Volkswagen Amarok Test drive is a single cabin since 2011
Brutal pickup Volkswagen Amarok
A brutal pickup with a panel of instruments from micro -lines, passenger control and artificial intelligence is what VW Amarok is. And here is the impressions of the first test of the model held in Patagonia ...
Let the PR managers from Wolfsburg sing as many songs about the fact that the word Amarok means in the language of the Innuites wolf. Who knows the language of this northern people, who will check? I think that this is actually translated as a sled German shepherd. Because if you can imagine a dog running into the harness of this breed, it will turn out to Amarok: obedient, trained, correct.
Of course, this is a completely new platform that has almost nothing to do with VW Touareg. In general, the classic of picapo construction. The frame design, an independent front suspension, an uncertain rear bridge on low -leaved springs, lowering gear, diesel engine. Diesel is ultra -modern two liters of working volume, two turbines and torque 400 nm. The gearbox is a mechanical six -speed, and machine guns are not yet expected.
It seems that the instrument panel is from Polo, and the plastics are hard, but still soundly
Of course five -seater
Honestly, I am grateful to the VW concern for not prone to experiments. Sitting at Amarok at the airport of San-Carlos de Bariloche (Argentina), I already seemed to me already knew how everything would be. A comfortable chair tightly wrapping you up. Normal off -road landing. Impeccable ergonomics. Classic, without unnecessary pathos, interior design seems to be a Polo instrument panel, and the central console from Golf Plus. Soft clock-tuk plastic. Stop, why tuk-tuk? ESKUZO MOA, seniors, they only look soft. Well, okay, we will survive. In the width, the salon is spacious, and on the second row the place more than enough will fit there and will be able to go without the help of non -normative vocabulary three to the best of well -fed men. This is very important because most pickups for the Russian market are only conditionally five -seater.
So, what's in our back? There is the embodiment of the philosophy of the square-pectesh-gut. In theory, even an ATV will fit, and in practice, the organizers threw the European wations in our backpack, it enters it just like a cartridge into a clip. The distance between the wheel arches is 1222 mm, and the length and width of the pallets are 1200x1800 mm. Of course, our Palet was nothing more than ballast. The Germans honestly admitted that its mass is 160 kilograms. A cunning move designed to improve the running qualities of the car. However, it is curious if this weight will feel a two -liter turbo engine? Looking ahead, I will say: almost no. And what is it for a pickup with a carrying capacity of 1000 kilograms?
In the back of either three full -fledged places, or a luggage compartment, or both
Ascetic appetite
The engine with the Common Rail power system and two turbines are surprisingly quiet for diesel. Neither plating nor vibrations. Such intelligence was found to me before but mainly on expensive models. However, from the point of view of Volkswagen, the main advantage of this engine is a record fuel economy. So I will immediately answer the question?: On mountain roads (250 km) and a highway (100 km) with two people inside and the notorious cargo in the body, the consumption was 9.8 liters per 100 kilometers (on an on -board computer). The operating range of the engine is 15002000 rpm. It is on him that the maximum torque has to. However, Amarok pulls uphill and from 1200 rpm. But to twist the motor, on the contrary, is useless.
There are three at the expense
What I did not like right away was a long adhesion pedal. And also how the third gear turns on somehow fuzzy, loosely. You stick it, but no pleasure. Although the third one could hardly turn it off, it was suitable for climbs and for descents. Moreover, it is better to forget anything about the braking engine on the new pickup Volkswagen. Maybe this is because the motor is though strong, but light?
Braking in off-rock mode: ABS tries to intervene less
Comfortable cruising speed on the track 120 kilometers per hour. You can, of course, both 160 and 170, but then the shooter of the pleasure of pleasure begins to lean left. It would be ridiculous to talk about this in general and everything is clear, this is a pickup, if not for the passenger behavior of our truck. He holds the trajectory very clearly on both the line and on the arc. Do not roll, does not swing, does not peck with his nose. He would have a steering a little more than he, and he could become a rather hot little thing. But this is so, figuratively, of course, Amarok, by definition, does not need sharpness. It’s just in general in running qualities that it is very close to modern universal SUVs to the fact that with the supporting body and independent suspension of all the wheels.
