By Ian Strachan.
Over the years, the crew-cab pickup has moved from builders’ transport to fashion accessory. What used to be at home on a building site now graces the drives of the most fashion conscious cool dude. As a result, pick-ups give you all the comfort and specification you’d expect on any executive saloon.
But, of course, you’ve also got all that loadspace, and a powerful-looking vehicle that most drivers won’t want to mess with.
One of the most upmarket among these stylish pick-ups is the Volkswagen Amarok. Launched in 2011 this was Volkswagen’s first foray into the pick-up market, although the company had been making four-wheel drive commercials and off-roaders for some time. The Amarok is now well-established as one of the leaders in its sector.
As you’d expect from Volkswagen, the Amarok sets high standards of refinement, quality and safety. This is not a builders’ truck. It is every bit as refined as Volkswagen’s passenger cars.
That’s reflected in the price, of course. The Amarok in Pan Americana 3.0 TDI spec with 10-speed automatic transmission which I tested will set you back £60,550 on the road.
In case you were wondering, the name Amarok is Inuit Indian for “wolf.” Appropriate for a company which has its headquarters in Wolfsburg. Argentina.
The Amarok stands high on the road and there’s no doubt it can handle the rough stuff with its permanent all-wheel drive set-up with four selectable driving modes. Its high ground clearance, long suspension travel, and torquey 240 bhp 3.0 V6 diesel engine equip it for any sort of terrain you might throw at it. This unit delivers all the power you need.
Inside you get comfortable leather-clad seats with 10-way power adjustment for the front seats, attractive trim with ambient lighting, satellite navigation and a premium eight-speaker sound system controlled from a 12-inch colour screen along with heating controls, and lots of storage space.
You also get heated and powered wing mirrors, heated windscreen, leather multi-function steering wheel, phone charger, adaptive cruise control, area view 360 degree camera, rear view camera and parking assist front and rear.
Safety aids include lane keeping aid Electronic stability control and automatic braking system with pedestrian and cyclist monitoring.
My Amarok test vehicle was fitted with a towbar and towing assistance package (£1,014) and a neat, locking RollTrac electric loadspace cover (£2,644). It also had optional chunky 20-inch alloy wheels (£1,050), black crossbars (£187), loadspace liner (£522) and a striking Bright Blue Metallic paint finish (£636)
Handling is pretty good for a vehicle of this nature, though, because of the long suspension travel, you inevitably get a little body roll when cornering.
Economy is obviously not going to be specatular for the size of vehicle, at 27.7 mpg in mixed driving. CO2 emissions are 268 g/km and it has a 0-60 mph time of just below nine seconds.
This Amarok has all the specification you would expect on an executive car or upmarket 4×4. It’s more Gucci than ToeTector but with the Volkswagen logo on the grille it’s a case of style AND substance.
