2023 Volkswagen Amarok V6 | UK Review

The all-new Amarok is here. How does it compare with other farmer-friendly products in the UK?

As some of you will know, I am currently running the PH Fleet Land Rover Defender 110. And the last time I wrote about it, I discussed its usefulness as a farm vehicle; and not metaphorically, by actually using it on a farm. Now, I thought this would make everyone very pleased – seeing a Defender being used as something more than a big, shiny, plaything, trundling about the streets of London.

Well, never assume, because that’ll make an ass out of u and me, as the saying goes. To be fair, one person was pleased. When I got out of the Defender at the supermarket – when it was completely caked in real mud – one gentleman gave me a high five, after saying with some apparent glee, “First time I’ve ever seen one of those new ones looking like it’s being used properly. Well done.”

However, some of the commenters on PH were less enamoured. There’s a lot of talk in the posts about how no proper farmer would use new Defender because, these days, they all have pickups instead. Indeed, ‘ducnick’ laid out some reasons why ‘pickups are better than SUV’s for farm vehicles’. These are as follows:

1. Cheaper
2. Simpler so less to go wrong
3. You do not want to smell a sheep covered in sh*t on the way to market/vet.
4. Easier to hose out the load area.
5. You don’t want rodents crawling out of bags of animal feed into your passenger compartment. Best a totally separate load area. See point 3.

To test this theory – sort of – let’s take a look at the all-new Volkswagen Amarok. There shall be no bias here; I loved the old Amarok and I’ve long awaited its return, which, of course, is now very closely related to the latest Ford Ranger.

So: is it cheaper? Yes. The Amarok range starts at £40,791 (inc. VAT) for the 170hp 2.0-litre. But to get the top engine – the 240hp 3.0-litre V6 diesel we have here – the price shoots to £53,931. We have the top trim, too, which pushes the price even further to £57,591 before any extras. For the record, the entry-level Defender 110 D250 is £63,585. So the Amarok is cheaper, yes, but not by as much as you might think. Of course, there’s no reason why a farmer would choose this top-spec model, but equally, they might do if it were to be their only vehicle – the farm hack and the family transport – and they fancied a few luxuries. Most of which the Defender has at that starting price.

Point number two: is it simpler? Yes. Both have four-wheel drive, obviously, but the Amarok has leaf springs at the back instead of the Defender’s standard coil springs all round, or optional air bags. The Amarok doesn’t have a diff lock, either, unless you go for the PanAmericana model or add one as part of a pricey option pack on lesser versions. That costs up to £3,300 and is available on the 3.0 V6 only. The Defender has more off-road trickery as standard, including a high- and low-range ‘box and, again, you can option diff locks should you wish. The Amarok is simpler, then, but not necessarily in a good way when it comes to serious off-roading.

I’ll deal with points three, four and five together. No, I don’t want to smell of sheep sh*t but, to be fair, most farmers would put sheep in one of Ifor Williams’ products when it’s time to head off to market. I take the point, though, but you’d need to invest in a load cover if you want to stick a sheep in the back of an Amarok. Sheep tend to enjoy committing suicide, and the opportunity to leap into the afterlife from an open flatbed while travelling at speed would, I fear, be too good an opportunity to miss.

The Amarok is definitely easier to hose out, though, and no, I don’t fancy rodents crawling out of bags of animal feed into the passenger compartment. That said, I’ve never had a rodent crawl out of a bag of animal feed into the passenger compartment. Some problems just aren’t problems, particularly if you heed the warning sign of a big hole in your feed bag.

The point of all the above is that there are pros and cons to both cars as farm vehicles and, sometimes, the lines of delineation aren’t as clear-cut as one would imagine. I am also not claiming that the Amarok is the only pick-up on sale. Nor am I claiming it’s the most rugged or the cheapest – the closely-related Ranger, for one, starts at a rather more sensible £33,060. Ford makes a single cab, you see, whereas VW doesn’t.

The other thing to be upfront about is that we didn’t really test the Amarok off-road fully, so I can’t tell you whether it would match a Defender there. Our time with the new car was brief, so we could manage a decent tally of road miles and a bit of gentle stuff off-piste. But assuming that a double-cab pick-up is going to be used as a road car as well, that’s an important part of its job. So what’s it like on the blacktop, then?

In the main, just dandy. I’ve said that JLR’s Ingenium Six is one of the best diesels on the market – and I still believe that to be true – but the V6 in the Amarok isn’t far behind. And it’s way ahead of other pickups for both speed and refinement. Sure, it doesn’t have the same mild-hybrid tech that makes the Defender’s engine shut down and fire up so unobtrusively, but it is a masterpiece of suaveness and torque on the go. The 10-speed auto – once upon a time a confused and jerky little number – has been improved immeasurably, too. It’s still not faultless when it comes to decision-making or slickness, but next to autos in other pickups, it’s jolly good indeed.

