USSIES like their things extra-large. The
Big Banana, northern Queenslanders’ hats,
schooners versus pots; the list goes on. It’s
no surprise, then, that not everyone has
warmed to the Volkswagen Amarok. In a land
of big, torquey diesels, the VW ute’s 2.0-litre
four-cylinder engine was something of a
conversation killer around the campfire, even
if its bi-turbo performance punched well above
its weight. Yet that never stopped the Amarok from being
the consecutive winner of the 4X4 Australia Ute Of The Year
award, and it remains one of our class favourites.
That’s all about to change. From late this year the Amarok
will finally get the engine that everyone bar VW wanted
from the start: a powerful, torquey six-cylinder.
In a way, it’s a pyrrhic victory for everyone who’s wanted
a VW-badged ute with more growl. The 165kW/550Nm
3.0-litre V6 – the most powerful engine in its class – is
only here because the bi-turbo 132kW 2.0-litre version –
tuned to provide either 400Nm or 420Nm, depending on
the depth of your pockets – will be banned from sale in
Europe come September because it won’t meet tougher
Euro 6 diesel emissions standards. However, the V6
launched in 2014 does.
Buyers will have to dig a bit deeper for the V6 Amarok.
A special edition, V6-engined Amarok Aventura will land
here for a limited time with a price tag nudging $70,000,
making it the most expensive one-tonne ute on sale.
There’s another sting, too. Because Australia has that
big, dry, sandy patch in the middle, in VW’s eyes we’re a
hot country and it must protect its assets. That means the
V6 Amarok’s towing capacity falls from 3.5 tonnes in Euro
specification to just 3.0 – the same as for the 2.0-litre engine.
Cast components on the new donk are covered in
Audi, Volkswagen and Volkswagen Group stamps. It’s the
engine used in everything from the Audi A4 to the A6/Amarok’s 165kW/550Nm
3.0L V6 will be the most
powerful donk in its class.
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