Last Orders – Isuzu D-Max
Just because there is a new model just around the corner doesn’t mean Isuzu’s current model is no longer worth a look. NZ4WD Editor Ross MacKay explains why.
So, the current model Isuzu D-Max – which has been on sale here for eight years with only one major upgrade – is not the newest, nor the fastest, not the cheapest nor the flashiest ute on the market.
No, the current model D-Max – which is on run-out now pending the release here sooner rather than later on the allnew 2020 MY version – sells on the merits of simply getting the job done.
“How quaint,” for instance, I thought, when magazine sales manager Dan Prestige handed me a ‘key’ to the LS-spec auto I used to re-acquaint myself with the current model just before Christmas.
For $ 56,990 RRP you are buying a solid, practical, well-built andreas on ablyspecced turbo-diesel double-cab utility with a hard-won reputation for ruggedness and reliability.
It’s worth noting too, that though they may look pretty much the same from the outside the D-Max you can buy today is not quite the same as the one you might have looked closely at two or three years ago.
Bit of a tickle up
Since my first stint behind the wheel of one (in mid-2016) the engine has had a bit of a tickle up to produce more torque (from 380 to 430Nm) and the previous five-speed auto has been superseded by a trick new Aisin-built six-speed unit.
Electronic safety systems are also now right up to date with hill descent control, hill start assist and trailer sway control all added since that first encounter.
To keep emissions to a minimum Isuzu also added a diesel particulate filter.
It also saw a general tidy-up in the cabin, one which included the introduction of a hard-wearing new fabric for the seats front and rear, the use of more ‘softfinish’ upholstery instead of hard, brittle, moulded plastic.
In actual use, ride – which up until recently was the Achilles Heel of most ‘work’ utes – has always on the acceptable side of ‘too stiff’ but Isuzu has (quietly and with zero fuss) introduced a modified rear end around the same time for even greater compliance.
Some achievement when you consider that at the same time (or thereabouts) braked towing capacity was upped from 3000 to 3500kg and payload was increased to a more than useful max of 1219kg.
One and two-up on typical country road chip seal the current model still has a loose-limbed, bouncy kind of vibe to it, as if someone has screwed the rebound adjustor (If it had one) all the way in. This actually makes for an excellent mix of ride and bump absorption on smooth gravel roads with nary a hint of ‘scuttle-shake’ between ladder chassis and (bolt-on) body
Corrugations though? Not so much!
Plenty of character
In saying that, like the rubbery feel to the steering and one too many turns you need to get from lock to lock, you 1) get used to it remarkably quickly as well, and, 2) end up if not quite ‘liking’ it at least thinking of it as more a character trait than character flaw.
Handling itself remains a bit of a mixed bag with a nose-heavy feel and strong understeer meaning composure falls away fairly quickly as road speed increases.
This is exacerbated by a lack of lateral back support from the otherwise all-day comfortable front seats, naturally limiting your maximum speed through corners on a typical Kiwi (sealed) back road to not much more than the open road speed limit.
Which when you think about it isn’t such a bad thing!
With a new model on its way Isuzu dealers around the country will no doubt be flexing their calculator fingers in readiness to ‘look after you.’
I’ve always thought that a three or four-year-old D-Max would make a good second-hand buy. Now the soon-to-besuperseded current one might just make someone a very cost-effective new one!