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  1. #1
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    Default My Amarok experience

    7000 km with a Wolf...
    I was lucky enough to drive a VW Amarok 2.0l Bi-TDi 4 Motion for little more than a month now. The vehicle weighs in at 1883Kg empty. The tyres on the vehicle was Goodyear 265/65/R17 all terrain. The push button 4x4 system was a bit new to me, but I got use to it after a while. The vehicle also has hill hold control, hill descent control and traction control that I will explain later.
    My first trip was to Thaba Moia 4x4 track, a few kilometers outside Mookgophong (Naboomspruit). On the tar road the vehicle offers a soft and carlike ride, even at speed levels above 120km/h. The gravel road was a different story... Switching between 4x2 and 4x4 High range can be done in a jiffy, with the press of a button. With 4x4 engaged I selected the “off road” button. This activated the off road ABS function. The gravel road was wet and the traction was limited. The vehicle had a very firm and solid feel on the wet gravel road. The Traction control helps to keep the vehicle on the road at high speed. I accidently jumped over a hump on the gravel road and was pleasantly surprised about the handling when I landed.
    Once we entered the farm roads I engaged 4x4 Low range. On the 4x4 track the vehicle performed very well, even on grade 4 obstacles. The route mostly consists of stone and fixed rocks in the mountain. When going down a steep hill the decent control starts working. You can press the clutch pedal or even put the vehicle in neutral and the car won’t run away, pretty amazing. At a sharp turn, I drove myself into the famous “axel twister”, I then engaged difflock and went on. As far as the traction control is concerned, it will only interfere if the computer senses the vehicle is out of control (when the vehicle is moving), and not if the vehicle is stationary at an obstacle, and the wheels are spinning. For spinning in a obstacle there is EDL (Electronic difflock), but to be honest I still don’t know how it works or when it interferes (so I used the normal difflock engaged by a button). The ground clearance is not 249mm, but with measuring it came out as 221mm (2.0bar tyre pressure). I am use to driving a vehicle with a much higher ground clearance and had to adapt my off road driving style. The Amarok has enough ground clearance for a standard off road vehicle and will do any obstacle a standard off road vehicle will do.
    After that weekend most of my driving was on road again, going to work and back home. The traffic driving is nice, but much different from other diesel bakkies. If you take your foot off the clutch too fast and no acceleration is added the vehicle will stall. After the third pull away you will find it easy. The gearbox’s shifting is solid and firm, at first it felt hard, but after getting used to the gearbox it was smooth sailing.
    My second trip was from Pretoria down to Vlees Bay, a small holiday destination just outside Mossel Bay. Here I spent a few days before I left for Port Elizabeth for a few days. On my trip down to Vlees Bay, my fuel consumption was 10.2L/100km (9.8km/L). The ride was very comfy once again and there is about no cabin noise. My traveling speed was 129km/h on the GPS and that is about 135km/h on the clock. Overtaking was never a problem and if power was needed I used 4th gear. The trip to Port Elizabeth was quite interesting. On the route from Mossel Bay to Port Elizabeth there are a lot of speed cameras and I had to stay strictly within the speed limits. With doing so my fuel consumption was surprisingly low. With 5 people and luggage the Amarok managed to get a nice 8.9L/100km (11.2km/L).
    Back at Vlees Bay we went to test the vehicle’s off road ability again, this time at the famous “Vlees Bay Dune Route”. There was a bit off rain the previous night so I decided to deflate the tyres to 1.0bar. I selected 4x4 Low range, and off we went. On one dune I struggled to get up, because I didn’t have enough momentum and there were two serious axel twisters in the sand. With my 4th try I made it to the top, but the Amarok got stuck on its chassis and we had to give it a little push. Try number 5 went much better and we made the dune. At the play pit everyone had a chance to play around. Playing around with the Amarok I began to understand the traction control better. If the vehicle gets into a drifting position it will control the brake and cut power to get you into a straight line (it works more like a anti-skid control). Luckily you can switch it off and we had some fun.
    The last big challenge was the long dune at the end of the route. Sometimes only a few vehicles are able to get up there, depending on the conditions. Being the only Amarok there the pressure was on. On my first try I selected 4x4 high range, no traction control and 2nd gear. Made it near to the top, went into 1st gear, but dug myself in. My second attempt was a bit different, 4x4 low range 3rd gear no traction control (and I deflated the tyres to 0.8bar). Not knowing the Amarok that well, I soon realized 3rd gear was the wrong option and more momentum was needed. After waiting for my turn to go again, I tried 4th gear low range and flat out. Just before I got to the loose thick sand at the top I flicked it into 3rd and there was enough momentum and power to get me up the dune. Happy with the performance I knew the mistakes I made was driver error and not vehicle error. After this I drove the dune route 2 more times on different days and made it up every dune.
    The last little test we had for the Amarok was the famous “off road ABS”. We did 2 runs at 100km/h (GPS speed). First run normal on road ABS and secondly run off road ABS. The off road ABS had stopped the wolf about 12m quicker than the normal ABS.
    The Amarok really impressed. The fact that this has a 2.0L engine, and comes from the German family doesn’t mean it’s a soft roader, not even close. I had no mechanical problems or any other for that matter and it had 13 000km on the clock when I gave it back.
    Thanks to VW South Africa for the opportunity. I will definitely consider the Amarok when I’m in the market for a new Bakkie.
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    Last edited by Trebla; 2011/01/15 at 12:02 PM.

