Now We Have a Damn Good Reason to Say that the Volkswagen Amarok Is Better Than the Ford F-150 Raptor

TopSpeed

By Sidd Dhimaan

Published Oct 13, 2019

Volkswagen can drag about this, err, I mean brag about this

Drag races are fun and there’s no denying that. But when you think about drag races, you seldom see trucks take a fierce stance and go up against their counterparts. However, Carwow thought that pitting four popular mid-size trucks against one another would be a good idea.

The publication decided to invite two German and two American guests to prove their mettle in a straight-line dash. The guests of honor include the likes of Mercedes X-Class, Volkswagen Amarok, Ford Ranger Raptor, and Ford F-150 Raptor. We have given out the winner already, but did Amarok have to break a sweat to take down its rivals?

It’s All About The Power Specs

Before we get to the races, let’s lay out the specs of all the competitors. The Mercedes X-Class comes with a 3.0-liter, V-6 turbodiesel engine that makes 258 horses and 406 pound-feet of torque. The Ford Ranger Raptor, on the other hand, comes packed with a 2.0-liter, four-cylinder diesel engine that produces 211 horsepower and 369 pound-feet of torque, whereas the “big daddy” F-150 Raptor features a 6.2-liter, naturally aspirated V-8 mill that churns out 411 ponies and 431 pound-feet of twist.

Why Is The Mercedes X-Class So Slow?

In the first drag race, the Amarok took the lead and maintained it all the way till the finish line. Then came in the F-150 Raptor and the Mercedes X-Class, and finally Ford Ranger Raptor tailing everyone. This was actually expected considering the specs of each of them. The Amarok took 16.5 seconds to finish the quarter-mile race. The X-Class and the F-150 Raptor took 0.4 seconds extra to cover the same distance, whereas the Ranger Raptor took 18.3 seconds to cover the quarter mile.

Plays Adele’s Rolling In The Deep

The next one was a rolling race with all of them starting at 50 mph. Point to be noted, all of them pulled off in ‘Comfort’ mode. This time, too, the Amarok raced away, but the Ranger Raptor sprung a surprise by taking the second position, which was short-lived. Another rolling race took place wherein all the trucks started at 50 mph in ‘Sports’ mode. The X-Class did better than the American counterparts, but the Amarok still kept the lead.

Poor Ranger Raptor Lost All The Battles

Finally, a braking test took place where all the trucks braked hard from 70 mph. The Amarok, weighing in at 4,600 pounds, won this test again. The X-Class, weighing as much as the Amarok was a little slow to come to a halt. It was followed by the 5,000-pound Ranger Raptor. The most shocking result was the 5,400-pound F-150 Raptor, not because it came last, but because it took over 30 meters more than the Amarok to come to a complete halt.

Final Thoughts

Seeing all the results, the Amarok is the true, well-rounded performer here. It’s the lightest, most agile one, and manages to strike a balance when it comes power specs, and also offers great braking capabilities.

We are not biased towards it, but let the poor product bask in the glory because it has been under the F-Series’ shadow since forever. If you were in the market for a pickup truck, which one of these four would you go for? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.