Here's our first Volkswagen Amarok Vs the all new Ford Ranger comparison review. we are in the process of writing up a VW Amarok drive report as our opinion varies from most of the published review to date!

It has only been 6 months since the all new VW Amarok was released and it is amazing how quickly the market can change. At first we thought the Amarok was going to beat the Hilux and Navara  easily but that was not the case. Then after seeing the Ford Ranger things have changed again.

The Amarok quickly dated both inside and out and while reported a good commercial we were not impressed as you can see in our prior reviews. Then we saw the Ford Ranger and was immediately taken by it's up to date design specifications and packaging. The interior and exterior are a great combination in isolation or when compared to the competition. See below for more details.

Ford Ranger 
VS
Volkswagen Amarok 

Sit inside the Ranger and you instantly think that this is a proper car that is practical and modern. There are great touches like in dial LED temperature settings, a separate information screen and larger glove box and centre. Little thing like a properly located door grips and adult sized buttons and dials help. When paired with a mobile phone the convenient keypad will also win many trades people with dirty hands. It's not perfect in terms of storage like missing a place for the mobile phone. Cup holders are for cups and drink bottles

The Amarok has glaring interior design flaws, like pointless dash top uncovered tray, carpeted door sleeves, impractical and tiny glove box and just one gap in the centre dash for storage. The large covered centre arm rest storage is useful though but not any different to the competitors. The Amarok interior is also very plain to look at but has nice quality touches.

In terms of engines and technology the Ranger and Amarok are equals. The Ranger has the novelty of the 5 cylinder engine whilst the Amarok produces more power for less capacity. However despite the power neither can be described as road racers. The Ranger's more economical engines at least on paper also produce slight less power than the Amarok (or Hilux for that matter) for the similar specifications. Sure it trails the top range Nissan Navara but that would be difficult to beat for 2011 at least. So far we are impressed with the new Ford Ranger can't wait for a drive can't believe that a Ford beats the best from Germany.

In the real world is where it all counts and great specifications does not mean it will be a good drive and unfortunately VW's reliability problems on the popular internet isn't a selling point.

Ford Ranger
2011 FROM $42,390 AUD

VW Amarok
2011 FROM $43,990 AUD