Six-wheel Volkswagen Amarok V6 coming

Australians in search of a tow vehicle sufficiently robust and legal to haul one of the new crop of super-sized 4500kg ATM class caravans may currently be looking at a GVM upgrade for their Toyota LandCruisers or eyeing off the current crop of 4.5-7 tonne capable US pick-up trucks, but there will soon be a third way: your Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles dealer.

Queensland’s Austral Volkswagen displayed a mock-up at this year’s Queensland Caravan Supershow of a new six-wheel conversion for the current model 3.0-litre Amarok V6 turbo-diesel that will bump the vehicle’s current 3500kg braked tow rating to 4500kg when it becomes available in a month or so.

Priced from $79,000 drive-away and available with trays from 2.4 to 2.6 metres in length, the six-paw Amarok will enter the market at not much more than half the price of the current heavy-hauling alternatives.

The prototype with four-wheel drive and a lazy axle is currently being built by multi-axle specialists Six Wheel Conversions in Toowoomba, Queensland, a company with many years’ experiences in modifying commercial vehicles to this spec.

However, where the Amarok six-wheeler will differ from similar Ford Rangers and Isuzu D-MAXs that the company has modified, is that the conversion is expected to be offered off the showroom as a turn-key new vehicle through some Volkswagen dealers.

When it comes to market in about two months’ time, it will also be the most powerful six-wheeler of its type and the only one to boast disc brakes on all six wheels.

While the V6 Amarok’s current peak power output of 180kW/550Nm delivered by its over-boost function via its eight-speed auto doesn’t stack up as well against its big six-cylinder and V8 diesel rivals from the US, the new 200kW Amarok V6 that is due to come to market here in September should deliver enough grunt to get the job done.

Austal VW Commercial Vehicle Manager Talha Hussein said that a number of details of the new 6x4 Amarok were still to be finalised.

“However, it’s an exciting development that will give many people much more affordable access to a tow vehicle capable of hauling the latest heavyweight caravans while retaining much greater day-to-day usability when unhitched than the larger US pick-ups can offer.”