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VW Amarok bakkie goes full circle with sublime Aventura
After getting into bed with the Ford Ranger, Volkswagen has its badge on a top-class bakkie again.
The Aventura sits at the head of the VW Amarok table. Picture: Jaco van der Merwe
To try and make sense of the flagship of the new VW Amarok range, the Aventura, lets delve into the bakkie’s history.
The Volkswagen Amarok made a significant impact on the bakkie landscape with its introduction in 2010. With an interior on par with the VW Polo at the time, the Amarok proved that a bakkie can combine the comfort of a passenger car with the traditional virtues of a light commercial vehicle.
As time went by, rivals caught up and eventually overtook the Amarok in exterior looks, interior plushness, technology and safety. But even when the first-generation VW Amarok got old, it still had a trick up its sleeve. A major trick in the form of a 3.0-litre V6 turbodiesel engine.
King of bakkies
The mill, which initially produced 165kW and later bumped up to 190kW, ensured that the Amarok was the fastest production double cab bakkie you could buy off a showroom floor in South Africa.
The 165kW version set the production double cab bakkie record by clocking a time of 8.67 seconds in The Citizen Motoring’s 0 to 100km/h sprint test back in 2017. To put this time is perspective, the much-hyped and very pricey 190kW Mercedes-Benz X350d could only clock 9.43 seconds almost two years later.
The 190kW VW Amarok bettered the record by over half a second to 8.14 in 2021. To put this into perspective, this Amarok (3.74) was faster from 0 to 60km/h than the Golf 5 GTI (4.00)!
One-trick pony
And this performance kept the Amarok in demand despite being outdated in many departments. In fact, when the single cabs were dropped from the line-up, the limited Amarok double cab range was centred around the V6. And like the Golf GTI of previous generations, the V6 remained the range’s best-seller by a country mile.
Never mind the official toad test times, the 190 kW VW Amarok just felt quick. Bereft of the most modern driving systems, it had a kind of honest and pure charm about it. It did not pretend to be anything other than it was. It didn’t need to because it was the undisputed king of bakkies. A brute that begged you to floor it, with a decent soundtrack to add some theatrics into the feelgood mix.
Now back to the present day and the new VW Amarok. Straight off the bat, the 3.0-litre V6 Aventura does not take over from its predecessor as the fastest bakkie in Mzansi. And even if it did manage to edge it in the speed test, it would have been futile anyway. By dipping under six seconds in our recent sprint test at the coast, the Ranger Raptor now owns that space.
New VW Amarok grows up
But in a trade-off for that niche, the new VW Amarok has grown up as a result of its production partnership with Ford. Now its built alongside the Ford Ranger in Silverton, instead of being imported from Argentina like before.
The bakkie itself is a more mature product. And the whole Volkswagen bakkie range a more comprehensive one at more competitive prices. The reintroduction of single cabs alongside a five-tier model line-up consisting of base, Life, Style, PanAmericana and Aventura trim levels has ensured the VW Amarok will have a much bigger footprint than before.
At the head of the extended family sits the 3.0-litre V6 turbodiesel Aventura. Its mill produces 184kW of power and 600Nm of torque. This goes to all four wheels via 10-speed automatic transmission.
No slouch
At the hands of Road Test Editor Mark Jones, the Aventura clocked 9.36 seconds in the 0 to 100km/h sprint. This was in line with its production sibling the 3.0-litre Ford Ranger Wildtrak AWD double cab, which ran 9.29 seconds.
While the new VW Amarok have lost over a second in a sprint test, it has so much more to offer. Things like dozens of safety systems and other nifty tech, a 12-inch active info display, 12-inch vertical infotainment system, electronic parking brake, electronic roller shutter and a very imposing exterior. Plus a Harmon Kardon sound system, Savona leather seat upholstery and VW steering wheel to differentiate it from its Ranger production sibling on the inside.
Conclusion
In many ways, the Amarok Aventura is the pinnacle of what the modern-day double cab bakkie has become. It has a plush SUV-like interior and is as safe as a house. It is technologically advanced, offers a brilliant smooth ride and has plenty of power.
And that was the whole point of the history lesson. The Amarok has gone back to raising the bar in the bakkie segment.
