2023 Volkswagen Amarok
The much awaited ranger based VW truck is here !!! Let's see.
The much awaited Volkswagen Amarok Ute is finally here with us. Unveiled recently, the Amarok comes with a slurry of features and newness as its all new ground up. The Amarok this year is born out of a partnership between Ford and Volkswagen having the latter build their latest arrival the Amarok on Ford’s T6 platform which currently underpins the new Ford Ranger that was just recently unveiled.
The 2023 Amarok comes in to fill in the shoes of a very successful past. The outgoing model was quite successful with Volkswagen reportedly having sold more than 800,000 units since the year 2010. The new Ute comes in both single and double cab platforms with the double cab having gracefully grown to 210.6 inches, which is a 3.8 inch increase over the old version. The wheel base has also grown by 6.8 inches now measuring 128.7 inches. This will be some good news to to the folks who love moving their entire lives around, no pun intended.
The width has decreased slightly by 1.4 inches to 75.2 inches and the height has increased by 0.4 inches to 73.4 inches. Much vital to say is that Volkswagen is offering the Amarok in five trim levels namely: Amarok, Life, Style, Pan Americana and Aventura. The latter is more luxury focused. More on this later down the post.
Off road creds
Starting with the numbers that matter, wading depth has seen an increase from 500mm to 800mm which is a delicious welcome to off road pros. The Amarok will have two 4motion AWD setups with AWD being standard in most setups. One of the setups will be the selectable 4 by 4 where users can opt to have the ute in rear wheel drive on the beaten path while the other setup will be a permanent full time 4WD.
Overhangs are also shortened in the new ute which will give dividends in terms of better approach and departure angles. As standard, the Amarok comes in 17 inch tires with the top models coming in 21 inch rubber. Where best to announce of the off-road focused version other than in the off road section. Yes, the Amarok has an off road oriented version code named pan-Americana which does come in beefier all terrain tires ruggedizing things up for this year.
Pan Americana
Engines.
The new Amarok reports for duty with five power plants from Ford. We have four 2.0 liter turbo charged diesels and one petrol 2.3 liter offering 298 horses. Here in Africa and mostly the version we shall be getting here in Kenya will be one of the 2.0 liter turbo charged diesel engines offering 148 horses.
For transmissions, Ford has it that there will be three types. A ten speed automatic, a six speed automatic and a five speed manual. The 10 speed trany will only be paired with engines outputting 207 horses and higher. The rest will be graced with the six speed or an optional 5 speed manual for Kenyan enthusiasts.
Utilities.
Ford has registered that the max payload for the Amarok has gone up to 1160kg with the roof being able to support a static load of 350 kg which can comfortably carry a four person roof tent available as an official accessory. There’s also an option for a hardtop cover to make it get the highly coveted SUV looks.
For driver assistance features, Ford reportedly has over 20 individual driver assistance features. This also comes hand in hand with matrix LED headlights and a Harman Kardon sound system on cushier trims up dollars.
Interior
2023 VW Amarok Interior
The Amarok’s interior boasts of significant changes coined from its brother the Ford Ranger. Even though similar, the Amarok’s interior design feels a touch more upmarket and premium. The show stopper for this interior is the new 12 inch infotainment screen which comes as an 8 inch for lower trims. The latter is running a slightly checkered version of Ford’s Sync 4 system.
It is clear that Volkswagen has a volume seller on their hands. Only time will tell how well the new ute will settle in. The new Amarok will start production in September at the Silverton factory in Pretoria South Africa. For more updates, let’s meet back here soon.
