The W600 is expected to make local market landfall in the final quarter of the year.
W600 has been a subtle revision outside. Picture: Walkinshaw Performance
Approved for South African introduction before the end of the year back in March, Volkswagen’s Australian division has officially detailed the Walkinshaw-tuned Amarok W600.
NOT a Raptor rival
The work of long-time former Holden tuner Walkinshaw Performance, the second W-Series Amarok model takes a similar approach to the Nissan Navara Pro-4X Warrior by gaining aesthetic as well as dynamic alternations, without any added power.
Not, therefore, a rival for the Ford Ranger Raptor, the W600 is a largely more subtle makeover than the last generation W580X.
Outside
Based on the Style variant, the W600’s exterior revisions comprise a new front bumper and grille, a restyled lower air intake, new wheel arches, electrically retracting side-steps and an automatic roller shutter.
Described as an off-road biased model, the W600’s final touches are dual exhaust outlets, Walkinshaw badges on the fornt wings and tailgate, the same sports bar and roof rails as the Adventura and 20-inch alloy wheels wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport 4 SUV tyres.
Inside
Inside, the standard Amarok interior has been subtly upgraded with alloy pedals, a black roofliner, Walkinshaw-branded door sills, Savona leather-finished seats, an eight-speaker Harman Kardon sound system and heating elements for the front chairs.
The Walkinshaw corporate logo, embroidered onto the front seat headrests and floor mats, round the interior off.
Standard specification is, otherwise, unchanged from the normal Style grade.
More about on-road performance
As with the Premcar-tuned Navara Pro-4X Warrior, the W600’s biggest changes have taken underneath its skin.
Aside from its road-biased wheels, the front sway bar has been replaced altogether and by a 22 mm piece at the rear.
Along with a retuned steering, the regular shock absorbers have been swapped for Koni shocks and frequency selective dampers.
At the same time, Walkinshaw has widened the front and rear track and revised the leaf springs of the rear suspension.
No power hike
As per its name indicates, the W600 retains the same 3.0-litre Lion turbodiesel V6 engine as the rest of the Amarok range, with the same 184kW/600Nm.
The Ford and General Motors co-developed 10-speed automatic gearbox again sends the amount of twist to all four wheels.
Price?
Still to be priced Down Under as sales only start in the third quarter, the W600 is anticipated to have a sticker price around the R1.1-million or R1.2-million mark based on the normal Style’s R1 076 500 sticker.
For the moment, though, this is purely speculative and will only be confirmed once local start, seemingly, in the final quarter of the year.
