ISUZU could never be accused of stretching itself thin. Its history, at least in this market, is one of sticking to doing one thing, and doing it well. Wander into your friendly local Isuzu showroom today, and you’ll find just a single model, the mighty D-Max pick-up.
The no-nonsense, tough-as-a-hammer, does-what-it-says-on-the-tin D-Max is a far cry from the first vehicle that the Japanese manufacturer brought to these shores.
That was a sleek and sporty two-door hatchback-cum-coupe styled by Italian design don, Giorgetto Giugiaro, who - never one to sell himself short - deemed his wedge-shaped creation to be no less than a Copernican revolution in car design.
The car was called the Piazza Turbo, a puzzling juxtaposition that conjured up images of a town square in Italy that had somehow been given a performance boost. Indeed, the open air first floor area here at Irish News towers in College Street in Belfast city centre is also known as the piazza; though it has many charms, speed is not among them.
Still, it was with the Piazza Turbo that Isuzu first dipped its toe in the UK market in 1985. The first cars were slated for lacklustre handling and performance, which isn’t what you need if you’re trying to sell an expensive sports car, and soon the original importer got into difficulties.
Redemption came in the form of a new importer and a much-improved Lotus-fettled Piazza. Still, the Piazza was an outlier; Isuzu was by now well into its stride as a purveyor of a stout off-roader in the mould of the Toyota Land Cruiser, Mitsubishi Shogun and Land Rover.
The Trooper, as it was called, became a hit, so much so that by 1989 the Piazza was dropped from the brochures and it was 4x4 all the way. As well as the Trooper, Isuzu started to sell its pick-ups - first a model called the TF, then the Rodeo, and by 2012 the first D-Max was launched.
Isuzu has now concentrated its efforts on the D-Max pick-up alone for more than 20 years, and it shows. There’s a focus to this truck, a real sense that decades of experience has been distilled into this one vehicle to help it fulfil its particular role in life. It’s not stretching a point to say that it’s similar to the feeling you get from the latest Porsche 911; careful evolution over many years, listening to owners and keeping an eye on the opposition has kept it at the top of its game.
An Isuzu D-Max is no Porsche 911, of course. But then a 911 can’t tow 3.5 tonnes or carry a tonne-plus in the back.
The truck has been updated recently. There are some gentle tweaks to the exterior, though you’d likely need to be a D-Max aficionado to readily spot the difference. Easier to identify is the smarter interior, which neatly straddles the line between workhorse and car-like.
Variations on the D-Max theme include single-cab versions with two doors and two seats, extended-cab with a tiny back seat-cum-useful storage area accessed via small doors, and the double-cab, with proper back seats and doors. However, the larger your cab, the smaller your load bed; it all depends on whether you prioritise carrying people or stuff.
Similar to the feeling you get from the latest Porsche 911, the Isuzu D-Max is the result of careful evolution over many years, listening to owners and keeping an eye on the opposition. A D-Max is no Porsche 911, of course. But then a 911 can’t tow 3.5 tonnes or carry a tonne-plus in the back…
Isuzu offers the D-Max in three ranges - business, all-purpose and adventure - and there are four trim levels: Utility, DL20, DL40 and V-Cross. Put all that together, and there’s a pretty extensive choice (an approach which brings that Porsche 911 back to mind…).
The engine is a 1.9-litre diesel, with 162bhp and 266lb ft of torque. Those may not sound like the chunkiest figures, but the D-Max deploys it all to, well, the max. A ‘shift on the fly’ transmission that lets you activate four-wheel-drive on the move is a bonus. A rear differential lock comes on most models, emphasising the pick-up’s serious off-road credentials. There’s also hill descent control and hill start assist. Isuzu backs the durability of the D-Max with a 125,000-mile, five-year warranty.
There’s a bunch of safety kit standard on all models - from cruise control and traffic sign recognition to autonomous emergency braking and lane departure warning - and the D-Max scores an impressive five-star Euro NCap rating.
I spent some quality time with the D-Max in V-Cross double-cab guise, which is the top-selling combination.
There’s no getting away from the sheer size and height of the D-Max but it continues the trend that sees pick-ups become less agricultural to drive and more car-like in their manners. Not quite enough, though, that you can forget you’re driving something designed to cope with big trailers and loads, as evidenced by the slightly bouncy unladen ride and slow steering, for example.
The well appointed interior - leather trim, Apple CarPlay, electrically adjustable seats and so on - helps with the car-like impression, though. Practical touches - cup holders, USB charging points, storage pockets - are abundant. The tailgate opens ‘softly’, rather than dropping down like a guillotine.
A V-Cross will set you back £36,496 if you’re able to avail of the ‘commercial vehicle on the road price’, or £43,716 if you pay VAT. Tick the box for the automatic gearbox, and those prices are £38,495 and £46,116 respectively.
If you’re unfamiliar with specialist vehicle prices, the cost of a pick-up like the D-Max may surprise you (check the price of something like a Ford Transit…). The Isuzu more than justifies its price through deep engineering, strength, safety and reliability. This workhorse might have some car-like qualities, but it’s no show pony.
