to make the
Amarok even more economical, but then drivers have to ensure they tank up only
with 50 parts-per-measure diesel.
The main features of BlueMotion Technology are the stop-start
system and regenerative braking, which help fuel consumption and lower CO2 emissions.
Even in the Euro three spec, VW said the eight-speed box delivers a
combined consumption of 12 km per litre, which puts the big bakkie on a par with
tiny half-tonners.
The box also adapts to inputs from the driver’s right foot and will
pull off in a higher gear whenever surface conditions and accelerator inputs
allow. Foot-flat, VW said the Amarok can do 179 km/h in seventh gear and takes
only 10,9 seconds to accelerate from zero to 100 km/h.
A Torsen differential, which locks at 1 800 revs, varies the 420 Nm
to the front or rear wheels, as required.
The basic setting produces a 40:60 split, with 85% of the power
sent to the rear wheels during cruising. Electronic stability control stays on
permanently, but can be curtailed to aid dune driving.
The standard safety and convenient features available with the
Amarok Double Cab Highline include electronic stabilisation control, with brake
assist and hill start-hill descent assist and ABS, including off-road ABS.
 |
| That is no misprint: the Namib desert was 55 degrees Celcius hot, but inside the Amarok, climate control ruled. |
While these features sound like alphabet soup tastes, they do
enable one to go down the steepest hill, in the deepest sand, using only
fingertips to steer. Other active safety features include driver and
front-passenger air bags and pretensioner three-point safety belts. Daytime
running lights, 17-inch alloy wheels, a radio-CD that is MP3 capable with six
speakers, dual-zone climate control, storage drawers under the front seats,
cruise control and a 12-volt socket in the centre console, dashboard and load
box, all come standard.
So are the three-year/100 000 km manufacturer warranty, a
five-year/90 000 km Automotion service plan and six-year anti-corrosion
warranty. The service interval is at 15 000 km.
As they did with the launch of the Amarok, VW South Africa kept the
price competitive. The eight-speed Amarok sells for R461 100, which is a few
tanks of diesel dearer than the competing Ford Ranger but cheaper that its badge
twin, the BT-50.
The
competition at a glance
(All
4x4, double-cabs autos)
Isuzu
(360 Nm)*
R419k
Hilux
(307 Nm)
R453k
Ranger
(470 Nm)
R457k
Navara
5-speed
(450 Nm)
R460k
Amarok
8-speed (420 Nm)
R461k
BT-50 (470 Nm)
R468k
Defender
(360 Nm)
R468k
Navara
7-speed
(550 Nm)
R588k
*Outgoing
model.
