In a high-competition environment, world’s largest manufacturers don’t just have to fight for the consumer attention by releasing new products. They also have to compete for prestigious titles and awards, to literally try one’s strength against each other. Remember a Toyota Tundra tugging a 68-tonne space shuttle? A Nissan Patrol forcing a 170-tonne airplane to budge from its position? Or, most remarkably of all, a Porsche Cayenne hauling a 285-tonne Airbus A380? Well, the Volkswagen Amarok is now game, too.
According to the video revealed by the manufacturer, the “people’s” pickup is still only warming up compared to the competition, though. The footage shows it tugging along a 43-tonne, 30-meter-long tram (street-car, trolley car, pick your favorite). Not the hardest achievement to get, but an achievement nonetheless.
The Volkswagen Amarok featured in the video comes equipped with a 3.0-liter V6 diesel engine good for 258 hp (192 kW). An in-built performance boost feature allows it to temporarily increase its output to 271 hp (202 kW).
This is neither the first nor the most spectacular time VW takes on weight challenges, though. A VW Touareg equipped with a five-liter, 10-cyl. diesel engine successfully tugged a 155-tonne Boeing 747 along the runway sometime in 2000s.
We aren’t sure yet whether the German manufacturer plans to beat the record set by the Porsche Cayenne, but practice, as you know, makes perfect.
Photo: Volkswagen