2024 Toyota HiLux vs 2023 Volkswagen Amarok

What's the difference?

The HiLux’s age-defying sales and resale values confirm it’s still one of the top two 4x4 dual cabs on the market. However, its new V-Active technology feels underdone, as it adds weight (we reckon about 40kg) and complexity without gains in performance you can feel or economy you can meaningfully measure. Hopefully, Toyota’s next crack at a 'hybrid' HiLux will be more convincing.

The Life might one of the more budget-friendly offerings in the Amarok range, but for mine, it's also among the smartest buys in the family.

So ask yourself, do you really need that V6?

The HiLux’s enduring appeal is the ‘unbreakable’ feel when you step aboard. Even though its curvaceous styling is increasingly dated, we can’t fault the build quality as it displays a peerless standard of fit and finish which never wavers.

Our only major gripe (since its launch in 2015) is the cramped rear seating. It’s particularly tight for tall people, giving that I’m 186cm and when sitting in the rear seat with the driver’s seat in my position, my knees are pressed into its backrest and my head rubs on the roof lining.

Shoulder room for three large adults is equally challenging and tolerable only for short trips. We reckon the Ranger’s more accommodating rear stalls are significant in its sales leadership.

It feels a little weird to describe any kind of dual-cab ute as "elegant", I know. We're used to these trucks looking big and bulky, with tough usually being the singular design brief.

But you know what, I'm going to. Because the Amarok does look somehow elegant – mature, even – both in its Core and Life guises.

It's partly the colours available – the Bright Beige Metallic especially is lovely — but it's also the design philosophy overall. VW talks about it, and when they do it can sound like marketing guff, but the Amarok does genuinely look like it has European sensibilities.

Climb inside the Core and you're met with the rough-and-tumble cabin of an entry-level workhorse. The steering wheel feels low end, the flooring is vinyl, and there's a manual parking brake, cloth seats and hard cabin materials.

That said, it's all nicely laid out, and it all works visually, especially when you consider the purpose of the Core.

The Life improves matters, with comfy - still fabric - seats, a leather steering wheel and a cooler, leather-wrapped shifter, and a nice smattering of colours through the cabin, though the hard plastics remain.

With its 2150kg kerb weight and 3050kg GVM, the SR5 V-Active has a 900kg payload rating. It can also tow up to 3500kg of braked trailer but with its 5850kg GCM (or how much it can legally carry and tow at the same time) that would require a substantial 700kg reduction in payload to only 200kg, which could be used up by a driver and passenger alone. 

Alternatively, you could lower the trailer weight limit by the same 700kg to 2800kg (which is still a sizeable trailer) and retain the SR5’s maximum payload. We reckon most owners would do this anyway, given few (if any) would need to tow 3500kg.

The load tub is 1570mm long, 1645mm wide and 495mm deep with 1105mm between the wheel housings. Therefore, it can’t carry a standard Aussie pallet but will take a Euro-sized one. There are four load-anchorage points and we welcome the new lower/raise assistance for the hefty tailgate.

Cabin storage includes a large-bottle holder and bin in each front door, plus pop-out cupholders on either side of the dash, upper and lower glove boxes (with the upper having access to air-con) and an overhead glasses holder.

The latest centre console layout has a wireless phone-charging pad and vertical phone-storage slot, small-bottle/cupholder, a bin for small items and a box with padded lid that doubles as an elbow rest.

Rear passengers get a bottle-holder and bin in each door, pockets on each front seat backrest and a fold-down centre armrest with two more cupholders.

Only the narrower driver’s side of the 60/40-split rear seat base-cushion can swing up and be stored vertically as the passenger-side is now fixed, given the V-Active’s 48V battery resides beneath it and is ventilated by a louvered air intake in the passenger footwell.

They’re all pretty damn practical, these Amaroks, and that’s true of both the Life and Core models, too.

While it’s slightly narrower than the model it replaces, this Ford Ranger-based Amarok is slightly longer, with a longer wheelbase, which the brand says delivers more backseat space, while still being able to carry a pallet in its tray.

