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First Drive ,VW Pickup AMAROK is awesome .

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#82 ·
It would be interesting to see the VW tested against other pick ups from a performance/work point of view i.e. off road, towing, loaded.

I do have to agree that a 2.0l pick up sounds lame, but on the otherhand VW have produced IMO some of the best diesel engines. This one is bi-turbo, which sounds interesting, but what effect will the lower displacement have on torque?

Anyway, asides from the figures, i think the VW is a good looking truck, and as mentioned previously, could well 'raise the bar' for other manufacturers :thumbleft:
 
#84 ·
Before i considered swapping my nav for anything i would want to see how it drives with a tonne in the back and 2.5 tone behind, that will tell whether its a good truck or not oh and try a 1 in 4 hill start
The nav can do that fairly well as mine did the other week and didnt feel at all unstable like some of the vans do with a tonne in the back
 
#85 ·
Spi78ke said:
Who really needs permanent 4wd? I adjust my drivingstyle to the weather/road conditions. Off road or on snow, I use 4wd. My brother-in-law drives a Touareg and that thing just eats tires so I don't really see the advantage.
Click to expand...
Sounds like your brother-in-laws toureg has a bad wheel alignment. Fulltime 4wd's are much easier on tyres than 2wd utes.

The advantages.
Better traction all the time. 4wd utes in 2wd get stuck on damp grass.
Better handling.
Better tyre wear.
Less damage on gravel roads, this is very important for work vehicles that spend time off tarmac. 2wd digs up the road surface, selected 4wd digs up the road surface, makes the vehicle skip around and scuffs tyres badly when turning.
Better acceleration.

Case in point a relation of mine farms and leaves his D22 navara in 4wd all the time. It spends it's life on gravel, grass and mud. He's broken several front driveshaft bolts, done the front driveshaft and even broken the drive-flange out of the transferbox. All due to windup of being in selected 4wd with no centre diff.
Realistically his options were:
1. Buy a defender so you have a centre diff.
2. Keep replacing parts.
 
#87 ·
ahtyrrell2 said:
Kiwibacon said:
Realistically his options were:
1. Buy a defender so you have a centre diff.
2. Keep replacing parts.
Click to expand...
Surly he could leave it in 2wd and only use 4wd when necessary i have had mine on some very gravely and wet sites and never actually had to use 4wd
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Farm truck so 4wd is necessary most of the time, In 2wd you cause a lot more damage to your roads and paddocks. A lot of 4wd tractors now have a mode that chops it back into 2wd when you turn past a certain angle, a setup like that would help as it's turnaround causing the problems.
Or, fulltime 4wd.
 
#88 ·
I guess I didn't say it the correct way. What I meant to say was: How many of us really need full time 4wd. 80 or 90% of all trucks spend most of their life on paved roads. Yes, there will be trucks that need it because they are off road all the time but it will be a minority. I don't see full time 4wd as an important selling point for the pick up truck market. Traction and handling will not be a problem if you drive the truck according to its capabilities. Not saying you don't mate but I mean it has never been a (big) problem for me. :whistle: I keep in mind it's a rear wheel drive truck and go from there. Sure most cars go faster round the corner but I can pull a loaded trailer out of a field. :)

Not really convinced on the tyre wear. I know a neighbour with a Touareg and he goes through tires fast to. Well they both drive a little more aggressive than me so maybe that's the problem. :D More traction, better handling -> go faster -> harder on the tires.

I'm a Defender fan myself but Land Rovers have their fair bit of issues to. :roll:
 
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#90 ·
Spi78ke said:
Not really convinced on the tyre wear. I know a neighbour with a Touareg and he goes through tires fast to. Well they both drive a little more aggressive than me so maybe that's the problem. :D More traction, better handling -> go faster -> harder on the tires.
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Touregs, Q7's, Disco's all eat tyres for fun if you drive them hard ~ believe me :roll:
 
#91 ·
landmannnn said:
And the vw isn't full time 4x4 anyway. It has a viscous coupling and no low ratio, just like golf 4 motion and the freelander etc.
Click to expand...
It has low ratio, it's not a haldex system like the fwd golf/freelanders either.

