Why Driving A VW EOS Is The Best!
What could be better than zooming along a beautiful country road in your Volkswagen EOS with the top down on a lazy summer day? Knowing that you can put the top up with a touch of a button even while driving should you get stuck behind a large manure truck along the way! One of the few drawbacks of driving the innovative retractable hardtop EOS is that with the factory settings you have to have the vehicle stopped in order to put the top up or down. More convenience, more control and more functions are what you get when you have the EOS Roof-Control-Module Ultimate installed on your vehicle. You can decide whether you want the indicator lights flashing or the horn sounding while reversing your vehicle and numerous other little decisions that allow you to dictate how the vehicle operates instead of it putting limitations on you. Maybe you prefer the interior roof button changed so that up is down and down is up. How about opening the roof with the factory key remote, get in the care and drive off even while the roof is still operating. It should be up to you and with the EOS Roof-Control-Module Ultimate, it is. What is more frustrating than spending all your hard earned cash on a vehicle only to find out that you can;t use it the way you would like to.
The hefty ladder-framed Amarok can鈥檛 truly match the poise, dynamism or comfort of contemporary road-focused SUVs, but with V6 muscle many more drivers should find the vehicle rewarding enough for that not to matter. The interior fit and finish is excellent, including a handsome new fascia design that looks and feels better screwed together than any rival bar the Mercedes X-Class. The front seats offer loads of adjustment, and with full steering wheel adjustment, the driving position is more car-like and comfortable than you might expect from a pick-up. Over 18 million Toyota Hiluxes have been built since 1968, making it one of the best-selling trucks in the world. It鈥檚 an icon of the pick-up world, with owners in some of the most inhospitable places on earth relying on its durability. The latest HiLux is bigger in every dimension than before, benefiting that all-important load bay, which is a full 130mm wider than the old Hilux鈥檚.
It can also tow up to 3,200kg - a strong figure, but behind that of the Nissan Navara. Inside, it鈥檚 a huge improvement over the last model. Gone are the flimsy plastics and dated switchgear, replaced by a dashboard which looks and feels like it鈥檚 from one of Toyota鈥檚 passenger cars. There are plenty of hard plastics to remind you you鈥檙e in a pick-up, but it鈥檚 now on par with the car-like Nissan Navara for fit and finish. The Invincible-spec model has a decent kit tally, too, with a seven-inch touchscreen with DAB and Bluetooth, cruise control, climate control and keyless start, while the Invincible X gets even more kit and a unique looking front end, too. Power comes from a 2.4-litre diesel engine with a healthy torque figure of 400Nm. That鈥檚 60Nm more than the 3.0-litre unit in the old Hilux delivered, but it鈥檚 down on the top spec engines offered by rivals. Still, despite the rear leaf-spring layout, the Hilux is surprisingly good to drive. There鈥檚 lots of tyre squeal but the ride is comfortable, the steering is accurate and body control isn鈥檛 too bad considering the elevated stance.
As with any pick-up, if the load bay is empty, the ride can be a little bouncy and there's flex detectable in the chassis. Constant evolution means the Isuzu D-Max is still a top pick-up choice on the market, even though there are plenty of newer rivals out there. It鈥檚 still a solid choice though, offering low running costs, a five-year warranty and a 3.5-tonne towing capacity, and the broad range of models means there's a truck to suit all sorts of jobs. The load bay in the single cab model measures at 2,305mm by 1,570mm, with a payload capacity of 1,128kg or 1,136 depending on the drivetrain. The double cab gets a load bay of 1,552mm by 1,530mm, but the payload capacity varies based on the model you choose - with the maximum being 1,096kg. The towing weight for 4x4 models is 3,500kg, dropping to 2.500kg otherwise. Not surprisingly, the Utility specification models are very basic inside the cab, with easy-clean trim and plenty of hard plastics to stand up to work use. However, even the most basic models have air-conditioning, front electric windows and height-adjustable headrests.
