Unveiled: 2010 VW Amarok

My feeling is "because that's bullshit". A quick google suggests that an XJ6 comes with 5 inches of clearance.

The XJ40 XJ6 is lower. The Series III has a full eight inches in its at-rest position (which is still not enough to keep people from being killed by it when it is improperly lifted and then falls off/crushes the supports - usually about one every few years.)
 
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Very. The acceleration specs are off, the fuel consumption numbers are WAY off (original was 16/24 back then, most people average 17 in mixed driving, not 14), trunk space numbers are off, the ground clearance must have been measured off a car with a bunch of miles and worn out springs because otherwise my custom exhaust would scrape the road and it doesn't...
Basically, somewhere close to half the things they list there are wrong.

I would also quote the 1984 Road and Track road test of the XJ6 Vanden Plas variant (whose data sheet also contained some errors):

As a positive owner note, one of that group has done rather more exploring of gravel and graded dirt roads than the Jag stereotype would predict. Good car for offroad, he says, plenty of ground clearance and the body structure is remarkably solid.
 
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To be fair I read an off-road comparison of vehicles in this class and the Amarok came out somewhere near the top. It made it around a course that flummoxed a Hilux.

Also in defence of the claims of uselessness, the Amarok is the only truck in its class that can accommodate a pallet in the tray between the wheelarches.
 
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Hbriz: When this thread got revived, I started thinking about TGAUS's review of the Amarok. Jacobson all but said in that piece that it would be the vehicle that would appeal to up-market tradies and actually challenge the Hilux in that area. What's been VW's approach to advertising down in AUS with the Amarok? What kind of customer are they really trying to get to buy this? Are they promoting it more as a tough work vehicle, or are they doing it the way Toyota's pushing the Tundra/Hilux over here, "It's a work vehicle, but, wink, wink, you don't have to use it for work."?
 
Ugh. Terrible approach angle, crap ground clearance and an easily broken plastic nose. Brilliant, just what you want in an offroader! Wait, no...

Nissan Frontier Crew Cab Pro-4X Specs:
Ground clearance - (257mm) 10.1"
Angle of approach 31.5?

Toyota Tacoma Double Cab 4x4 4.0L
Ground clearance (236.2mm) 9.3"
Angle of approach 35?

VW Amarok Double Cab 2.0 BiTDI 132kW Highline 4Motion?:
Ground clearance 192mm (7.56")
Angle of approach 28?

Someone call me back when VW gets serious and ships a truck instead of a car on stilts, m'kay? :rolleyes:

Edit: To put that into perspective - my XJ6 has more ground clearance than the stupid Amarok "4x4" does.
That's hilarious according to what I've read on my Subaru it has 7.1" ground clearance and Legacy Outback rides lower than plain Outback so VWs awesome offroader is riding as high a family wagon from previous century.....
 
High fives around for the outback? Anyway, I don't see how this is a real problem for nearly all Amarok users, which I imagine are contractors and city utilities. They don't need ground clearance, they need utility.
 
The Amarok's ground clearance is 230mm, not 192mm. That's only 6mm less than the Toyota...

Hbriz: When this thread got revived, I started thinking about TGAUS's review of the Amarok. Jacobson all but said in that piece that it would be the vehicle that would appeal to up-market tradies and actually challenge the Hilux in that area. What's been VW's approach to advertising down in AUS with the Amarok? What kind of customer are they really trying to get to buy this? Are they promoting it more as a tough work vehicle, or are they doing it the way Toyota's pushing the Tundra/Hilux over here, "It's a work vehicle, but, wink, wink, you don't have to use it for work."?

Pretty much all utes/pick ups are marketed as work vehicles here. All of them are seen in ads driving through puddles around construction sites and towing small diggers. The Amarok is no different really, although they do show it pulling boats up slipways and such, so perhaps more of a leisure vehicle than its competition but still very much a commercial vehicle.
 
High fives around for the outback? Anyway, I don't see how this is a real problem for nearly all Amarok users, which I imagine are contractors and city utilities. They don't need ground clearance, they need utility.

They tend to use trucks in construction sites quite a bit.
 
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