Volkswagen Amarok V6 ups outputs to 180kW/580Nm

Volkswagen has fired a salvo at fellow German car maker Mercedes-Benz with the timely announcement of new power figures for its upcoming diesel-powered V6 Amarok ute.

Less than a day after the three-pointed star unveiled its much-hyped X-Class dual cab utility in Sweden, Volkswagen Australia revealed the flagship of its facelifted one-tonner range will feature an overboost function endowing it with a 0-100km/h acceleration time of just 7.9 seconds.

The overboost function essentially increases the Amarok’s 3.0-litre diesel outputs from 165kW to 180kW, and 550Nm to 580Nm. The 15kW/30Nm increases are accessible from 70 per cent throttle, delivered in third or fourth gear from 50km/h.

The caveat is that the overboost is only available for 10 seconds, but it can be redeployed after five seconds off time.

The timing of Volkswagen Australia’s announcement is hardly accidental. With Mercedes’ confirming its X-Class dual-cab will launch in Australia from 2018 – priced from about $50,000 and available in four-cylinder and six-cylinder guises – the announcement comes directly ahead of the facelifted and V6-powered Amarok’s local launch late next month.

Volkswagen Australia commercial vehicles director Carlos Santos made no secret of the fact the Amarok already has the Nissan Navara-based X-Class in its sights, both in terms of performance and luxury appeal.

“The Amarok V6 is not an over-hyped concept or a badge engineering exercise,” he said.

“It’s real, it’s almost here and it brings the world’s best V6 turbo-diesel, the same unit used by Porsche and Audi in luxury SUVs.”

Volkswagen Australia says it has received more than 6000 expressions of interest from prospective Australian buyers. Full specification and pricing is set to be unveiled in the coming weeks ahead of the Amarok’s launch on November 24, though the initial expectation is of a $65,000-plus price tag.