This is the one we've been waiting to drive! The 2023 Volkswagen Amarok Aventura TSI452 is the turbocharged petrol version of the Amarok that shares a platform with the new Ford Ranger. Paul Maric gets behind the wheel to see if it's worth spending big to get this engine.
Hardness tester, noise and lane keeping results: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/121Auf6HGvaBqRToYcuAz94alin7Sw55SpOPECBDlnKE
More Volkswagen content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/volkswagen
More Volkswagen Amarok content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/volkswagen/amarok
Skip Ahead:
Intro: 00:00
Exterior 01:02
Interior 04:04
On the Road 06:50
Performance 13:39
Verdict 17:16
We review every new car on the market, bust car myths, cover the latest car tech and answer your burning questions.
Whether you need new car advice, purchase validation or simply love learning more about new cars and technology, we are your car experts.
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#vw #amarok #review
Hardness tester, noise and lane keeping results: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/121Auf6HGvaBqRToYcuAz94alin7Sw55SpOPECBDlnKE
More Volkswagen content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/volkswagen
More Volkswagen Amarok content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/volkswagen/amarok
Skip Ahead:
Intro: 00:00
Exterior 01:02
Interior 04:04
On the Road 06:50
Performance 13:39
Verdict 17:16
We review every new car on the market, bust car myths, cover the latest car tech and answer your burning questions.
Whether you need new car advice, purchase validation or simply love learning more about new cars and technology, we are your car experts.
Subscribe to Car Expert: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7DvMhvy3H7ntEgn9n3xQcQ?sub_confirmation=1
You'll find us dropping new video content three times a week. If you'd like to ask a question about one of our videos, simply leave us a comment. If you'd like to give us any feedback on our content, feel free to email us, or alternatively, hit us up on social media.
Finally, we want this channel to grow with your support and feedback. If there's anything you don't like or would like to see us change, we'd love to hear from you!
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#vw #amarok #review
Category
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MotorTranscript
00:00 G'day, I'm Paul. So, Volkswagen Amarok. We have driven this, we've talked about it, but
00:06 this one I've been excited for because this is called the TSI 452, and that means it has
00:12 a turbocharged petrol engine under the bonnet here. So I'm really excited to drive this
00:16 to see what it's like. This is kind of going to be a condensed review. We're going to focus
00:20 more about the driving because you're going to get all those other highlights in our more
00:24 detailed Aventura review, which you can watch by clicking up here. Now this is priced at
00:28 the same price as the V6 diesel, so just under $80,000. This competes with things like the
00:34 Ford Ranger, Toyota Hilux, Isuzu D-Max, stacks of cars in that segment. There is no cheaper
00:40 option available with this engine. This engine is only available in the top spec. Today we're
00:45 going to do a short review on this car, so if you do want to skip ahead to other parts
00:48 of this review, you can use the time codes on the screen, or if you're on YouTube, you
00:51 can scroll down and use the chapters below. And don't forget to subscribe and press the
00:55 bell icon so you can find out every single time we review a silver dual cab ute.
01:00 Okay, so you've got eight colours to choose from. All But White is going to set you back
01:05 $990. So in terms of styling, this four-cylinder version looks identical to the V6. There really
01:12 isn't much of a difference there in terms of diesel versus petrol. But I will call out
01:16 this silver colour actually works much better with this front section. So you remember with
01:20 the blue Aventura that we reviewed, this section stays that colour, and it kind of clashes
01:25 with a brighter body colour, and it's a bit much, and a lot of feedback that we've had
01:28 online is that people don't really love that. Whereas here, it actually works much better.
