Regardless of it perhaps being overshadowed by its donor car (the Ford Ranger), the Volkswagen Amarok has made its own place in the market.
Whether that is from previous Amarok owners, or Ranger buyers who want a euro nameplate, the Amarok is a popular ute in today’s market – even with a higher price point than its competitors.
We went to the launch of the Amarok in 2023, and found it to be a great improvement over the previous generation, especially on some of the tracks that VW New Zealand took us on.
In 2023, Alistair from DriveLife reviewed the Style model over a week and enjoyed the car, although it didn’t feel different enough from the Ranger for him to suggest you should buy one over that model. We’re doing a review here of the same Style model, but since we’re taking it a lot further and using the car in a completely different way, we felt it worthy of a second, full review.
A week-long trip to 90 Mile Beach in the Far North should sort of any misgivings about the Amarok; we’d already taken the previous generation Ranger up here to retrieve a barn-find car from the bush, and in March of this year took the Land Rover Defender to the same place, hooking up a 2-ton digger to the SUV and taking it off-road.
Now, it’s the Amarok’s turn as we take it for some light off-roading, and connect a trailer to it and load the trailer up with metal to fix our “road”. How will it cope with duties other than commuting on an Auckland motorway?
What We Like and Dislike About The 2023 Volkswagen Amarok Style
| What we like | What we don’t like |
| Outstanding transmission Performance on or off-road Off-road capability Comfort Visibility Overall ride quality | Price |
What’s In The 2023 Volkswagen Amarok Range?
There are four variants of the Volkswagen Amarok available for New Zealand buyers. The range starts with the entry-level Amarok Life, climbing up to the top-spec Amarok Aventura. All variants are 4WD.
| Model | Engine | Drive | Price |
| Volkswagen Amarok Life | 2.0-litre 4-cylinder single-turbo diesel | 4WD | $67,000 |
| Volkswagen Amarok Style (tested) | 2.0-litre 4-cylinder twin-turbo diesel | 4WD | $77,500 |
| Volkswagen Amarok PanAmericana | 3.0-litre V6 turbo diesel | 4WD | $91,000 |
| Volkswagen Amarok Aventura | 3.0-litre V6 turbo diesel | 4WD | $93,000 |
The Life is powered by a 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo diesel delivering 125kW of power and 405Nm of torque, paired with a 6-speed automatic transmission.
The Style is powered by a 2.0-litre 4-cylinder twin-turbo diesel delivering 154kW of power and 500Nm of torque, paired with a 10-speed automatic transmission.
The PanAmericana and Aventura are powered by a 3.0-litre V6 turbo diesel 184kW of power and 600Nm of torque. Both pair their power plants with a 10-speed automatic transmission.
2024 Volkswagen Amarok Colour Range
There are five standard colours, plus two unique model colours, available for the Amarok:
- Agate Black
- Carbonite Grey
- Frozen White
- Lucid Red
- Moon Dust Silver
- Diffused Silver (PanAmericana only)
- Moroccan Blue (Aventura only)
For more information on Volkswagen Amarok, check out the Volkswagen New Zealand website.
Our Review Vehicle’s Optional Equipment
Our test Amarok was fitted with a tonneau cover, lifting its retail price to $78,443.
How Does The 2023 Volkswagen Amarok Style Compare To Its Competition?
| Make/ Model | Engine | Power/ Torque kW/Nm | Fuel L/100km | Towing Capacity | Price |
| Volkswagen Amarok Style | 2.0-litre 4-cylinder twin-turbo diesel | 154/500 | 8.3 | 750/3,500 | $77,500 |
| Ford Ranger Wildtrak | 2.0-litre 4-cylinder twin-turbo diesel | 154/500 | 8.3 | 750/3,500 | $76,990 |
| Isuzu D-MAX X-Terrain | 3.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo diesel | 140/450 | 9.2 | 750/3,500 | $67,990 |
| Ford Ranger Sport (4×4) | 2.0-litre 4-cylinder twin-turbo diesel | 154/500 | 8.3 | 750/3,500 | $59,990 |
| Toyota Hilux SR5 Cruiser | 2.8-litre 4-cylinder turbo diesel | 150/500 | 9.5 | 750/3,500 | $59,490 |
| Nissan Navara Pro-4X | 2.3-litre 4-cylinder twin-turbo diesel | 140/450 | 8.6 | 750/3,500 | $57,990 |
| Mitsubishi Triton Auto | 2.4-litre 4-cylinder turbo diesel | 135/437 | 9.8 | 750/3,500 | $53,990 |
| GWM Cannon-L | 2.4-litre 4-cylinder turbo diesel | 120/400 | 9.4 | 750/3,000 | $41,990 |
Please note that DriveLife does its best to ensure the information above is correct at the time of publication, however, prices, specifications and models can change over time. Please bear that in mind when comparing models in the comparison table.