It will also tow 3.5 tonnes braked, deliver a 988kg payload - slightly down on the Core’s 1042kg - and the roof is rated to 350kg.

There are plenty of off-road goodies, too. The 4Motion system delivers high-range and low-range 4WD, and both variants offer 235mm of ground clearance, and 800mm of wading depth.

And I can tell you from experience that there’s more than enough off-road capability on offer here to take you about as far as you want to go on the weekend.

The Core opens Amarok proceedings, listing at $52,990. And, unfortunately, it does very much feel like an entry-level model, with a key you need to insert and turn, a manual handbrake, vinyl flooring and the least-powerful engine available.

Happily, it doesn't so much look like one. In fact, externally, the big differences between the Core and the Life is the latter's body-coloured mirrors, and the former's external fixing rail that runs alongside the tray.

It gets 17-inch alloys, a standard tow bar, LED headlights and DRLs (the former so powerful that a colleague riding ahead of me asked me to turn my high-beams off) and some impressive in-cabin tech, including an 8.0-inch digital cockpit, and a 10.0-inch central screen that loads up your Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

The Life is one rung above the entry-level Core model, and it lists at $56,990, which is not chump change. But it does deliver one of the best engines on offer - which the Core does not - and you get plenty of niceties, as well as all the ute non-negotiables.

Outside, there’s LED lighting - headlights, DRLs and fog-lights - as well as 17-inch alloys. The tow bar is still standard fit, too.

Inside, there's the same infotainment tech, along with a leather steering wheel and gearshifter, eight-way driver and passenger seat adjustment, and an electric park brake.

The venerable (1GD-FTV) 2.8 litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel with V-Active produces the same 150kW and 500Nm as the standard engine, driving through a six-speed torque converter automatic.

However, Toyota claims fuel economy gains of up to 9.5 per cent when this drivetrain is combined with the new hybrid technology, which comprises a 48-volt electric motor-generator, 48-volt lithium-ion battery and idle-stop system.

The turbo-diesel engine uses a silent-belt to drive the motor-generator, which charges the battery under the rear seat. This battery, which Toyota claims weighs less than eight kilograms with 4.3Ah capacity, also supplies electricity to the vehicle’s 12-volt system through a DC/DC converter.

This system can send up to 8.4kW of power and 65Nm of torque through the motor-generator to assist the engine. Toyota claims this delivers smoother and quieter yet more responsive performance and reduces engine load under acceleration. It also results in a small reduction in idle speed from 720rpm to 600rpm.

Deceleration and braking energy are also recovered, converted into electricity and stored in the 48V battery for later use.  Toyota claims “hydraulic braking combined with regenerative braking creates a more effective and natural deceleration feel and supports downhill manoeuvring.”

The idle-stop system does not use the starter motor like conventional set-ups. Instead, the electric motor-generator, which is permanently connected to the engine via its belt-drive, delivers this function with greater smoothness and quietness.

Idle-stop duration can also be extended by the driver and, when restarting the engine on inclines, the idle-stop system retains brake pressure until enough drive force is generated to ensure smooth acceleration.

In another first for HiLux, its part-time, dual-range 4x4 system (with switchable rear diff-lock) in V-Active variants is paired with 'Multi-Terrain Select' to enhance off-road ability.

The driver can switch between six traction control settings tailored to suit a variety of terrain including 'Auto', 'Sand' and 'Mud' (high- and low-range), 'Deep Snow' and 'Dirt' (high-range) and Rock (low-range).

The Core gets the entry-level diesel, with its single-turbo, 2.0-litre, four-cylinder engine producing 125kW and 405Nm. It pairs with a six-speed auto, and delivers decent but not life-changing grunt.

The Life, though, steps it up. It gets a familiar (from the last-gen Ranger Raptor) bi-turbo-diesel engine, with the outputs dialled up to 154kW and 500Nm. It pairs with a 10-speed auto, and is an engaging, entertaining drive.

We completed a total distance of 580km, which comprised a mix of city and suburban driving with an empty load tub and up to four adults on board, plus some freeway/highway running with a near-maximum payload.

When we stopped to refuel at the end of our test, the dash display was claiming average combined consumption of 9.5L/100km, which was lineball with our own 9.4 figure calculated from fuel bowser and tripmeter readings.