01:32 You've got that same body colour working all the way down the front there, and it kind
01:36 of looks a bit more resolved. So you have this brushed chrome finish down the front
01:40 there, big Volkswagen logo, full LED headlights. I'll come around to the side here. You've
01:46 got yourself a set of big old 21-inch alloy wheels. We did discover with the diesel Aventura
01:51 that do compromise ride quality a little bit with this size of wheel. So we'll see how
01:56 this feels today. There is a slight weight difference between the V6 and the four-cylinder
02:00 in terms of the engine, but outside of that, they are pretty much the same. I will point
02:04 out as well that we actually have a Panamericana here today that we used for a drag race. If
02:09 you do want to watch that drag race, you can click up here. But I really like the highlights
02:13 of that. They've ditched all the chrome. Even the interior, in my opinion, looks better
02:18 in that spec than this one here. So I guess it is just for your taste, but unfortunately,
02:22 like I said, this engine is only available in Aventura trim.
02:25 And then same story with the rest of it. We've already covered this in our other review,
02:28 but chrome sections up the top and on the door handles. You have these sort of plastic-covered
02:33 side steps, which I'm not a huge fan of. Compass over here with a sailplane. Along the side
02:39 here, you have four motion rear disc brakes. Come around to the back with me. And like
02:43 I said in our last review, I really like the rear here. So LED taillight treatment there.
02:47 I like this blanked out section. Just gives this a really great profile. Another four
02:51 motion badge there. This is where you get the V6 badge in the V6 Aventura. This is badge-less
02:56 if you go for the four-cylinder. And that is about it for the design.
03:00 In terms of your tray, you get a roller cover here. It's an electric roller cover. Got a
03:05 push button off to the side. When you do get the top spec here with that roller cover,
03:09 they change the spray-in bed liner for this drop-in type. I do prefer the spray-in bed
03:13 liner because it is grippier, so when you do load things in, they don't really move
03:16 around too much. You get your load hooks off to the side there. 12-volt outlet over here.
03:21 Terms of your dimensions, it comes in at a load length of just over 1,500 mil, load width
03:26 of just over 1,220 mil, and a payload of around 900 kilograms.
03:31 Another curious thing we noticed as well with the Panamericana we have over there, it actually
03:35 has the ruler here on the tray, whereas this, when you fit it with that roller cover, they
03:39 install this rubber lip as a water seal, and then it covers up the ruler, which is otherwise
03:44 not normally visible there. You also have a torsion bar there as well to make this easier
03:48 to close. Notice that one up there. Bracket-towing capacity at 3.5 tons, even with the four-cylinder
03:55 petrol version, and that is about it on the design front.
03:58 So let me know in the comments section below, what do you think of the Amarok design? Do
04:02 you reckon it looks good? I'm keen for your feedback.
04:04 Okay, so we are inside the Amarok. I'll show you what the key looks like to start with.
04:08 You unlock, lock, and then you press that little button just there two times to open
04:13 the tray. Volkswagen logo on the back. It's a proximity-sensing key, so you can grab the
04:18 door handle. There's a push-button to start over here.
04:21 So I mentioned earlier, we have already reviewed this car in detail, so if you do want to see
04:25 a detailed interior review, have a look at our other Aventura review, which you can find
04:30 by clicking on the link below, but today I'm just going to run you through the highlights.
04:33 I did mention in our last review that it did have a number of weird sort of build quality
04:38 issues. This one I've had a bit more of a poke around at, and it is significantly better,
04:41 so maybe it was just that one car that had the problems. This is still a tiny bit wonky
04:45 there, and this section at the back is loose as well, but it is presented much better in
04:51 terms of the rest of it, which is great news.
04:53 So central to the cabin is a big 12-inch display, which comes with Apple CarPlay, wireless,
04:58 Android Auto. You don't have any phone connectivity in terms of remote phone connectivity like
05:02 you do with the Ranger, so hopefully that will come eventually once Volkswagen figures
05:06 that out, but you get these highlights up along the dashboard here that gives it a bit
05:10 of a visual differentiation. I mentioned before with the Panamericana, I really actually like
05:14 what they've done with the treatment on the doors. It's got like a bit of a, like a, I
05:19 don't know, this is probably bad to say, but like an animal hide style finish, and I think
05:23 it just is visually a much better looking interior than this. I think they're trying
05:28 to go sort of high-end and premium with this, but I think the Panamericana looks just slightly
05:32 better inside the cabin.
