Photo: Stefan Baldauf / Robert Kah
Let’s face it, even though Volkswagen owns different companies like Audi, Porsche and Lamborghini, they are not known for extremely powerful and fast cars. They leave that to their specialists from Italy or Stuttgart.
Actually, looking over the entire Volkswagen line-up you’d be hard pressed to find an engine with more than 3 liters of displacement. Only the Phaeton and Touareg models can brag with such a ‘performance’ and, even in these cases, they are the exception.
Taking a long hard look over Volkswagen’s philosophy, name and history, it actually makes sense. After all, it’s name does mean ‘the car of the people’ so affordability and cheap maintenance are part of any car that leaves Wolfsburg.
However, that doesn’t stop people from trying to create monstrous versions of cars that are usually relaxed and easy to live with. In this regard, Volkswagen even has some preferred tuning companies close at hand like ABT and MTM.
The latter is responsible for the monstrous pick-up truck we’re about to look at. The Amarok posted below has had a 4.2-liter V8 turbodiesel engine squeezed somehow under the bonnet, making 410 HP and nearly 1,000 Nm of torque, 930 to be more exact (686 lb-ft).
Hooked up to the 4Motion all-wheel-drive system, the car is capable of reaching 100 km/h (62 mph) in just six seconds and then go all the way up to a top speed of 222 km/h (139 mph), a drastic improvement over the numbers posted by the regular 2-liter diesel engine that usually powers VW’s truck.
To make sure you can also have fun behind the wheel of this beauty, the MTM crew got rid of the leaf springs at the back and replaced them with a Panhard rod combined with air springs. Of course, since the power increase is substantial, the brakes also had to be replaced, the MTM version now sporting 405x36 mm discs up front, sitting behind BBS SV wheels wrapped, in turn, in 295/40/R22 Michelin Latitude tires.
Alcantara dominates the interior now, being stitched all over, including on the steering wheel, the seats, center armrest and on the door panels. Carbon fibre could miss the party and was inserted all over under the bonnet and inside the cockpit, on the dash, around the navi screen.
Taking a long hard look over Volkswagen’s philosophy, name and history, it actually makes sense. After all, it’s name does mean ‘the car of the people’ so affordability and cheap maintenance are part of any car that leaves Wolfsburg.
However, that doesn’t stop people from trying to create monstrous versions of cars that are usually relaxed and easy to live with. In this regard, Volkswagen even has some preferred tuning companies close at hand like ABT and MTM.
The latter is responsible for the monstrous pick-up truck we’re about to look at. The Amarok posted below has had a 4.2-liter V8 turbodiesel engine squeezed somehow under the bonnet, making 410 HP and nearly 1,000 Nm of torque, 930 to be more exact (686 lb-ft).
Hooked up to the 4Motion all-wheel-drive system, the car is capable of reaching 100 km/h (62 mph) in just six seconds and then go all the way up to a top speed of 222 km/h (139 mph), a drastic improvement over the numbers posted by the regular 2-liter diesel engine that usually powers VW’s truck.
To make sure you can also have fun behind the wheel of this beauty, the MTM crew got rid of the leaf springs at the back and replaced them with a Panhard rod combined with air springs. Of course, since the power increase is substantial, the brakes also had to be replaced, the MTM version now sporting 405x36 mm discs up front, sitting behind BBS SV wheels wrapped, in turn, in 295/40/R22 Michelin Latitude tires.
Alcantara dominates the interior now, being stitched all over, including on the steering wheel, the seats, center armrest and on the door panels. Carbon fibre could miss the party and was inserted all over under the bonnet and inside the cockpit, on the dash, around the navi screen.
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