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I honestly don’t care how many times people say that we are daft for doing performance road testing on double cab bakkies.
This is South Africa, the land where we call rolling blackouts load shedding and allocate cute little levels to this phenomenon to mask the catastrophic failure it is. It’s also a place where we use bakkies like we are contestants on Street Outlaws 405 OKC.
Battle of the bakkies
People spend more on aftermarket accessories and performance upgrades on bakkies and GTIs in Mzansi than they do on groceries and medical aid.
Roll your eyes all you want, but you know it is true. Pull up at a set of traffic lights in your double cab and the guy next to you in his will give you go. Guaranteed.
ALSO READ: WATCH: New Isuzu D-Max murders Hilux and Ranger on drag strip
Be out on the open road towing your house and come across another guy towing his house, you know the personal satisfaction you get from lugging past him is real.
This is also the reason that some manufacturers like Volkswagen and Mercedes bring stomping 3.0-litre V6s to market with their Amarok and X-Class. And why Ford will be bringing a 3.0-litre V6 to market in their new Ranger and Raptor.
Power and speed rules when it comes to living in the urban jungle, which is what most top-of-the-range double cabs end up doing.
Isuzu D-Max King of the Strip
Enter the Isuzu D-Max, in flaghsip V-Cross 4×4 automatic guise, that we rushed off to Gerotek to see how it would stack up against the competition when ran against the clock.
This all-new bakkie is the seventh generation Isuzu double cab that is said to bring the latest in refinement, quality, technology and efficiency to market.
As mentioned, the D-Max V-Cross brings an upgraded 3.0-litre turbodiesel to market that offers 140 kW of power and 450 Nm of torque.
Ford’s 2.0-litre bi-turbo Ranger is stronger with 157kW/500Nm, as is Toyota’s 2.8-litre Hilux with 150kW/500Nm. But this is on paper. What happens on the road can sometimes be a different story.
All the usual suspects run 0 to 100 km/h in the 12-second bracket. Surprise, surprise, the outgunned on-paper Isuzu D-Max V-Cross showed them all a proper pair of clean heels when it came to getting away from the traffic lights.
This Gqeberha-built bakkie not only hit 100 km/h in a mere 10.59 seconds, but it also shot them down in the real world 60 to 100 km/h and 60 to 140 km/h acceleration stakes too with a time of 6.09 seconds and 17.76 seconds respectively.
So, now that we have a new King of the Strip, how did our Isuzu D-Max V-Cross stack up in other areas?
From a styling point of view, I had many people complement our bakkie.
The Isuzu D-Max V-Cross is a good-looking machine that also offers the likes of LED projector headlamps and LED daytime running lights, LED edge lighting for the indicators on the mirror housings, LED combination tail lamps and an integrated LED high-mount brake light at the rear.
ALSO READ: WATCH: New Ford Ranger impresses on debut drive in South Africa
Inside you are greeted with high quality soft-touch materials and a combination of analogue dials for the rev counter and speedometer, along with a large 4.2-inch LCD multi-information display in the middle of the two.
A nine-inch touchscreen infotainment system features prominently in the centre stack and offers Apple CarPlay and Android Auto to seamlessly mirror your connected smartphone.
Safety gone too far
Where the Isuzu D-Max V-Cross continued to impress me and infuriate me at the same time was with its safety credentials and intelligent driver assist systems.
All brilliant in their execution and ability, except the lane departure prevention part, this feature had me believing in the afterlife.
When driving around and being distracted on your smartphone or trying to cut across lanes without indicating, which are our national sports, the Isuzu D-Max V-Cross reacts and aggressively jolts the steering back towards where you should be going.
Bravo, we need more rude awakenings like this. But not when you are towing a 1.4-ton race car down to the Free State.
Sometimes you need to give a big truck a little extra room and gently head towards the outside lines on the road, the fricking last thing you want is to have a tug of war battle with the steering on your bakkie about where it actually is that you want to be positioned.
Our Isuzu D-Max V-Cross felt that under the truck was a great idea. I didn’t think this was such a great idea and got tired of having this argument and eventually switched the feature off. Only to have it come back on every time after switching the bakkie off. You just gotta love technology.
Conclusion
In the coming months we are going to see an all-new Ranger and Amarok come to market with a whole new generation of tech onboard that is once again going to move the goal posts.
At R814 700 without any extras such lockable roller cover and easy lift tailgate etc, this Isuzu D-Max V-Cross plays up against the top end of the Ranger and Hilux offerings.
This said, I still think it is well worth consideration as it is very much on par with what they offer now.
Isuzu D-Max road test data
Model: Isuzu D-Max 3.0 TD V-Cross 4×4
Gearbox: 6-speed automatic transmission
Engine: 3.0-litre turbodiesel
Power: 140 kW @ 3 600 rpm
Torque: 450 Nm @ 1 600 – 2 600 rpm
Licensing Mass: 2 070 kg
Power to Weight: 68 kW / Tonne
Power to Capacity: 47 kW / Litre
0-100 km/h: 10.59 Seconds
1/4 Mile (402.34 m): 17.39 Seconds @ 127.89 km/h
1/2 Mile (804.68 m): 27.74 Seconds @ 149.68 km/h
1 Km (1000 m): 32.33 Seconds @ 156.64 km/h
60-100 km/h: 6.09 Seconds (in Drive Sport)
80-120 km/h: 8.18 Seconds (in Drive Sport)
60-140 km/h: 17.76 Seconds (in Drive Sport)
Claimed Top Speed: 175 km/h
Fuel Consumption: 8.1-litres / 100 km Claimed (9.8-litres Test Average)
Fuel Tank Size: 76 litres
Fuel Range: 938 km Claimed (776 km on Test)
CO2 Emissions: 2121 g/km
Vehicle Odometer: 10 665 Km
Test Temperature: 6 Degrees
Tyres Size: 265/60 R18
Tyres Make: General Grabber AT3
Warranty: 5 Year / 120 000 Km
Service Plan: 5 Year / 90 000 Km
Priced From: R814 700
Test Date: 12 July 2022
For more information on the Isuzu D-Max V-Cross, visit the manufacturer’s website.
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