VW's TDV6 diesel Amarok pickup gets overboost oomph

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Matt Wood, Trade Trucks AU  /  November 2, 2016

To be launched later this month, Volkswagen has a new Amarok for the Australian market

Ahead of it’s much anticipated local launch, Volkswagen has revealed that the upcoming Amarok TDV6 diesel ute [i.e. pickup, bakkie] will also feature an over boost function that will see peak power jump from 165kW (221hp) to 180kW (241hp).

Torque will also jump from 550Nm to 580Nm.

Over boost kicks in when the accelerator pedal passes the 70 per cent depression mark in 3^rd or 4^th gear. The extra power is on tap for 10 seconds but can be unleashed again after a period of 5 seconds.

There’s been plenty of buzz around the new Volkswagen dual cab. Nissan previously held the most powerful 4x4 dual cab mantle on the Aussie market with its V6 Navara ST-X 550. However, the launch of the NP300 Navara last year saw the end of the admittedly expensive, yet much admired V6 Nissan.

To date, Volkswagen says that it has fielded 6,000 advance orders for the top of the tree Amarok. Claimed performance times aren’t too shabby either with 0-100km reached in 7.9 seconds.

Until now, the Amarok has relied solely on a 2-litre twin-turbo diesel power plant. The Volkswagen family diesel V6 used in the soon to be launched New Amarok can also be found in Porsche and Audi products as well.

As the dual cab market continues to boom and mature, VW will be one of the first to the table in the premium ute stakes with the covers coming off the Mercedes Benz X-Class last week and the Renault Alaskan pickup also a possibility for Australia.

According to Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles Director Carlos Santos, "The Amarok V6 is not an over-hyped concept or a badge engineering exercise."

"It’s real, it’s almost here and it brings the world’s best V6 turbo diesel, the same unit used by Porsche and Audi in luxury SUVs."

The Amarok TDV6 will be launched locally in late November. Pricing and spec to be announced.

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