SA Road Tests

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This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. I drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under real-world South African conditions. Some of the vehicles driven are world cars as well, so what you read here possibly applies to the models you get where you live.

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Laid back: 2019 Isuzu D-Max 3.0 Double cab 4x4 LX automatic

Remains honest

Posted: June 7, 2019

The numbers:
Base price: R627 900
Engine: Isuzu 4JJ1-TC HO, 2999 cc, four-cylinder, common rail, direct injection turbodiesel
Power: 130 kW at 3600 rpm
Torque: 380 Nm between 1800 and 2800 rpm
Acceleration and top speed: See text
Real life fuel consumption: About 10.5 l/100 km
Tank: 80 litres
Tare: 2100 kg
GVM: 3100 kg
GCM: 6000 kg
Payload: 945 kg
Maximum towing capacity (braked) within GCM: 3500 kg
Turning circle: 12.8 metres
Ground clearance: 220 mm
Approach/departure/breakover angles: 30/22.7/22.4 degrees
Wading depth: 600 mm
Standard tyre: 255/60R18 A/T
Spare: Full size alloy
Warranty: 5 years/120 000 km with roadside assistance
Service plan: 5 years/90 000 km, at annual or 15 000 km intervals

Apart from the name change to D-Max, bringing South Africa’s KB into line with other markets, quite a few things have changed since 2017.

There have been some styling tweaks and LX versions now have six-speed gearboxes, keyless entry and starting, powered adjusters for the driver’s seat, Brake Override System (BOS - more later), LED headlamps, tail lights and running lamps and an upgraded infotainment system with eight-inch touch screen. A 9.1-inch setup with navigation is available optionally.

What has not changed is that the three-litre engine we get here still develops 380 Newton-metres of torque rather than 430 Nm like the Euro-4, Blue Power version used overseas. But that runs on 50-ppm, or cleaner, fuel and South African Isuzisti could be reluctant to change.

Twenty-one of the 30 models on offer feature Electronic Stability Control, Hill Start Assist and Hill Descent Control. That means everything from the 250 HO Fleetside (Safety), single-cab, model upward.

BOS, an extension of ESC, restricts accelerator input when the brake pedal is applied, so reducing stopping distances under emergency conditions. We think it makes more sense in high performance vehicles than in working trucks of D-Max’s size and power output, although we drove a Mazda BT-50 with this feature in 2017.

Here’s a heads-up for those who taught themselves to use both feet when driving automatics: Unlearn quickly. Should your left foot graze the brake pedal, even lightly, any accelerator pressure will meet with a heart-stopping flat spot that could be dangerous in traffic.

On the plus side, the new ‘box incorporates downhill engine braking; like that on some high-performance cars we know. Swings and roundabouts.

It isn’t as if you really need quick transitions from braking to acceleration anyway; this is a pickup, not a Porsche. Speaking of performance, the new six-speed Aisin TB60-LS transmission is not designed for lighting up your tyres. Progress is leisurely; better attuned to a lifestyle measured in terms of milking times, mealtimes and tea breaks than in zero to 100 km/h sprints. Isuzu SA is one of eight local pickup vendors that no longer  publish such plebeian information.

On the other hand, while accepting that speed and acceleration are of secondary importance, we do like to know whether the vehicle is a stone or not. We therefore spent hours combing the web to satisfy our curiosity. And learned that zero-to-100 km/h in the 3.0-litre, 4x4 Crew/Double/Dual cab takes between 10.6 and 20 seconds and its top speed is somewhere between 155 and 200 km/h. Short version: Internet information is unreliable. Car magazine clocked a manual version at 12.8 seconds and most bakkies are governed to about 175 km/h. You’ll get there by dinner time.

We took it along our local, quite-nasty trail simply because we enjoy doing so. It performed as well as ever then, because we could, we drove back down. That was easier. As expected, we found that downhill crawl works much the same as selecting first gear in low range and letting it “walk.” Which begs the question: “If you have full-house four-wheel drive already installed, why add another gadget?”

Things we like about Isuzu’s double-cab are that its bin can be locked, there is space for fully grown people in the rear compartment, it’s among the most comfortable on rough surfaces, it has a fair selection of fancy stuff but remains honest and it gets the job done, just as it has for the past 40 years.

Finally, Isuzu’s KB/D-Max remains South Africa’s third-best-selling pickup range despite offering no real price advantages. Buyers like to know they’re getting honesty.


Test unit from Isuzu SA press fleet

The chromed bin bar is standard. A tonneau cover is optional.

What We Do

This is a one-man show, which means that every car reviewed is given my personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.

Every test car goes through real world driving; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads or goat tracks as well. As a result, my test cars do occasionally get dirty. It's all part of the reviewing process.

I do my best to include relevant information like real life fuel economy or a close mathematical calculation, boot size or luggage space, whether the space is both usable and accessible, whether life-sized people can use the back seat (where that applies), basic specs of the vehicle and performance figures if they are published. In the case of clearly identified launch reports, fuel figures are of necessity the laboratory numbers provided with the release material.

If ever I place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with a very similar vehicle already, so you will be able to find what you want in another report under the same manufacturer's heading in the menu on the left.

Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. There are no advertisers and no “editorial policy” rules. I add bylines to acknowledge sponsored launch functions and the manufacturers or dealerships that provide the test vehicles.  And, as quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so you can see I do actually exist.

Comments or questions?
Want to ask a question, comment or just tell me you completely disagree with what I say? If you want advice or have a genuine concern, I will be happy to hear from you. All I ask is that you write something in the subject line so I know which vehicle you're talking about.