All the cool things about the new generation Volkswagen Amarok due in early 2023, the presence of a 2.3-liter turbocharged engine The gasoline-powered Ford EcoBoost might top the list.
The prospect of a Volkswagen two-wheeler with a remake of the Ford Performance four-pot is an intriguing one, which will stand alone in the homogeneous 4×4 market in Australia.
Amarok’s new gasoline engine creates a 222kW power and 452Nm torque, with permanent all-wheel drive and a 10-speed automatic transmission. This is not the figure of a gutless car, by any means.
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New Amarok
The same engine is naturally available in the new Ranger – the car on which the new Amarok is based – but only in places like the Middle East and (eventually) the United States in new-generation form, when it gets there.
In Australia, the Ranger will only use diesel in addition to the V6 turbocharged petrol Raptor, which I’m sure you’ll agree is a completely different monster, allowing it to boost six-figure driving.
There was a time when gasoline engines weren’t a popular choice in two-wheelers, but today the only comparable contender to offer gasoline power is the Jeep Gladiator.
It’s either a full-size pickup truck, Chevrolet’s much bigger and aspirational Ram, or the big American V8.
THAN: Compare the design of Ford Ranger and Volkswagen Amarok 2023
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Ranger Raptor -
Ram 1500 -
Jeep Gladiator
The rest – Toyota Hilux, Isuzu D-Max, Mazda BT-50, Nissan Navara, Mitsubishi Triton – diesel only in 4×4 dual-cab guise, a crude oil burner and rattle that to some users sounds like a square peg for a round hole.
Granted, for those who regularly tow, the Amarok diesel options are clearly better than the four-cylinder petrol engines – especially the 184kW and 600Nm V6s.
And many 4×4 engine enthusiasts also enjoy the diesel’s off-road character, with ample torque even at idle and generally longer driving range.
So do many people in the region, with their farms or stations often equipped with diesel tanks for heavy machinery.
However, how many luxury double cabs worth more than $60,000 with large touchscreens, leather seats, and all the latest tech projects outside of the suburbs on a regular basis? What proportions are considered more family means or lifestyles than pure horses instead? SUVs with trays…
The answers to those questions are ‘almost not all’ and ‘a lot’, respectively.
For these use cases, the gasoline engine should be quieter and more refined, more specifically, and in the case of the small 2.3cc EcoBoost engine, hardly more expensive than the diesel.
It also means you can forgo the AdBlue and diesel particulate filters, which some people find to be a concern, or at least an annoyance.
Also let’s not forget that for decades the Australian-made Holden and Ford we all love and miss also relied on petrol power, huh?
How many buyers of an expensive dual-cab would appreciate the choice of a compact hatchback-style petrol option for a small displacement?
That’s a question we can’t easily answer because there are so few options. Certainly Volkswagen feels most buyers will go for the V6 diesel, but more choice is rarely a negative.
And I argue that a certain type of ‘lifestyle’ buyer, which is increasingly common, has at least one great reason to wait for VW instead of buying one of the dual cabs on sale.
THAN: Everything you need to know about Volkswagen Amarok 2023