Viscous couplings haven't been used in anything for a long time. My 2000 Nissan work car is the system you describe, but it's 11 years old, rare and purely mechanical. All the fwd based all-wheel-drive vehicles I've checked out (freeland, golf, nissan attessa etc) use an electronic controlled clutch like the Haldex. Vehicles with longitudinal layout (including VAG) have a real full-time 4wd setup with a centre diff.
 
#92 ·
Just had a test drive in the new VW, pretty good, power wise I don't think there's a great deal of difference to the Nav but a hell of alot smoother.
The Amarok is massive and its a nice place to be.
The down side is that he's sold his allocation and can't even order anymore till January!



Brookester
 
Discussion starter · #93 ·
brookester said:
Just had a test drive in the new VW, pretty good, power wise I don't think there's a great deal of difference to the Nav but a hell of alot smoother.
The Amarok is massive and its a nice place to be.
The down side is that he's sold his allocation and can't even order anymore till January!



Brookester
Click to expand...
Nice truck ent they mate :thumbleft:
I was told from the dealer to that they couldn't get any for 6 months :(
 
#94 ·
they not for me two of my friends has them ! 2ltr just isnt big enough ! they may look nice wen they put 22s on them but wheel arches are minging like just to big and square ! now if they bring out a R32 version with some nice bling i may take one for a test drive but it will over priced and over rated just like any other car in vw range !
 
Discussion starter · #97 ·
paul81272 said:
2.5 may not be perfect but a 2.0L is a real step in the wrong direction, less power and larger, not a good combination. 2.5L 25% more cc and roughly 20% more power
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Paul your dissing the VW truck before you have even had chance to drive one ...now whos being contentious ? :)
In the currant economic climate there has become a huge market for even better economy.thats why i believe that many more manufacturers are gonna be copying vw soon.
Like most that have drove both trucks has said on here,although the vw is only a 2.0 and it is down just 28 bhp on the 2.5 nav but with its twin turbos the vw still feels just as fast/quick as the Nissan and with a far better MPG ....couple that with the more modern looks of the vw ...in comparison the Nissan looks accent with its dated 6 yr old looks,IMO Nissan will up its game and wont be to far away with that new shape Nav, 2012 i hear for the new shape Nissan :cheers2:
 
#98 ·
as already mentioned in this thread I drove one earlier this year in Germany, it was not the top of the range model so I cannot talk too readily about the interior but I was not enthused by the vehicle in any way it felt underpowered and was not pretty at all. The VW achieves 163bhp utilising both turbo's so the VW engine should not be talked up as if the additional turbo charger is some kind of additional power, it uses the bi-turbo technology so that at low rpm you can achieve decent mpg and when you have the pedal to the metal it can produce good power. In my opinion the 2.5 Nav also feels a little underpowered and a 3.0 – 4.0 litre 6-8 cylinders would feel much more comfortable in a vehicle of this size and would probably produce similar mpg overall as working the tits off of a small engine with a big boost is not good, ever.

Regarding economy, anyone that buys a pickup is not expecting super mpg. I average 28-30mpg and get 34mpg on a motorway run out of my 3.0L V6, even when towing I get around 25 mpg and I don’t suppose the VW will deliver anything better than that (not what VW claim, what is actually achievable under normal conditions).
20-40% of my driving is done pulling a trailer depending on my working week and my mpg average even including the towing is 25-30mpg. I would not achieve that in the VW as I would be working the **** off the engine to keep the momentum.
 
#99 ·
I am not purely anti-VW or so pro Nav that I am blind to other pickup trucks, I just think that a 2.0L diesel producing 163bhp is under powered, put a proper lump in it like a nice W12 and they will have a new customer in me.
 
#100 ·
In my opinion (therefore the correct opinion) Nissan needs someone to step up because they have become so complacent, CS is a joke, restricting options is unreasonable when we are paying good money and without competition non of these things will improve.

As for the Amorak I like the cab layout, they have made it feel more spacious by deepening the windows, the cab is wider, like hill decent, 4 x 4 options, increased ground clearance, under body protection and tub liner. Not a good idea to make small engines work hard or put controls on horizontal surfaces as they can be engaged accidentally.

Would like to see the Nav V6 with twin lp turbo's, dif lock and option for full time 4 x 4.

Nissan Australia have an extensive factory/dealer accessory range for the Nav why can't we have this in Europe.
 
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