First Impressions Of The 2023 Volkswagen Amarok Style
It may be pricier than it’s competition and its sister car, the Ranger, but for me, the Amarok rocks its design.
If you didn’t realise, in the Far North, eight out of ten cars is a 4WD and many of those are utes. And yet the Amarok turned heads in any Far North town I went through, and especially in ute-mecca, otherwise known as Kaitaia. It’s different enough at the front to stand apart from the Ranger and in my view, looks better for it.
Side on, those chrome bars in the tray are a stand-out feature, and change the Amarok from a ute to a truck. They look excellent.
What’s The Interior Like In The 2023 Volkswagen Amarok Style?
I won’t go into big detail about the Amarok Style’s interior, as Alistair has already reviewed it – you can read his review and get a good feel about the inside of this ute.
But my first impressions are that this is not really a base mode; glancing around, I spotted Qi wireless phone charging, that large 12” central screen, an electric driver’s seat, a built-in brake controller for your trailer, and heated front seats. I would miss a 360-degree camera when off-road, but that was about it.
This model has some fake wood-effect wrap on the doors and dash, but I liked it. Not too in-your-face, and adding a little bit of class to the cabin. Ditto the tan leatherette top to the dash – not black! – this also looked great and lifted the cabin hugely.
Along with that lighter dash-top, with grey alcantara seats and an ivory headliner and pillars, and you end up with a ute interior that is both bright and welcoming. It all adds to that luxury feel, although I was happy to see hard black plastics on the lower half of the doors, something that is easily cleaned.
Connectivity includes a USB-A port by the interior mirror for your dashcam, along with a USB-A and USB-C port on the lower console, and a 12-volt power socket.
What’s The 2023 Volkswagen Amarok Style Like To Drive?
Picking up the Amarok, its range showed as 971km from its 80-litre fuel tank. I doubt we would achieve that – towing a loaded trailer off-road will suck the diesel – but in normal conditions, probably quite achievable.
Hitting Auckland’s motorways, the 2.0-litre twin-turbo diesel settles in to a nice, barely audible thrum. It’d been a while since I’d driven a ute, and forgot just how good the visibility is. The A-pillar is fairly chunky, but that’s normal for 2024. There is blind spot monitoring as well, so for my entire time with the Amarok, seeing other traffic (and trees etc when off-road) was a breeze.
The steering wheel is excellent, just the right size and the leather finish feels great to the touch. Some of the Chinese brands still struggle on this front, as their ‘leather’ steering wheels can feel like plastic, but the Amarok shows how it’s done. The steering wheel controls are simple and easy to use, with cruise control operation on the left and screen controls on the right. Volume control is a rocker button on the left side of the wheel, with track/station selection as an identical rocker button on the right. While I prefer both controls on one side of the wheel, it was easy to use both without looking down as they are both on the lower part of the steering wheel spoke.
Your front seat passenger can adjust the audio volume or turn audio on/off using the actual volume knob at the base of the centre screen, and it’s nice to see this feature not getting culled.
The driver has a few options to change the dashboard layout. The dash itself is crystal clear, although the digital speedo is too small. There’s a good range of options here, including Trailer, and Off-Road screens.
On the motorway north, I had the adaptive cruise control set, and it’s a very smooth setup, far better than some others I’d experienced lately. It’s good in traffic too, and pulls the ute down to a stop if needed. Below the cruise button is a speed limiter button, another handy feature that seems to be disappearing from some cars. It’s one I use often.
North of Whangarei, the roads have noticeably deteriorated, with the Amarok feeling bouncy at times. Overall, it’s a smooth-riding truck, but those Far North roads really gave it a hiding.
Some 5 hours later, I got to the Far North town of Ahipara, so it was time to hit some metal roads and drive to my house in the bush. Ruts are the order of the day of any metal road going uphill, and the one from Ahipara is full of them. Slipping the Amarok into 4-High (while still on the move) was as simple as turning a knob, and this extra drive made the Amarok a pleasure to drive over those ruts, with no scuttle shake of any sort. The whole car felt solid and squeak-free as I continued up the hill from Ahipara, and the surfing mecca that is Shipwreck Bay.
