To be a great success, this new pickup should be answer the following expectations:
Dimensions: Would it be possible to drive into parking garage in a city like Buenos Aires, New York or Berlin?
Comfort: Better than the new models of the competitors?
Engine: Economic diesel engines with more then 160 hp and a fuel consumption below
6 ltr/100 km (28 mi/gallon) at a cruising speed of 90 km/h (56 mph) and is it bio-diesel ready (BD100)?
Tank capacity that allows to drive 800 km (500 mi) to discover regions like Atacama dessert, Patagonia, Machu Pichu in Peru without any spare canisters?
Altitude: How would the engine work in an altitude of 5000 m (16400 ft) above sea level? My actual pickup runs 120 km/h (75 mph) in an altitude of 4800 m (15750 ft) and in 5200 m (17060 ft) it runs 30 to 40 km/h (18 to 25 mph) in the second gear.
Protection against stone chip that destroys radiators from the back, when the stone is bounced back from the engine to the radiator?
Overheating: Would the engine be protected against overheating? This means the engine stops before an engine damage occurs in hot regions like Atacama Desert in summer.
Dust-proofed truck bed with a lockable rigid cover for trips in deserts like Atacama or in Patagonia and of course for shopping in the city?
Load capacity: Can it load 600 kg (1325 lbs) or more, so that a farmer can use it for work, or we to load our fire wood, water jet, …? And would it be have the power to pull a trailer with a motorboat, a horse, …?
Ground clearance: Is it high enough to drive in mud and sand?
At last a detail: Wading, up to 70 cm/ 28 inches? This is not only important for adventures, no also for emergency in case of heavy rain and flooding.
We know that this is a long list of questions, but we are also are hungry for more technical information.
We are using a 4×4 Toyota pickup since eleven years and this surprising Volkswagen announcement attracted our attention. It is the first time that a German Carmaker wants to build a pickup to compete with the leaders like Toyota, Ford, GM, Mitsubishi.
After traveling 225000 km (140000 mi) with a Toyota Hilux 4×4 78 hp diesel in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Chile, Peru and Ecuador we expressed our expectations for a new pickup and we hope that they the opinion of many of our readers reflect.
Some of the places that we visited with our pickup:
So in 2010 we will see the result of the pickup production of Volkswagen in their Plant in General Pacheco in the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and we like to see a functional car for work and for shopping, easy to handle also for women, strong for the load of the farmers, reliable to discover Patagonia together with low operation costs.
December 31, 2009
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Posted by Chris
Categories: Car, iPad & other equipment
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Tags: amarok, pickup, volkswagen, vw
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6 Comments
