The VW Amarok Life was no match for the Ford Ranger XLT. Picture: Jaco van der Merwe
Ever since the Volkswagen Amarok has gotten into bed with the Ford Ranger, the VW bakkies have been winning the sibling rivalry despite running the same hardware.
It started at the top of the tree, if you take the Ford Ranger Raptor out of the equation which VW does not share. Here the 184kW/600Nm 3.0-litre V6 VW Amarok PanAmericana ran a 0 to 100km/h sprint time of 9.13 seconds compared to the 9.29 of the Ford Ranger in V6 Wildtrak guise.
Moving on the 154kW/500Nm bi-turbos, the VW Life derivative clocked a sprint time of 10.38 seconds. The best the Ford Ranger in Wildtrak guise, albeit in Super Cab guise, could clock during Road Test Editor Mark Jones’ test was 10.41 seconds.
When The Citizen Motoring recently received a VW Amarok in single turbo 4×4 guise, it gave us the chance to complete the set. Last year the 125kW/405Nm single turbo Ford Ranger in XLT 4×4 trim clocked a 0 to 100km/h sprint time of 11.74 seconds. This time made quite a statement because it bettered all the best times the previous generation 3.2-litre and 2.0-litre bi-turbo could post. And that of their bigger engine derivate rivals at the time as well.
It was also a bridge too far for the Amarok, which fell by the wayside with a time of 12.47 seconds. It was however more than a second faster than the previous generation 120kW/400Nm BiTDI VW Amarok which ran a time of 12.75 seconds.
As far as its non-Silverton built rivals go, it did manage to beat the 110kW/400Nm 2.4-litre GD-6 Toyota Hilux Raider X. The Raider, the only 2.4 GD-6 Hilux we have tested, ran a time of 13.21 seconds.
The VW Amarok single turbo also outgunned the 110kW/350Nm Isuzu D-Max X-Rider by some margin. The X-Rider stopped the clock at 13.74, which is more than 1.5 seconds slower than the Amarok.
Further down the list of similarly-powered, or there about, bakkies in 4×4 guise are the Mahindra Pik-Up, GWM P-Series and the Peugeot Landtrek.
Download our app and read this and other great stories on the move. Available for Android and iOS.