05:33 I do like this ahead of the driver, though, big screen there that gives you an idea of
05:38 what you're missing out on in the Ranger range, because you can only get that on the Platinum,
05:42 it's not available in any other specs. Outside of that, I did complain as well about these
05:46 cup holders. I drove this car in this morning and I found the exact same thing again when
05:51 getting the coffee out of it. It's just really hard to get, because they don't have cup holders
05:55 inside the dash panels there like they do on the Ranger, so it's just really hard to
05:59 get this, because also on the Ranger the cup holders are here, but easy to get to here,
06:04 it's sort of a bit convoluted and complex.
06:07 On the storage front, you have okay storage, so phone storage down there underneath your
06:13 integrated brake controller, bottle storage here, centre console here, two glove boxes
06:18 over here as well, sunglasses holder up the top there and a USB outlet up the top for
06:23 connecting a dash cam as well.
06:25 In terms of the second row, plenty of room in there for adults. It can get a little cramped
06:30 if your driver has their seat all the way back, but you do get crutch comforts like
06:33 centre armrest with cup holders. Underneath the seat as well you have a little bit of
06:38 storage there too, and then behind the seat you have a big subwoofer there for the Harman
06:42 Kardon branded sound system, but I reckon it's time to go for a drive. I really want
06:46 to see what this engine is like at our track.
06:49 Okay, so we have hit the road in the four-cylinder Amarok. So straight away, the noise sounds
06:58 very different. Not that the diesel engine is all that loud, but immediately you can
07:03 tell that there's a difference. You also notice a difference at low speed when you
07:06 take off. It is so responsive. Like the diesel can be a little laggy, especially that V6,
07:12 but here you just press the throttle and away it goes, and that's before the turbo's
07:16 even spooled. So really it's quite encouraging that it gets along and moves so quickly off
07:22 the line.
07:23 So it is basically an engine that shares parts with the Ford Mustang, the Ford Focus RS.
07:31 So it's a 2.3 litre turbocharged petrol engine, four-cylinder, 222 kilowatts of power, 452
07:40 newton metres of torque, and that's all mated to a 10-speed automatic transmission.
07:46 Now what does it all feel like behind the wheel when you start getting stuck into it?
07:50 So I'm just going to roll onto the throttle here gently, so I can feel that turbo spooling
07:55 there, pushing us in the back, and what if we actually give it a decent stab? Yeah, nice,
08:01 that sort of really pushes you in the back nicely.
08:04 The sound isn't amazing when you get up it, it sort of just sounds, it's a bit like a
08:09 sewing machine really, it doesn't really have much of a noise to it. But, I don't know,
08:14 my thought is that you could probably go to town on an exhaust and some performance mods
08:19 for this, given the similarities with other Ford engines and the performance mod people
08:23 have done to those. So, excited to see what some tuners come up with when it comes to
08:27 getting a little bit more oomph out of this package.
08:31 If you are watching this from overseas, the Ranger in the States has always been offered
08:35 with the turbocharged petrol engines. This is the first time we've had a chance to sample
08:38 it in Australia. It really just boggles the mind why they didn't offer this earlier, because
08:42 it is just a really nice engine behind the wheel.
08:45 So Volkswagen claims around 10 litres per 100 k's, but we're currently sitting on 15.
08:50 It is worth pointing out that we filmed a drag race today, so that includes the drag
08:55 race driving, so it's not really an accurate figure, but prior to getting here today, that
08:59 figure was sitting around the 9 litres per 100 k mark, and that was predominantly highway
09:05 driving in the city, it was closer to 11. So I think those figures are okay, and it's
09:09 about what you'd expect from a turbo petrol engine in a vehicle this size.
