Makini
Tarmac Traveler
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- Makini
It’s 23h00 on the evening of 31st May 2015. 1st June is a public holiday in Kenya marking attaining self-rule and preceding full independence later in December 1963. Last night I was out with mates and didn’t return until very late or rather early today. I highly doubt I can get another pass tonight; for some reason my wife was wide awake as I made my stealthy Mission Impossible re-entry into the house. So while sat here brooding, I realized I’d had my Volkswagen Amarok Highline Bi-TDI Automatic for 12 months and together we have covered some 20,000kms that went a little like this…
12 Months earlier.
I’d waited patiently for the Volkswagen Amarok Bi-TDI to not only launch world-wide but also be available in KE. Volkswagen always seems last to every party. My previous steed for the past 3 years and some 60,000kms was Volkswagen’s Gen 1 Touareg 2.5 R5 TDI. Awful turbo lag, unimpressive fuel consumption from what was the smallest engine in the range and also an engine so noisy, bus drivers would wince as I idled in the next lane.
So when the opportunity to chop it in for the Amarok Bi-TDI AT arose, I jumped at the opportunity. I needed the practicality offered by the cargo bay (but ultimately not the payload) and also I carry several mountain bikes every now and then. Carrying bikes in an SUV requires dropping seats and other time consuming adjustments. Also, if riding in the wet, once back to your transport you either had to wince and throw muddy bikes into the back of your carpeted boot or when exhausted, start cleaning your bike. No need for such antiques in a pick-up truck. Just throw the bikes into the back and hose down both truck & bike simultaneously. Ace.
Back then (end 2013), the shipping route for Amaroks destined to KE was laughable. From Pacheco, Argentina, the voyage was via Bremerhaven and then back down via the Cape of Good Hope (thank you very much, silly pirates) and on to Mombasa. Some 3 months shipping plus a 4 month order period. A 7 month lead time for a pick-up truck!!! At least I felt I shared something with exotic supercar owners; the long wait! Today Amaroks destined to KE are shipped via Durban (I think) drastically reducing waiting times.
Due to the long wait, details on why I chose what are somewhat hazy… I opted for the colour Mendoza Brown which was run out somewhere during the long order period and replaced with Toffee Brown metallic. This chocolate Brown colour was chosen simply because the first images of the Amarok Automatic I’d ever seen was on an Australian mag. And the colour of the test vehicle was Mendoza Brown and I loved it! Also, it hides dirt really, really well as the huge Amarok can be a pain to keep clean. And I’m lazy. The only optional extras I chose over the local Highline spec was a locking rear differential, auto lights, wipers & mirrors which I think was a Light&Sight package or something like that and most importantly, a reverse camera. Sat in the single turbo Amarok Highline manual, I realized this truck is huge! Completely dwarfing my Touareg especially in vehicle length and I figured this would be a good feature to have and yes, it has proven to be the single most important option I could have specified.
So finally the ‘Rok’ arrived and on the very day it was received in Nairobi, I took it out for a quick spin on dealer plates. And immediately I queried whether I was mad to think I could drive a pick-up truck daily. Whist its light steering at low speeds made it surprisingly maneuverable, the ride was atrocious (probably because it had not been through PDI yet and tire pressure was most likely north of 50PSI) despite opting for the comfort package suspension that lost two springs, had a reduced payload of 850kgs and was supposed to be less truck like. Insulation also seemed nowhere near as good as the Touareg with plenty of road noise filtering through. But the engine did feel more responsive than the Touareg despite having only some 37 kilometers on the clock. The sitting position was very commanding; everyone else in traffic seemed to be much lower now.
Standard Nikon camera mount greatly appreciated...
A week later and two days before my birthday, I collected the now registered Amarok with some major differences. The OEM 245/65R17 tires looked puny. I did not want larger rims as the Amarok was going to spend lots of kilometres on unsealed and sometimes rough surfaces but I wanted larger tires. Ford’s Ranger XLT rides on 265/65R17 Contis and hey, there was a Conti dealer right next to the dealership! And here I made a fundamental mistake that would come back to haunt me later on. Reasoning that the awesome 132kW with 420NM would be a handful on M/Ts, I opted for 265/65R17 ATR tires to allow easier clipping of apexes on my morning commute. Big mistake. On a vehicle like this, I never see speeds north of 140kph simply because despite the flipping good 8 speed ZF auto box, the Rok just doesn’t feel comfortable at speeds higher than that. So I maintain 100-110kph cruise all the time. With all the off road driving I do, I really should have opted for proper M/T tires. The Rok with its crap rear suspension and little weight over the rear axle, struggles properly in muddy conditions. But the larger tires looked the absolute business filling the huge tire arches much, much better than the OEM stuff. It was also sporting new chrome roll bars and a tonneau cover.
