VW Amarok 2.3 TSI PanAmericana 4Motion review

These days, the R1-million VW Amarok 2.3 TSI PanAmericana 4Motion bakkie isn’t the only tool in the shed. The million-Rand-bakkie segment has grown crowded these days, and the Amarok no longer gets a free pass for being the only bakkie with comfortable car-like tendencies. So, it’s a genuinely interesting move that VW’s new-generation Amarok is built alongside the Ford Ranger at the Blue Oval’s Silverton plant in Pretoria.

It is an industrial partnership that has bakkie purists on both sides grumbling. But designing and engineering new cars is expensive, and this arrangement does make commercial sense. VW is pouring resources into its electric ID range, while Ford wants to amortise all the investment it has made into it new Ranger and its world-class Silverton facility over the years …

VW AMAROK 2.3 TSI PANAMERICANA 4MOTION

Nevertheless, the VW Amarok 2.3 TSI PanAmericana 4Motion brings the same macho, athletic styling regardless of what’s under the bonnet. There’s a black X grille and black 18-inch alloys wrapped in knobbly all-terrain Goodyear rubber. Not to mention black powder-coated styling bar, side steps, and colour-contrasting mirrors and door handles. It’s a big, wide, deliberately voos-looking thing. And the petrol version wears it just as well as its diesel siblings.

Inside, VW leans into the premium positioning hard. Cricket-leather seat trim, a height and reach-adjustable steering column, a digital instrument cluster. The 12-inch portrait-style touchscreen is built on Ford’s SYNC4 architecture but is restyled with VW’s own interface. There’s an eight-speaker Harman Kardon sound system that impresses with real crispness and power.

SAME ENGINE, DIFFERENT BADGE

Under the bonnet sits the identical 222 kW/452 Nm 2.3-litre turbo petrol four-cylinder we’ve already praised in the Ford Ranger EcoBoost Sport. Start-up is near-silent, throttle response builds smoothly with none of a turbodiesel’s lag-then-shove, and the 10-speed automatic shuffles through gears decisively. Where the Amarok differentiates itself from the R250 000-cheaper Ranger Sport is the drivetrain.

A VW Amarok 2.3 TSI PanAmericana 4Motion comes exclusively with 4Motion selectable four-wheel drive. While the Blue Oval’s fighter is locked to 4×2 only. Claimed zero to 100 km/h comes up in a brisk 7.4 seconds. Initial throttle response can feel a touch surging before the engine finds its stride in higher revs. Officially, it returns 9.6 l/100 km, but driven hard, that climbs past 12.5 l/100 km on average. Just a smidge more than the real-world range we recorded in the two-wheel-drive Ranger (11 l/100 km/h), no doubt due to the weight and extra driven wheels. Ease off and lean into Eco mode and you may see 10 l/100 km with a tailwind, but little less …

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

Off tarmac, the adjustable 4×4 system and knobbly rubber comfortably handles gravel and mud work, backed by a braked towing capacity of 3 500 kg. We didn’t tackle any off-road obstacle driving per say. However, we suspect the VW Amarok 2.3 TSI PanAmericana 4Motion would be pretty rewarding. However, we did note how low riding it is due to its extra side skirts and bumpers. So, we’d arguably feel more comfortable in an equivalent Ranger when the going got 4×4.

Plus, here’s where cross-shopping gets genuinely interesting. A Ford Ranger 2.3 EcoBoost Sport, built on the same exact line, costs R839 600. Opt in for the VW Amarok 2.3 TSI PanAmericana 4Motion and, all of a sudden, you’re paying R1 099 000. So, what does that R259 400 premium actually get you? It’s purely down to the 4Motion and the PanAmericana’s off-road-styled exterior treatment. Then there’s the cricket-leather trim, and Harman Kardon sound system …

THE VERDICT

As a driving experience, the VW Amarok 2.3 TSI PanAmericana 4Motion delivers exactly what we’d hoped. Ranger-grade toughness. A light lathering of refinement. All dressed in a distinctive adventure suit. But here’s the rub, we don’t see how the Amarok presents as a more-premium package than the Ranger. Sorry, they’re a bit like those Jansen twins who play cricket. And as a result we don’t quite see where the extra quarter-million-Rand goes. We once coined the old Amarok the Bugatti of bakkies. But that nickname feels like a stretch these days, given how crowded the segment has become and how unerringly complete the Ranger upon which it is based has become …

THE FIGURES

• VW Amarok 2.3 TSI PanAmericana 4Motion
• Engine: 2.3-litre, turbo petrol 4-cylinder
• Power: 222 kW @ 4 000 rpm, 452 Nm @ 2 250 rpm
• Performance: 0-100 km/h 7.4 sec (claimed)
• Economy: 9.3 l/100 km (claimed) 12.5 l/100 km (tested)
• Transmission: 10-speed auto, selectable 4Motion
• Price: R1 099 000