The facelifted Volkswagen Amarok – complete with its new V6 turbo-diesel heart – launched in Australia this week. But the big news is that the German automaker may be working on a high-performance version of its refreshed bakkie.
According to motoring.com.au, the Wolfsburg brand is toying with the idea of building a double-cab with an even loftier output, perhaps in an attempt to gain an early advantage over the yet-to-be-launched Mercedes-Benz X-Class (which a VW executive has already branded “over-hyped“).
The current flagship, high-output version of the new V6-equipped Amarok makes 165 kW and 550 N.m, although these figures briefly rise to 180 kW and 580 N.m respectively, courtesy of an overboost function. That’s enough for a claimed 7,9-second sprint to 100 km/h.
The Australian publication says sources at VW have confirmed that the 3,0-litre V6 could be “easily tuned” to higher outputs. They also claimed that the eight-speed automatic transmission is capable of dealing with “up to 700 N.m of torque”.
A high-performance version of this engine, of course, already exists in the Audi SQ5, where it churns out 240 kW and 650 N.m.
The facelifted Amarok is scheduled to arrive in South Africa in the third quarter of 2017.
