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UK-roads testing reveals that mid-range equipment level, and a mid-level engine, are the wisest picks for Volkswagen’s well-mannered new pickup.

There is about £2500 between the list price of this mid-range four-cylinder diesel example of the new Volkswagen Amarok and the equivalent Ford Ranger with which it shares so much. Both pick-ups are arriving in UK showrooms at roughly the same time, are built in the same South African factory and have the same ladder-frame chassis, suspension and powertrain hardware.

However, while Ford continues to bowl at the volume pick-up market with the Ranger, its new commercial vehicle bedfellow VW is sticking with the Amarok’s familiar ‘lifestyle pick-up’ premium positioning. And, on the evidence of our first UK drive, the VW may just about carry off that billing.

Volkswagen Amarok 2023 UK first drive

The funny thing is, the Amarok has a broader derivative range now than it did in first-generation form. It’s offered as a double-cab only, but you can have one with a manual transmission and a 168bhp 2.0-litre diesel if you like for less than £35k before VAT. Or you can go the whole singing-and-dancing warthog on a £58k Aventura V6 TDI. But even if you only get as far up the range as a mid-level, 202bhp 2.0-litre twin-turbo diesel Amarok Style, you’ll still end up with a very pleasant and well-mannered pick-up.

The double-cab interior provides decent space for adults in both rows (VW says leg room has grown significantly with the new-gen model’s longer wheelbase) and up front the Amarok Style’s electrically adjustable seats offer good comfort and a fine driving position.

The cabin includes recognisable elements from both Ford’s parts bin (gear selector, door switches, indicator stalks) and Volkswagen’s (steering wheel), but they come together fine. The ambience is quite upmarket by pick-up standards. There’s some material variety and richness to it – a faux-leather dashtop and some decorative trim – although elsewhere there are a few hard and shiny mouldings.

Volkswagen Amarok 2023 UK first drive

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The Amarok uses a lightly reskinned version of Ford’s Sync 4 infotainment system and it works respectably well, although it could still use a physical cursor scroller as an alternative to touchscreen operation. The digital instruments are rendered very clearly, and the steering wheel controls for the trip computer menus are proper buttons rather than touch-sensitive ones, which will suit glove wearers.

The 2.0-litre diesel engine isn’t as quiet or smooth as the V6, but it’s still impressively mechanically refined by pick-up standards. It idles quietly, has only a small amount of a distant clatter under load, and when revving, it’s much better isolated than the bigger four-pot of a Toyota Hilux, for example.

Volkswagen Amarok 2023 UK first drive

The 10-speed automatic gearbox has some of the feel, on the road, of a continuously variable transmission – that gentle initial engagement (useful when you’re carrying heavy loads, towing or driving off road) and the tendency only to rev 500rpm or so between upshifts when accelerating on part throttle. It’s smooth, though, and gives the Amarok all the on-road performance that a vehicle of this size and brief really needs.

For ride comfort and handling, since a mid-spec Amarok Style runs on 18in wheels with chunky-sidewalled ‘mud and sand’ tyres, it deals with UK country roads reasonably well – better, certainly, than the range-topping Aventura V6 TDI we tried (which has heavier 21s and lower-profile rubber). The ride is initially firmer and slightly fussier than that of most pick-ups, but its damping and isolation are better. Body control is quite good by class standards too.

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If you want a new flatbed with some passenger car refinement and sophistication, the new Amarok’s raised game ought to put it in strong contention, but you would be wise to avoid the priciest engines and trims.

Volkswagen Amarok 2023 UK first drive

PRICES & SPECS

Matt Saunders

Matt Saunders Autocar
Title: Road test editor

As Autocar’s chief car tester and reviewer, it’s Matt’s job to ensure the quality, objectivity, relevance and rigour of the entirety of Autocar’s reviews output, as well contributing a great many detailed road tests, group tests and drive reviews himself.

Matt has been an Autocar staffer since the autumn of 2003, and has been lucky enough to work alongside some of the magazine’s best-known writers and contributors over that time. He served as staff writer, features editor, assistant editor and digital editor, before joining the road test desk in 2011.

Since then he’s driven, measured, lap-timed, figured, and reported on cars as varied as the Bugatti Veyron, Rolls-Royce PhantomTesla RoadsterAriel Hipercar, Tata Nano, McLaren SennaRenault Twizy and Toyota Mirai. Among his wider personal highlights of the job have been covering Sebastien Loeb’s record-breaking run at Pikes Peak in 2013; doing 190mph on derestricted German autobahn in a Brabus Rocket; and driving McLaren’s legendary ‘XP5’ F1 prototype. His own car is a trusty Mazda CX-5.

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dan_gers 30 May 2023

Give it 5 or so years and this will be spewing diesel muck all over our roads for our kids to breathe in. If you HAVE to buy one of these ugly heavy monstrosities for their practical nature; then for ****'s sake get a non-diesel. Oh the torque I hear you say? I need that pulling power and load lugging ability than only diesel provides ? Nah I don't beleive you.....c'mon other propulsion tech's have moved on now. 

LP in Brighton 30 May 2023
I’m not interested in trucks or premium pickups as this one is billed. But if I was, I’d be more concerned about carrying and load capacity, rather than trim quality and handling prowess. There is not one image of the load area which might not exist as far as this “test” is concerned.
Is it still the case that these vehicles are purchased as a tax dodge rather than their actual utility purpose?
jason_recliner 30 May 2023

Looks rubbish with the bland VW applicance front. Mazda made the same mistake with the BT-50. Ford got it right, styling a truck like, you know, a truck.