Volkswagen Amarok TDi 4x2
How many of the okes actually go off road? The manne love their 4x4, but let's face it, the biggest challenges as we all know are the odd gravel road on the way to the farm, the odd manicured game reserve middle mannetjie and the kerb at the local school/shopping centre/rugby game. So why the proliferation of 4x4's? Looks. To be a real Boet you need some macho credential. That beer boep and sagging muscle tone isn't providing it and you already sport a diving watch. So street cred comes from the car.
No point really in paying for a four wheel drive drivetrain with its added expense at purchase time, the increased maintenance and complexity, and ultimately thus, the increased likelihood of additional repairs and breakdowns. Not if you aren't going to ever use it. On the other hand, if Van Zyl's pass is on your bucket list, so too is a heavy duty four wheel drive, one that you don't mind bending a little, never mind scratching the paintwork.
At last the manufacturers have had this realization dawn on them and we are seeing 4x2 versions of their big brothers. From the outside, identical, with the same or similar ground-clearance, thus the same butch stance. Inside the same, minus the transfer box lever or dial. Benefits? Besides the aforementioned costs, the lighter front axle makes it easier to design a more effective front suspension, the reduced mass has its own benefit on ride, performance, comfort and fuel consumption. No brainer really for most of us.
The VW is a well-built machine. It feels together. After some extensive badly rutted gravel roading there was no noticeable ingress of dust, no tell-tale squeaks and rattles. At times the ruts did overwhelm the suspension's composure, but subjectively no worse than many of the better 4x4 drivetrains out there.
The 2.0l 90kw engine didn't feel overwhelmed by the BIG spacious bodywork. The 340Nm of torque, probably being responsible for that. Surprisingly with a claimed 0-100 of 13.5 seconds (0.2 faster than its 4x4 twin) it didn't feel slow or sluggish at all, and felt eminently useable as daily transport. This is probably more down to the usability of the drivetrain. The well-loved TDi motor well tuned to this purpose and matched with an excellent 6 speed box. Surprisingly fuel consumption and CO2 are identical to the 4x4 at 7.7l combined and 202g.
In essence this is the double cab of choice for many of us. VW's excellent looks, hard if not impossible to tell from the 4x4 at a casual glance and importantly 50 grand cheaper. This comes in VW's Trendline trim only, and loses a few items to the Highline of its BiTdi stablemate. No Kerel is ever going to arrive in the same condition, considering it loses an illuminated vanity mirror on the driver's visor, leather steering and gearshift covers, 2 speakers in the sound-system, air-conditioning as opposed to climate control, some body colour paint detail here and there, ESP and hill control become optional and it loses 30Kw and 60NM. What would be missed are additional head/thorax side airbags. On the other hand, it is R316 800 vs R390 000. I say take the extra money and go some amazing places in it. For a long time.
