Do you know that overwhelming feeling of “This can’t be real.” Like seeing the once great Jonah Lomu, a 120kg burly fellow that could outrun most of his teammates and opponents once in his stride. This is one of the cases of “This can’t be real.” This bakkie is absurdly fast.
Styling
Let’s talk about the looks before we talk about how rapid this thing is. First – it’s bright, you can see the Honey Orange colour (specific to the Canyon) from a mile away. Up close it looks pretty good. Add some 17-inch Aragua wheels, matte black side sills, new design styling bars, black rear bumper, Canyon decals, and you have yourself one of the best-looking bakkies in the business despite its age. The black widened wheel arches give it a purposeful look and make the car stand. The smoked out taillights look good, it’s tastefully done unlike aftermarket ones. Whether stationary at a traffic light, on the highway, or mall parking lot, it’s bound to draw some attention from onlookers.
Inside
Overtaking is a breeze, thanks to an overboost function that can bump up the power to 180 kW for short periods. Plant the loud pedal and at a moments notice you’re doing speeds deemed to throw you in the slammer, no questions asked.
Despite the Amarok’s age, the cabin is still quite good. Set to Canyon specification it comes standard with Canyon edition trim covers, black roof lining, leather seats with orange seams, and pedal caps in stainless steel. The Canyon utilizes VW’s Discover Media infotainment system that supports Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The touchscreen is on the bit of the little side and would look greater if it was a bit bigger. The cabin is spacious and practical (besides the center console which only looks big but is actually little). It has four 12V sockets but only one USB port. The door bins are nice and big and easily fit your usual 1.5-litre bottle. The load bin can actually fit a full-size pallet, I’ve seen @lawrence_nzama_ from @imotomedia do it, very practical.
The Drive
Now to the “This can’t be real” bit I’ve been rambling on about. Powering the burly bakkie is a 3.0-litre V6 turbocharged diesel engine producing 165kW and a very healthy 550Nm of torque. Power is sent to all-four wheels via an 8-Speed DSG gearbox. The engine is smooth, the gearshifts are seamless, and rides beautifully on the road. Though I didn’t get to drive it off-road, one does have firsthand experience on how capable this bakkie is. We saw it tackle some hectic obstacle course at the International Spirit Of Amarok 2019. Volkswagen claims that it will do a 0 – 100 km/h sprint in 8.0 seconds and top out at 197 km/h, but you know the Germans and airing on the right side of caution. I took a short trip to Ulundi (165km North Of Durban) and I have to say it was a pleasant ride. Overtaking is a breeze, thanks to an overboost function that can bump up the power to 180 kW for short periods. Plant the loud pedal and at a moments notice you’re doing speeds deemed to throw you in the slammer, no questions asked.
Verdict
The VW Amarok Canyon will set you back R799 000. Seems a bit pricey, but you get a lot of bakkie for your money, effortless performance, luxury, a workhorse, its a limited edition, and not forgetting bragging rights as the fastest bakkie in the land.