09:15 Okay, let's chat body control. We've got our sine waves coming up. Jack the speed up to
09:21 130. When we were here last time in the V6, it just left the ground at 130, which indicated
09:27 to me that body control wasn't fantastic, especially at that upper end, and especially
09:32 when you consider that the Ranger doesn't experience the same kind of thing. So, get
09:37 it up to 130 here, here come our sine waves now.
09:41 Yeah, same thing again, the wheels are just leaving the ground there, so it just shows
09:48 you that with this 21 inch wheel, they've had to really compromise a little bit to get
09:53 ride comfort in, and I think that has come at the cost of body control at that top end
09:57 of suspension travel.
09:59 Okay, bumpy road time. This is the worst road in Australia. We do this at 90 k's an hour,
10:06 just to see what the ride quality is like if you find yourself on a corrugated stretch
10:10 of road. It's pretty bouncy there with that ride. The firmness they've dialled into it
10:18 means that you do notice it. Here comes our condensed sine wave.
10:26 That was our light that was making all that noise, and then switched off. But yeah, look,
10:31 this is a proper shake test of the suspension, and look, it is firm, but it's actually not
10:37 as firm as I thought it was going to be with this size of wheel. So yeah, look, it is firm,
10:43 but not the end of the world.
10:44 Okay, let's go for a bit of a sportier drive. When you press the drive mode button, there
10:48 is no sport mode. There's also no paddle shifters, you can only shift gears using the buttons
10:52 here on the gear stick, which I don't love, but let's see what it's like on a lap about
10:58 track. I've left it in four wheel drive automatic, so we have maximum traction.
11:03 That mid-range is fantastic, and it just stays on for such a long time as well. When you're
11:15 really up at it, it sort of keeps going around. Where the diesel runs out of puff and tries
11:19 to grab the next gear, this is still very eager to keep going, and I guess it's the
11:24 characteristic of a turbo petrol engine, but it makes this incredibly sporty. I mean, we
11:29 are absolutely flying around here at the moment, and this really is unexpected and not something
11:37 that we've had in any other Ranger models. This is really just holding on really nicely,
11:43 and with that engine, it's just providing a stack of torque that's ready to go. It works
11:48 really well with this gearbox too.
11:50 Here comes the back straight roll onto that. It is still picking up pace. Jeez, very impressed
12:01 with that. This is like a sports car. This is ridiculous. So, yeah, I mean, I would just
12:08 love to see what someone could come up with if they just went to town on tuning this,
12:12 pop some sticky tyres on it as well. This is a ripper of an engine and something that
12:17 we haven't seen in a ute like this before. So, yeah, hat off to the Ford/Volkswagen team
12:23 for putting this together, because it feels fantastic behind the wheel and is really fun
12:28 and engaging to drive as well, certainly more so than the rest of the diesel products.
12:35 Let's talk road noise. Look, it is a little noisy inside the cabin, and I think that does
12:39 come down to this being on 21s. It means that you are getting a little bit of intrusion
12:43 here, especially on course-shift country roads. It's not terrible, but it is just noticeable
12:48 when you are driving on those. I'll be keen to see how we go with other variants of Amarok
12:53 that don't have the 21s on them and whether they perform a little bit better there in
12:56 terms of noise that comes into the cabin.
12:59 Just in terms of your drive modes, so you run this in two-wheel drive high range predominantly.
13:04 You can then run it in four-wheel drive automatic, which means it can send torque to the front
13:08 and rear axle, regardless of the surface you're on. You don't need to be on an unsealed surface.
13:13 You then have four-wheel drive high range and four-wheel drive low range as well. You
13:16 have a rear diff lock that works in two-wheel drive, plus a hill descent control as well.
13:20 Two-wheel drive high range uses the least amount of fuel, so it is worth keeping that
13:23 in mind. That is how you're going to keep your fuel level, fuel consumption much lower.