After getting to my “road”, I was tempted to put the truck into 4-low, but really, it wasn’t necessary. Actually, over the next week, I”d only use low range a few times; the electronics in the Amarok controlling its 4MOTION system are so good, 4-low is not really needed.
I finally arrived at my house after 6 hours on the road, and felt pretty good. The seats in the Amarok are generally pretty comfortable, with the driver’s seat having 2-way electric lumbar adjust.
That evening, I loaded up the trailer with a full complement of wood, leftovers from a deck replacement on the house. That night, in typical Winterless Far North fashion, it poured down, soaking that wood and making it a heavier load overall. One of the corners up from my house has a tight bend before going up steeply. I approached the bend and was tempted to put the car into low range and maybe even put the diff lock on. Neither was needed, as the Amarok simply climbed the hill at low speeds in high range, with zero wheel spin. I’ve got to say, modern electronics helping AWDs in situations like this is mind-blowing.
After unloading the timber in Kaitaia, it was off to Bellingham’s Quarry in Pukepoto for the first of many loads of metal, to fill in holes and tracks on our 4km of private road. It was at this point – after a loader filled the trailer – that I realised just how much ground clearance the Amarok has – it seems to sit incredibly high, even with a loaded trailer pulling it down. In fact, during my 7 days of going on all sorts of tracks, the Amarok did not scrape once. Bloody impressive, even though according to the specs for this model, it has “just” 217mm of ground clearance.
I managed to get all the way back up the “Big Hill” in high range, and that hill measures out at 15 degrees and is loose metal. With a full load of metal on the trailer, I would have put money on needing low range this time at least. But no, the Amarok cruised up with a bit of wheel spin, but with no sign of needing low range or a diff lock.
Throughout the week, every time I went to Kaitaia township or had to go anywhere, I would take the trailer for yet another load of metal from the quarry, and every time, the Amarok handled it perfectly.
One day, I had an absolute load of timber on the trailer, along with some steel and old deep-cycle batteries – my heaviest load yet. Approaching the Big Hill, I stuck Hill Descent Control on, and set the speed to 8km/h, and let the ute do the work. Again, modern electronics are brilliant at this sort of thing, as the ute descended the steep hill with zero loss of traction and with me just steering the ute.
On trying to back into my garage, I needed low range and diff lock. You do need to shift the transmission into Neutral to engage low range, but it’s a quick process. My garage is on a steep slope, with different angles of approach – and that means getting cross axled. This was the only time I used the diff lock, but after doing that, it was easy backing up into the garage with (initially) only opposing two wheels actually on the ground.
I had concerns that the Amarok would be too big of a ute to take into the bush, but was not prepared for its good turning circle. This made negotiating tight bends or multi-point turns a lot easier, although it is still certainly a big wagon, and felt bigger overall than the Land Rover Defender I brought here in March. Weirdly and like its ground clearance, the turning circle for this model is listed at 12.9m, but in real-world use it feels so much less.
Power and torque when using this ute off-road is plentiful. Honestly, I was hoping Volkswagen New Zealand would supply a V6 Amarok for this trip, as that engine is amazing, but this 2.0-litre, four-cylinder diesel is more than enough. It never struggled for power, and that 500Nm of torque is so good, this is one of the reasons I didn’t need to use low range as much as I thought I would. While I’ve been spoilt by the V6 diesel, the four-cylinder diesel is fit for purpose, and I’d be happy to have that motor under the bonnet of my own ute.
The ten-speed automatic is well-matched to the transmission, too, and thoughts of gear-hunting when towing are thrown out the window. This gearbox is near-on perfection. It’s smooth when changing, and it is always the right gear at the right time. I thought the gearbox might change too often and fail to make use of the engine’s torque, but that just doesn’t happen, on-road or off-road. While the Amarok doesn’t have any gearshift paddles (and at times, I would have really liked them), you can use the buttons on the side of the gearshift lever to move up and down the gears. The gearshift lever itself is motorised, so you can leave the Amarok in gear, and turn the engine off – the gearshift lever automatically moves itself to Park. It’s kinda cool to watch, but keep in mind that the base Life model does not have this feature.
While the car showed 971km of range on pick-up, after my work off-road, I had to gas up at 646km, with 60km range left. That made for a real-world range of 700km from the 80-litre fuel tank. With the amount of work I made the truck do, at low speeds with loaded trailers, I was more than happy with that number.
