Made to get some mud on it
A PLEASURE ON THE ROAD, VERY CAPABLE OFF THE TAR
Being a keen off road driver who had to get rid of his gas guzzling 3 ton fully kitted out behemoth and replace it with a fuel sipping Bluemotion VW Polo, I was quite excited when I heard I was going to be testing a double cab bakkie.
But I was quite dubious of its off-road ability when I heard it was a 4x2. I do know that 4x2s are generally not meant for the type of off-road driving I like to do.
The fact that it comes fitted with a diff-lock intrigued me though … surely they wouldn’t put that on a car that wasn’t intended to be driven in rough terrain.
The Isuzu X-Rider is a full size double cab with a 4x2 transmission. It’s huge compared to my Polo, but pretty much the same size as my previous off-road machine, a Mitsubishi Pajero 4x4. This took a bit of getting used to at first as it feels like the roads have gotten smaller and you’re going to drive over everything around you. Then having driven it in traffic for a few days, I got used to that high road position again.
The basic look and styling is modern and really looks the part with rock sliders standard and a mean front end sporting a bold red Isuzu logo. X-Rider decals on various places around the car really add to the look.
The inside is basic, but has everything you need, like radio, air conditioner and quite a few nooks and crannies to put various things that end up all over the car.
Most of my driving was on the road and it’s a dream for such a big car. It performed well in town, never running out of power and on the highway it runs quite comfortably at 120 km/h, but my main aim was to take it off road to get it a bit dirty.
On a side note, I took advantage of the fact I had a bakkie for a while and bought a new oven, loaded it in the back with no problems. Not that any problem would be expected in a bakkie of any sort, but it sure was easier than trying to load it into, or more likely onto, a VW Polo.
Eventually, I found some time to get back to my special secret off road place that I used to frequent. I hadn’t been there for ages, but it was still the same, some axle twisters, a few dongas and a bit of mud.
I used to make it a point to go there every time I found myself driving in the area, just to get my off road fix and to get a bit of mud on my car … “You got to look the part.”
First things first: I put on the diff-lock and took it over some rough muddy ground, with no problem. Then I moved to the dongas and axle twisters where I tested the diff-lock for real. It also handled this with no problem.
As there always was before, a couple of people walking by looked at me with a bit of suspicion or more likely confusion as they saw me driving in circles looking for the roughest line to test the car’s suspension and grip.
Later, while taking some pictures of the car, I contemplated driving over the very steep obstacle that I used to love driving over before. This is a sharp incline with a decline that puts the car at a very precarious angle and is not for the faint-hearted.
But remembering this car wasn’t mine, I decided to give that a skip. With the lack of a low range I wouldn’t feel comfortable doing extreme off-roading, but that being said, I was very impressed with the capabilities of this car.
The inside is basic, but has everything you need, like radio, air conditioner and quite a few nooks and crannies to put various things that end up all over the car.