Fuel consumption is surprisingly high in the VW. On a run with it in two-wheel drive, the Amarok was averaging around 24mpg. The Defender in the same circumstances tends to get nearer to 30mpg. Bearing in mind that weighs about the same but has two fewer gears and can’t disconnect its front axle, you might’ve expected those results to be reversed.

The Amarok’s a well-sorted pickup dynamically. The brakes are strong but not grabby and the steering is on point. It's a bit slow, true, but only as expected for something that’s a) a commercial vehicle and b) designed to go off-road. And that slowness doesn’t hinder you on the road. Sure, there’s the additional arm twirling to deal with, but it’s accurate and nicely weighted, giving the Amarok a good degree of poise in bends. It has composure, too. Even when there’s no load in the back you can attack the average British B road with more heartiness than you’d expect for something that has a couple of cart springs at the back, because it manages to stay controlled over lumps and bumps. Try to keep up with this thing in your Ssangyong Musso or Toyota Hilux and, I fear, you’ll almost certainly find yourself upside down in a ditch.

It's even quiet inside the double-cab cabin. I’d argue that the suppression of road and wind noise at 70mph is as good as the Defender – and plenty of other large SUVs for that matter – and the lack of suspension noise is almost eery. It doesn’t feel like the development team lacked for engineering budget that’s for sure.

One mild disappointment is the ride. The Amarok might be settled enough to attack country lanes but the ride isn’t calm, which is a shame because that was a plus point of the old model. The old Amarok wasn’t soft and squidgy, I’ll grant you, but it was more cushioning than this one I am sure. On some road surfaces the new car can be a bit wearing, what with all the consistent fidgeting, and then there's its firmness over the bigger callouses in the road. And the effects of those are prolonged by the shimmy along the chassis. To be fair, this top-spec model might not be the comfiest in the range – it's on big 21-inch wheels, when sensible 17s are available lower down the pecking order.

What a top-spec does bring you is a degree of plushness inside. I mean, seriously, just look at those upper surfaces – the dashboard that appears to have been stitched from fine leather, for instance. It hasn’t, but nevertheless, it looks very fancy. And even if the materials beneath become de rigueur hard plastic almost immediately, it’s a pickup. That’s normal. So count the nicer bits as a bonus and also savour the Amarok for being something different: a new VW that feels like it's well put together. That's a rare treat these days.

The driving position is another welcome note. The driver’s seat is comfortable (it lacks shoulder support in bends but felt fine after sitting on it for several hours) and it’s well aligned with the pedals and wheel. The wheel has plenty of adjustment as well, and it feels like there’s a lot of glass around you. By that I mean you can see out easily, which is ideal when this is a big old brute of a thing. The pillars aren’t enormous and having dressing mirrors for door mirrors is no bad thing, either.

Any areas of usability that got my nerves? Yes, two. The touchscreen, for one. It's so huge that it looks completely out of place in a commercial vehicle, but, more tangibly, it’s not well-sited. It would work better being angled towards the driver, and it’s so long that should you need an icon near the bottom of the screen, it’s a case of eyes down (and away from the road) and streeeetch. In fairness, the software is responsive enough, but the number of presses to get where you want – including some needless confirmations screens that'll have you yelling, yes, I do want that to happen you stupid computer, and before I crash would be nice – and you start wondering if the UX team was on strike. And my second issue? That was with the gear selector. There’s no real weight to its gate, making it easy to misselect a gear during a hurried three-point turn.

Ultimately though, it’s an excellent all-round pickup truck. By which I mean something of a workhorse that’s also a good everyday vehicle. The 1.1-tonne payload isn’t the best, but that’s because it’s double-cab only (the single-cab Ranger goes up to 1,358kg), but the good news is that when you're inside it, the double cab is a nice place to be. It'll also tow 3,500kg and, unlike so many pick-up trucks, this is one that works well on the road. Even its annoyances – the silly screen and featherweight gear lever – are small beer compared to living with the truly agricultural nature of some of its rivals. Obviously, the Ranger isn’t included in that criticism and it's cheaper, too, but not by a huge amount if you want a V6, four seats and some kit.

What about the Defender argument? Is a pickup, as represented by the Amarok, as good? Well, as I say, we didn't get to test the two back-to-back off-road, but I'd wager the Defender would be better. In terms of on-road abilities, though, the Land Rover is better in every area: ride, handling, interior quality, useability and cabin space included. So, if you happen to be a farmer and want a diversely capable pickup, you should absolutely consider the Amarok - but for similar money to this one, just remember you could have a Defender. That's what I'd choose. A strange conclusion to a pickup review, then, but it's what you asked for...

SPECIFICATION | 2023 Volkswagen Amarok 3.0 TDI Aventura

Engine: 2,993cc V6, twin-turbocharged
Transmission: 10-speed auto, switchable four-wheel drive
Power (hp): 240
Torque (lb ft): 443
0-62mph: 9.0 seconds
Top speed: 112mph
Weight: 2,313kg
MPG: 28.0
CO2: 265g/km
Price: £57,591 inc. VAT (Price as tested £58,191)

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