My week in the Far North went on, as did the loads of rubbish and loads of metal. I fell into a nice groove with the Amarok Style, and honestly, if I was to move back here it would be a ute I would buy for myself. I would not worry about upgrading to an up-spec model; the Style is brilliant at what it does and how well its equipped.
It was time to head back to Auckland, this time via Broadwood, since SH1 through the Mangamukas is still closed. The thing about the road from Ahipara through to Broadwood and on to Mangamuka township is that is all corners. The longest straight of straight road is about 300 metres, and that’s a rarity. With heavy rain (thanks, the ‘winterless’ Far North) and a windy road, this would be a test of the Amarok’s handling. Utes and handling don’t generally go together, but modern utes are generally quite capable on windy roads – depending on your passengers and their appetite for a bit of movement side to side.
The Amarok did better than I thought it would, although the tail got sideways a few times on very wet corners. That torque and a little too much gas pedal would see the rear slide out some, but then again there was no weight in the tray at all. Overall, it was completely controllable and drama-free, as a modern ute should be.
In a quick change of plans, instead of going to Mangamuka township and back on to SH1, I decided to go straight on to Kohukohu (“coke” to the locals), a town I hadn’t been to for many, many years. It hasn’t changed much, although the coffee has improved immensely, with a quick stop at Atomic Cafe to prove the point.
Kohukohu is on the north side of the Hokianga Harbour, with Rawene on the southern side. The Hokianga ferry runs all day long, every day, and for $7 was a nice way to sit back and chill with my coffee for the ten-minute ferry ride. I sat there recalling driving B-trains onto the ferry, and sometimes having to have a few goes to get up and off the ferry on the Rawene side, if the tide was low and the ramps wet. Not fun. That was a few decades ago, and I was glad to be in the Amarok this time.
After getting off the ferry, it was a wet run all the way to Auckland, with heavy traffic and so many road works, seemingly endless road works.
My last hours in the Amarok Style saw me playing around with some of the car’s features, and taking in its role as a long-distance ute. The diesel engine is quiet when it should be, but I did miss the growl of the V6 motor. That’s not to say the 4-cylinder isn’t good – it’s excellent – but it shows just how brilliant that V6 diesel is. If you are test-driving some Amaroks, don’t drive the V6 if it’s not in your budget. It’s so good you will want one.
But I was happy in the Style as we ate up the miles. The infotainment system is lifted directly from the Ranger, and that’s no bad thing. There’s a huge amount of options in the menu system, so you can tailor your Amarok perfectly to your liking. There is Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, but you’ll need to use a USB cable to make them work.
All the AC controls are via the touchscreen, which isn’t ideal. You can tap the temp button on the screen and then tap the +/- buttons to adjust the temperature, but that’s not the safest way to do it, compared to using knobs and dials. There is the backup option of using voice controls to adjust the AC, though.
I like that the steering wheel has the Lane Keep Assist button right there on it, so no looking around for buttons on the dash or in the infotainment system. Just double-tap the LKA button on the steering wheel if you need to disable it. Keep in mind it will always come on again when you restart the car, as part of its ANCAP safety rating this has to happen.
On returning the Amarok Style, after just over 1,000km of driving it used 9.9L/100km, more than acceptable for the slow, heavy work I made it do in the bush.
READ ON TO CHECK OUT OUR SUMMARY OF THE 2023 VOLKSWAGEN AMAROK STYLE.
2023 Volkswagen Amarok Style – Specifications
| Vehicle Type | Double-cab wellside ute |
| Starting Price | $77,500 |
| Price as Tested | $78,443 |
| Engine | 2.0-litre 4-cylinder twin-turbo diesel |
| Power, Torque kW/Nm | 154/500 |
| Transmission | 10-speed automatic |
| Spare Wheel | Full-size |
| Kerb Weight, Kg | 2,335 |
| Length x Width x Height mm | 5362 x 1917 x 1871 |
| Tray Payload, Kg | 945 |
| Fuel tank capacity, litres | 80 |
| Fuel Economy, L/100km | Advertised Spec – Combined – 8.3 Real-World Test – Combined – 9.9 Low Usage: 0-6 / Medium Usage 6-12 / High Usage 12+ |
| Towing Capacity Kg, unbraked/braked | 750/3,500 |
| Turning circle metres | 12.9 Small: 6-10m / Medium 10-12m / Large 12m+ |
| Warranty | 5-year/150,000-km manufacturer’s warranty 5-year Roadside Assist |
| Safety information | ANCAP Rating – 5 stars Rightcar.govt.nz – 4 stars – QKQ63 |
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