The first couple of kilometers was like any marriage... the Rok and I just couldn’t seem to find common ground. The loud turbo whistle when the second turbo came online could be very disconcerting. I had always previously associated loud whistling with a failing turbocharger but apparently ‘they all do that’ so I had to get used to it. Driving a mate’s single turbo Amarok with him some 2-3 cars ahead, I could still hear the very audible turbo whistle every time he pulled out to overtake. Lighting was also very poor. After three years of taking adaptive bi-xenon headlamps in the Touareg for granted, I really miss those now. Also, the braking performance or lack thereof is disappointing but not shocking when you clock the massive drum brakes on the thing. I learnt how to drive in a Peugeot 305 and that was my last experience with rear drum brakes. Back to the past…
But what still bugs me to this day is the ride quality. And here I think Volkswagen got their sums wrong. Very wrong. This type of vehicle is aimed at the high-end of the 1 ton pick-up truck segment. It certainly won’t be used to carry all 850 kilos. Rather, the practicality offered by all the space out back to say Architects, contractors and lifestyle types makes it a more attractive preposition than the conventional SUV. Why then fit it with a rear leaf spring suspension rather than fit coil springs? Nissan certainly understands this and offers the new Navara with a rear coil sprung suspension not worrying too much about the sacrifice in total payload on their range topping 2,3 twin turbo. To compensate for the poor ride, I run the rear tires at 24/25PSI which helps somewhat but this will always be a top gripe with me.
Everything else about the Rok brings a smile to my face. The two turbos have on several occasions stunned many SUV & Pick-up truck driving types. One slow to react petrol ML350 driver was gobsmacked at the sudden pace of the Amarok. A big thumbs up at the next lights and questions on what engine was under the hood followed. Same type of questions from a young Singh driver of a MK III Golf VR6 who couldn’t understand why it took every last rpm up a long hill to drop the massive Volkswagen truck….
[This link always makes me grin every time I watch it.]
To er… test the same under local conditions, the Ford dealer declined my many requests for a 3,2D Ranger. The Mazda dealer however offered a brand new BT-50 3,2D automatic and with my cousin driving the Rok, we accelerated both vehicles several times side by side from 50kph to about 140kph on a dual carriageway north of Nairobi. On each occasion, the Rok whistled away; no contest. So whilst the very low mileage Mazda would perform better once run in, it wouldn’t make much of a difference.
Clearly I love the performance offered by the little 2,0L four cylinder lump in the Rok. But you know what I love even more? The fuel consumption offered by that engine. On that acceleration test with the Mazda which covered some 70 kilometres (mostly giggling at the rapidly disappearing Rok), the 3,2D BT-50 devoured a quarter tank of fuel; the Rok’s fuel gauge hardly budged. Not very scientific I know but… a couple of eyebrows raised! Over 12 months the Amarok has ferried my family on numerous road trips to several National Parks in EA as well as a rather epic 2,500 kilometre road trip to Kabale in Uganda close to the Rwanda border. Running in convoy with a couple of Landcruisers, fuel stops were required when the Cruisers were down to ¼ tank, the Rok would still have roughly ½ tank still available. Very impressive. At a steady 100kph, the Rok in 8th gear offered only 1,600 rpm on the clock whilst the Cruisers were turning over at about 2,300rpm. According to my fuel app, over 20,500kilometers, the Rok has consumed some 2,400 litres of diesel averaging about 8.5km/L which with Nairobi’s nasty traffic and my desire to enlighten all & sundry on the Amarok’s performance at every opportunity, is a great result up from the 6,6km/L the Touareg was offering.
Today, reliability and Volkswagen and not really terms you can use in the same sentence or paragraph for that matter. But because other than the complexity of sequential turbo charging and the 8 speed ZF gearbox, the Amarok is quite a rudimentary vehicle compared to say my Wife’s Passat CC with the infamous DSG box. However, I have had three issues over the past twelve months. The first was a bent LHS control arm; I have no idea how that happened but noticed the tracking was out. That was sorted under warranty. The headlamps were also aligned for a LHD vehicle (kicking up to the right) and the high beams set way too high illuminating trees, sky and nothing else. The third issue still persists and I’m awaiting the next service to have it fully resolved. The central locking suddenly starts actuating when driving along; like someone is constantly pressing the central locking button. The rear LHS door eventually failed to respond to all attempts to lock it and the Rok spent a couple of nights open. Of course once back to the dealer, it worked perfectly… anyway there are a couple of parts on order to sort that.
So a year down, with the exception of the poor brakes, poor headlamps, electric niggles and the ride quality, I absolutely love the Rok. The performance, fuel consumption and the gem that is the 8 speed ZF auto come together to form what is without doubt the best pick-up truck available today. My wife who initially balked at the size of the thing now prefers it to her Passat CC! Which I think is simply down to the driving position. However, the Rok doesn’t quite meet all my requirements for a daily driver. It is way too large to comfortably thread through Nairobi traffic. So much so that I’ve decided to make it even less of a commuter vehicle.
The next year will be all about modifications to the Rok including increasing his (has to be a he, this one) off-road ability. The front bumper will be replaced by a moo bar with some nifty LED jobbies for off road night driving, install a snorkel, increase the ride height even more, buy a second set of proper MTs and black every bit of chrome to create my very own 'Black Edition' Rok. Then I’ll park it using it only for safaris. Noticing my Wife’s preference for the Rok has indicated that she really does prefer a taller vehicle. I do currently own two identical in all but colour Passat CCs (long story) and will sell both to fund a petrol 2,0TSI Tiguan so that she leaves the Rok the hell alone. I will then revert back to my trusty, 2005 B5.5 Passat Variant 1.8T for my daily commute.
I’ve read rumours about a possible V6 TDI equipped Amarok or an even higher powered Bi-TDI engine but the Amarok does not need more power, Volkswagen. Just sort the ride quality on the Auto, fit rear disc brakes and upgrade the headlamp performance. Your position as the single most impressive & car like pick-up truck will be guaranteed.
. They became available from MY2014 I think. I'd have ticked that box! Now i'm exploring xenon bulbs...
