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the climbs, moguls, descents, whumps and lateral inclines easily.

You get the best out of the eight-speed auto by flicking the gear

shifter into manual mode and using the tiny steering wheel-

mounted paddle shifters to pick and hold ratios.

Nose it onto the road and the V6 pulls well, showing little of

the lag the smaller-engined Amarok displays on step-off. Smooth,

quiet and refined at any revs, it growls rather than roars under

load. Rolling acceleration – the main weak spot of the 2.0-litre

engine – is effortless, instantaneous and only improves with a

forced downshift. How about its 193km/h speed limit? Entirely

possible on a German autobahn.

Back to that off-road circuit. The Amarok V6 doesn’t get a low-

range transfer box – that’s left to the four-cylinder manual version

• or a switchable all-wheel-drive system. A rear diff-lock operated
  via a console-mounted switch is on the options list, but is expected
  to be standard here.
  What has changed significantly and for the better is VW’s hill
  descent control, activated by a push of the off-road button. VW
  says it has made continual tweaks to the system, and it is now so
  seamless and quiet you won’t know it’s working.
  The steering, too, has improved. The Amarok feels heavy over
  the front wheels, and it becomes more noticeable as speeds rise
  and the level of variable steering assistance – VW claims this is a
  first for the segment – drops off.
  Speaking of heaviness, VW says it has made no changes to the

SAFE BETS

ASK Volkswagen why side curtain

airbags weren’t on the must-do list

for this facelift, and the carmaker

says it had considered adding them.

However, the reality seems to be that

while the Amarok wears a five-star

crash rating, the low airbag count

will stay. An Amarok-based, seven-

seat Toyota Fortuner rival is on the

cards for the ute’s next generation,

so we may have to wait until then.

Australian Amaroks are

expected to have a rear

diff-lock as standard.

New Amarok’s visual bling

includes style bar and

smoked tail-lights.

40 http://www.4X4australia.com.au

DRIVEN VW AMAROK AVENTURA V6TDI