Both are higher than Toyota’s official 7.2L/100km figure but within the usual 2.0-3.0L/100km discrepancy between OEM ratings and real-world figures.

Interestingly, the last time we tested a 4x4 SR5 auto dual cab ute (without V-Active) in 2023, using similar routes and payloads, we achieved 9.6L/100km. So, the V-Active’s drop in consumption was only about 2.0 per cent, compared to Toyota’s claim of up to 9.5 per cent.

So, based on our real-world figure, you could expect a useful driving range of around 870km from its 80-litre tank.

The Amarok is fitted with an 80-litre tank, and VW reckons you can expect 7.2L/100km on the combined cycle in the Life, and 8.0L in the Core.

We found the real-world fuel use was closer to 10L/100km in both models, but that included some off-roading, too.

If you’re expecting a tangible difference in performance with the V-Active system, you’ll probably be disappointed. Fact is, after almost 600km of testing, on a variety of roads with a variety of loads, we could not detect any noticeable gain in acceleration, braking or smoothness compared to a standard SR5.

That’s not to say the V-Active system is not delivering up to 8.4kW of power and 65Nm of torque, as Toyota claims. It’s just that these gains are modest and delivered so discreetly that they are undetectable in real-world driving.

This was perhaps best demonstrated when we loaded 650kg into the load tub, which when combined with our two-man crew was a total payload of 830kg. That was only 70kg shy of the payload limit.

It made light work of our 13 per cent gradient 2.0km set climb at 60km/h by self-shifting down to fourth gear at 2250rpm, where it tapped maximum torque to easily haul this payload to the summit.

However, in our previous test of a standard SR5, on the same incline with 100kg more payload, the gear selection and engine rpm were the same as the V-Active. The same applied to engine-braking on the way down.

The question that really needs to be asked here, I think, is do you really - really - need a V6 engine? Because if that answer is no, and it would be for me, then I think the Life might be the pick of the Amarok range, both from a price and power perspective.

Don't get me wrong, the Core's engine isn't massively underwhelming. But it's the entry-level powertrain, and it feels like it's working harder than the Life's diesel donk.

If you're even vaguely interested in dual-cab utes, you'll know the bi-turbo engine on offer in the Life as the driving force behind that other dinosaur-themed off-roader, and it's no less enjoyable in this new application.

Lightning fast it is not, but the power on offer is really more than enough here, and not once was I longing for a V6, whether we were on the road or off it.

There's also something to be said for the refinement on offer from the modern dual-cab ute, with the Amarok genuinely filling that family car that can go anywhere brief, without sacrificing on the ute essentials.

Part of that is down to the ride, which VW says has been tuned firm on purpose. It can be a little jarring when you hit a rough patch or bump, especially when off-roading, but the trade-off is a ute that doesn't sway or float too much when cornering, helping the Amarok feel more SUV-like than an old-school dual cab.

Downsides? The 10-speed auto fitted to the Life shifts smoothly enough, but it's pretty busy, shifting up or down when you don't really expect it to, and with only the lightest accelerator input. That, and the diesel thrum is a pretty constant companion, delivering background noise in the cabin whenever you're accelerating.

The Amarok range carries a five-star ANCAP safety rating, and nine airbags, and every model, including the Core, is fitted with a host of high-tech safety kit, too.

AEB with pedestrian and cyclist monitoring is standard fit, as are front and rear parking sensors, with Lane Keep Assist, Lane Departure Warning and adaptive cruise control taking the stress out of freeway cruises.

The Life then adds blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert, but Volkswagen suggests the two technologies will be added range wide in the future.

Toyota covers the HiLux with a five-year/unlimited km warranty which is par for the course in the mainstream market.

Service intervals are relatively short at six months/10,000km whichever occurs first. Capped-price servicing for the first five years/100,000km totals $3889 or an average of $779 per year.

The Amarok gets a five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, and you get 12 months of roadside assistance thrown in, too. You can also bulk-buy your services for the first five years, too, for $1800.

Service intervals are 12 months and 15,000km.