13:27 Now, just on visibility, I can see clearly down the front of the car there. The wing
13:31 mirrors are huge, so you can see clearly down the side. Blind spot monitors are built into
13:35 there, and then that reverse camera picks up everything else outside of that.
13:39 Okay, it's time to do a little bit of performance testing. I'm really curious to see how
13:42 quickly the four-cylinder Amarok will actually blast through to our 120 kph marker, so we
13:50 can compare it to the V6 diesel. So, I'm going to try this in two-wheel drive high range
13:54 first, and then we'll try it in four-wheel drive automatic. I'll turn traction control
13:59 off. There is no sport mode, though, which I find bizarre. Surely with this engine, they
14:03 could have fitted a sport mode, but anyway. So, here we go. Dial up a few revs. Nice and
14:10 strong off the line. That is nice and quick. All right, so 100, and there's 120. So, let's
14:21 pull up and have a little look here at our numbers, but it felt really strong there off
14:26 the line and then through to 120 as well. So, okie dokie. So, that was 0 to 100 in 7.45
14:36 seconds. That's really impressive. And then 80 to 120 in 4.73 seconds as well. So, that's
14:43 actually a really decent number too. So, let's go back and try that again in four-wheel
14:46 drive automatic, see if it's any quicker. Okay, so four-wheel drive automatic this time.
14:53 Line up here. I'll slot this over to 4A. I'll leave traction control off for the moment.
14:59 Dial up a few revs and see if it's any faster. Here we go.
15:06 That's a little stronger off the line. All right, 100, and there's 120. So,
15:16 let's have a look at how that went in comparison. It did feel slightly quicker off the line
15:22 there, but it didn't really struggle with traction in two-wheel drive either. So, let's
15:27 see if it is any better. So, 0 to 100 in 7.46 seconds. So, it was 0.01 of a second slower.
15:35 That's so interesting. I'll try it once more just to be on the safe side, but
15:41 yeah, I'll just turn around and just give it a crack here,
15:44 we'll just see if it makes any difference. But, all right, here we go.
15:48 That's so interesting. Only marginally slower.
16:03 All right, there's 120 there. Let's come up to a stop.
16:06 Let's look at how that went in terms of the number. So, that time around 7.65. So, there you go.
16:14 The fastest way to get this from 0 to 100 is actually in two-wheel drive high range. So,
16:19 quite fascinating. I'm just interested by that. There you go.
16:22 Okay, so deceleration, 100 to 0. Let's see if this performs better than the last
16:29 V6 diesel we tested. So, 100 marker.
16:34 So, 100 to 0 came in at 3.02 seconds at 42.84 metres. So, yeah, if you do want to see how this
16:48 compares to other vehicles we've tested before, have a look at the link in the description below,
16:53 and we've got comparisons there to every other car we've tested from 100 to 0 here.
16:57 And now, our reverse acceleration test. I wonder if this is any faster than V6.
17:03 A little slip off the line there. 49, 50 kilometres an hour.
17:10 Now, this is what I'm talking about. That engine is sensational. And,
17:21 I don't know, the other Aventura didn't really make sense to me in terms of price. It was
17:25 80 grand when the equivalent Ranger was significantly cheaper. This, on the other hand,
17:29 gives you a unique proposition, and I think if you do want something super sporty, there's tuning
17:34 potential in there as well. It is so much fun to drive, and it's just an experience you don't get
17:39 in other diesel utes. And it means you don't have to buy a Raptor with the big wheels and all that
17:43 sort of stuff. You can still actually use this as a work vehicle. So, yeah, I'm keen to actually put
17:47 this through its paces a little bit more in terms of towing and a bit of off-roading as well. So,
17:52 watch this space. Let me know in the comments section below, what do you reckon about this?
17:56 Do you reckon the petrol is the sweet spot in the Amarok range? I'm keen for your feedback. If you
18:01 did enjoy this video, please make sure you like it and you share it with your mates. And if you
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18:10 drive safely.