  2. #2
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    Default

    Very nice feedback.Do you believe a bigger engine would improve the performance or does the 2L have enough in it.

  3. #3
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    Default

    Well written report, Trebla. How sure are you the weight mentioned (2850 kg empty) is correct ? That is nearly a ton more than my GC !

  4. #4
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by ThysleRoux View Post
    Well written report, Trebla. How sure are you the weight mentioned (2850 kg empty) is correct ? That is nearly a ton more than my GC !
    Dit klink ook vir my of daardie twee voor die ag n een moes wees.
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  5. #5
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    Default

    Thanks for the nice report. Good to hear about actual usage over a fair distance!
    Toyota Prado 3.0


  6. #6
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    Default

    Sorry guys got my figures mixed up...
    The GVM is 2850kg and the vehicle it self is 1883kg (highline 4x4 bi-tdi)

    Mr. G, yes a 3.0 V6 TDi would be a nice engine and will improve the preformance and the price. For my needs the 2L is more than enough for now.

  7. #7
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    Default Spirit of Africa Amarok

    Looks like you drove one of the SOA vehicles. The tyre size is 265/65R17, not 265/75/R17. The Goodyear Wrangler AT/SA was used in the competition.

    The std vehicle has 245/65R17 and thus is a hec of a lot lower than the ground clearance you measured.

    Most of the "traction control" you speak of is in fact the stability control system working to keep you in a straight line and a unique feature to Amarok at the time of its launch.

    Traction control uses the brakes to slow a spinning wheel across an axle and transfer the torque to the other wheel which has more traction.

  8. #8
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    Default

    Since I'm quite a big VW fan (all my cars have been VWs and 4x4s Landies) I was very interested in the Amarok. The single drawback which pushed me away was the small engine with power pushed up with 2 turbos. Fair enough, it would do the trick for the maintenance period (3 years?), but after that I wouldn't want one as its got the potential to cost you and arm and a leg.

    If only they had a option for a thorough 3l odd TD engine...
    Disclaimer - All my posts on this forum is without prejudice, is based on my fair assumptions or perceptions, might not be factually correct, is in no way intended to cause harm to anyone and is acted upon at your own discretion.

  9. #9
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    Default

    Took the baseline (90kw) for a test drive yesterday. Must say, I was very impressed with the vehicle. The 90kw baseline version surprised me - it certainly did not feel underpowered.

    The ride was very good and obviously the finish was of a very high standard - I am a Toyota fan, but if I was in the market for a bakkie, this would be near the top of my list.... The only negative that I could see was the lack of ground clearance - although, I am sure that an aftermarket suspension and higher profile tyres would sort that out.
    Kimball R. Pitcher

    Head - 2007 Toyota Fortuner, OME, extra tank, roof rack, bent running boards
    Heart - SFA hilux dcab


  10. #10
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    Vw services is amazing thanks for the support
    Last edited by deanpuntis; 2011/03/04 at 10:01 AM. Reason: PROBLEM SORTED OUT

  11. #11
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    I hope not. What does VW say about this?

  12. #12
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    Some people complains about a vibration from the clutch. Think it might be related?

  13. #13
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    Vw services is amazing thanks for the support
    Last edited by deanpuntis; 2011/03/04 at 10:04 AM. Reason: PROBLEM SORTED AND SERVICE AMAZING

  14. #14
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    Default

    I hope that its get sorted for you. Keep us up to date. Otherwise what is you experience with the vehicle?

  15. #15
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    In this month's Leisure Wheels they did a loaded and tow test on the Amarok vs. a Hilux.

    I'm by no means a Toyota fanatic but the Amarok came up seriously short in nearly all departments...even empty.

  16. #16
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    Cause the guys used the wrong gears. Can't use the same gears as in the Hilux...

  17. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bogaards View Post
    Cause the guys used the wrong gears. Can't use the same gears as in the Hilux...
    Ditto

    Ryno Black
    Amarok V6

  18. #18
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    Sorry VW boys, but the amarok came seriously second in the Leisure Wheels test, even used more fuel when towing.

  19. #19
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    OK, so there might be one or two DC's that are faster and more economical when towing (because the driver does not know how to use the Amarok box ) but is that the only measurement. The Amaroks does come short on a few things compared to some others but it is also better - sometimes a lot better - than others in other areas. As a complete package there is no competition, not at the same price and for the time being, anyway.
    Last edited by Vossie; 2011/03/02 at 02:41 PM.
    Bite off more than you can chew - then chew!

  20. #20
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    If only they had a option for a thorough 3l odd TD engine...[/QUOTE]
    spoke to VW pinetown about the auto amarok and was told the 3L with DSG box coming end of next year. they are going to lose a lot of sales to ford and toyota if that is true.

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