RAM 2500 vs Volkswagen Amarok

What's the difference?

It was a couple of years ago when Ram Australia attempted to ween its faithful off the Hemi petrol V8 engine. It wasn’t an easy process, either, as the warbling V8 had really resonated (no pun intended) with buyers Down Under.

But Ram still turned the PR machine up to 11 to convince us that the new turbocharged inline six-cylinder replacing the V8 in the 1500 pick-up was the full quid. As in, we were invited to perform 0-100km/h dashes in the outgoing V8 and the new turbo-six, to demonstrate how much faster the new six was (and it was, particularly in High Output form).

So guess what happened next? Yep, Ram is reintroducing the Hemi V8, claiming its buyers never stopped wanting one. Of course, it’s not that cut and dried: The V8 won’t be available in the 1500, but it is making its first volume appearance in the 2500 Heavy Duty version of the Ram pick-up. (The 2500 range was updated about a year ago.)

So it’s not quite the about-face by Ram that it might seem. But it’s still recognition of the fact that the people who populate the full-sized pick-up market aren’t quick to dispense with tradition.

Speaking of tradition, the badge on the new Ram 2500 V8 is 'Warlock' a name first used on Chrysler’s (and Dodge’s) tricked-up pick-ups of the 1970s and sold under the 'Adult Toys' range of utes and vans.

This is a very important ute if you’re Volkswagen Australia.

A lot of time and money has gone into making sure this, the 2026 VW Amarok W600 as engineered by Walkinshaw, is the ultimate driver’s ute. Not the best 4X4, but the best ute on the road. Sounds like an odd task, right?

It might be, but a couple of thousand people bought the last version of this ute, so why not try to make it better?

Over a long development period and a steady build-up, including previews at the former Holden proving ground at Lang Lang, Volkswagen has teased its ‘ultimate driver’s ute’.

Now, we get to put the production version to the test on the very roads that helped shape it during its development in Tasmania.