Springs rule
For an off -road plot, the organizers allocated separate cars without ballast. However, to a specially constructed landfill, they still had to get on a non -lane ground road. So, if there was a suspension of the year, I would demand to hand it to the creators of the VW Amarok. A small comb, large pits and bugrs are worked out clearly, without breakdowns, vertical swing and shaking. A German consultant was planted to us, so on the way there I was sitting behind, and a colleague on the way back. The Opinion Opinion even with an empty body on the second row can live. Those who traveled on other pickups by a passenger (or listened to their moans) will understand what we were talking about. In a word, the suspension left a great impression, it is not too hard, but impenetrable. The best that I came across on pickups.
The distance between the arches of 1222 mm allows you to load the European ward
Pay attention to the bumper: here they clearly worked on an increase in the angle of entry
Buttons control
On the off room, Amarok frankly disappointed me. I felt like a child from whom my parents took my beloved slingshot. I was waiting for adrenaline and drive. And from whom else to expect them, if not from a brutal pickup with a road clearance of 265 millimeters? Without false modesty, I was going to show the Germans how to actually go through the crossed terrain. And in the end, it turned out that the girl would cope with this pickup. It is enough to turn on the reduced row (degree of decrease 2.7: 1, idle speed 2 kilometers per hour), block the rear differential (this is, however, the option) and press the Off-Road button. The latter includes assistance programs from the hill and when lifting, as well as off -road anti -lock and anti -circus systems.
After that, you can (and even need) just throw the pedals and work exclusively with the steering wheel. And on the rise too. Mountain cruise control, moreover, if you press the clutch when descending with a fright, nothing will happen, the speed of movement will not change. In a word, Amarok himself climbs 100 percent (45 degrees) slopes and moves away from them, he fights himself with hanging the wheels and decides how it is better to slow down. As for the latter, I will explain: off-road ABS allows the wheels to be blocked a little so that they can heated in front of them a roller from the soil. So the emergency system on the trains poured sand in front of the steam locomotive so that it stops faster. However, as explained to us, off -road ABS is ineffective in snow or ice. And on clay, probably, it is not always good.
Perhaps regular readers remember that actually I have long recognized the benefits of electronic systems. For example, the Land Cruiser Prado 150 and Land Rover Discovery IV are so successfully automated that it remains only to admire. It was just unexpected to meet a kind of artificial intelligence on a pickupa.
Between Mitsu and Nissan
So, all the pros and cons of Volkswagen Amarok are now clear. Everything is clear except the main price. She will be announced no earlier than August, when the pickup is brought to the Moscow car dealership. Its sales in Russia will start in the fall later than in Latin America, where it is collected, but earlier than in Europe. Now it is only known that the model will have three basic configurations, including the simplest, with black bumers and without an electric packet. Interestingly, there will be a modification with a constant all -wheel drive implemented through the Torsen differential.
The permitted depth of the ford is 500 mm. But this, of course, is reinsurance
For Amarok, a lot of accessories of varying degrees of usefulness will be offered. For example, a plastic tab into the cargo compartment is a necessary thing. But without a two -day radio with a touch screen, you can easily do.
It is already obvious that the only competitor of the Volkswagen pickupa in the Russian market Nissan Navara. However, the head of the brand Volkswagen commercial cars Mikhail Semenikhin has already stated that the novelty will cost more than Mitsubishi L200 at a price, but the Nissan Navara is cheaper. So the price list on Amarok will clearly start from 1 million rubles.
Author: Savva Safonov, photo of the author and Volkswagen AG
Source: Magazine 4x4 [April /2010]
