The facelifted 2023 Isuzu D-Max has finally been launched! Paul Maric gets behind the wheel of the 2023 Isuzu D-Max LS-U+ 4x4 to see if it's any good! Do you think Isuzu has done enough to update the D-max from its previous shape?
EVERY ute drag raced: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJapGI4JT5M
EVERY ute dyno tested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNVkYw0e8-o
EVERY ute tow tested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngZbbJAIl4A
EVERY ute tested off-road: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6ng66xBRM4
Hardness tester, noise and lane keeping results: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/121Auf6HGvaBqRToYcuAz94alin7Sw55SpOPECBDlnKE
More Isuzu content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/isuzu
More Isuzu D-Max content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/isuzu/d-max
Skip Ahead:
Intro: 00:00
Exterior 0:45
Interior 5:08
Infotainment 6:28
Safety Tech 8:26
Practicality 9:22
On the road 12:58
0-100km/h 17:39
Driver aids 19:04
Off the road 21:42
Verdict 29:43
We review every new car on the market, bust car myths, cover the latest car tech and answer your burning questions.
Whether you need new car advice, purchase validation or simply love learning more about new cars and technology, we are your car experts.
Subscribe to Car Expert: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7DvMhvy3H7ntEgn9n3xQcQ?sub_confirmation=1
You'll find us dropping new video content three times a week. If you'd like to ask a question about one of our videos, simply leave us a comment. If you'd like to give us any feedback on our content, feel free to email us, or alternatively, hit us up on social media.
Finally, we want this channel to grow with your support and feedback. If there's anything you don't like or would like to see us change, we'd love to hear from you!
Follow us on social media to see what we're up to and to ask any questions!
CarExpert:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarExpertAus
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/CarExpertAus
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carexpert.com.au
Paul Maric:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaulMaric
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/PaulMaric
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/PaulMaric
#isuzu #dmax #review
EVERY ute drag raced: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJapGI4JT5M
EVERY ute dyno tested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNVkYw0e8-o
EVERY ute tow tested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngZbbJAIl4A
EVERY ute tested off-road: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6ng66xBRM4
Hardness tester, noise and lane keeping results: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/121Auf6HGvaBqRToYcuAz94alin7Sw55SpOPECBDlnKE
More Isuzu content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/isuzu
More Isuzu D-Max content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/isuzu/d-max
Skip Ahead:
Intro: 00:00
Exterior 0:45
Interior 5:08
Infotainment 6:28
Safety Tech 8:26
Practicality 9:22
On the road 12:58
0-100km/h 17:39
Driver aids 19:04
Off the road 21:42
Verdict 29:43
We review every new car on the market, bust car myths, cover the latest car tech and answer your burning questions.
Whether you need new car advice, purchase validation or simply love learning more about new cars and technology, we are your car experts.
Subscribe to Car Expert: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7DvMhvy3H7ntEgn9n3xQcQ?sub_confirmation=1
You'll find us dropping new video content three times a week. If you'd like to ask a question about one of our videos, simply leave us a comment. If you'd like to give us any feedback on our content, feel free to email us, or alternatively, hit us up on social media.
Finally, we want this channel to grow with your support and feedback. If there's anything you don't like or would like to see us change, we'd love to hear from you!
Follow us on social media to see what we're up to and to ask any questions!
CarExpert:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarExpertAus
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/CarExpertAus
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carexpert.com.au
Paul Maric:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaulMaric
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/PaulMaric
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/PaulMaric
#isuzu #dmax #review
Category
🚗
MotorTranscript
00:00 G'day, I'm Paul. Isuzu has updated the D-MAX for the 2023 model year.
00:05 It's only a subtle change, but I thought we'd revisit it anyway,
00:08 because it's been a while since we've driven the mighty D-MAX.
00:11 Now, this is priced at just under $64,000.
00:13 This is the LSU Plus, so it is one down from the top specification model.
00:19 This competes with things like the Ford Ranger, Toyota Hilux, Nissan Navara.
00:24 There are lots of competitors in this segment.
00:26 Today, we're going to do a detailed review of this car,
00:28 so if you do want to skip ahead to other parts of this review,
00:30 including our little off-road section, you can use the time codes on the screen.
00:34 Or if you're on YouTube, you can scroll down and use the chapters below.
00:37 And if you haven't done so already, subscribe to our channel and press the bell icon
00:40 so you can find out every single time we test drive an updated Isuzu.
00:44 Now, let's talk about exterior design.
00:47 You've got seven colours to pick from.
00:49 All but white is going to set you back $650.
00:52 What has changed?
00:54 It is going to be a little bit hard to spot this,
00:56 but there are some changes here around the grilles.
00:58 So, the design has changed ever so slightly from the previous pre-updated model.
01:05 So, a little hard to spot there, but I do like the fact that,
01:08 especially on the X-Terrain, they've actually got rid of some of this chrome
01:11 and gone for that darker look.
01:13 But it does have that dual-stacked grille arrangement,
01:16 which I think sort of still looks a little bit odd to me.
01:18 But anyway, there are also some changes here around the fog light housing as well.
01:23 But it is a pretty simple update,
01:26 and it's, I guess, just designed to keep this a little fresh.
01:29 Outside of the update, though, you've got that big open section
01:32 down the bottom and up the top here as well.
01:34 And it's all sort of pretty straightforward down the front here
01:36 because they have a stack of accessories you can fit to these as well.
01:40 So, you don't want to interfere with any of the safety systems,
01:43 and the accessories can be fitted there without sort of interrupting too much of that.
01:46 Full LED headlights.
01:47 Sorry the car's so dirty.
01:49 It's summer, but it's, like, cold and wet.
01:52 So, anyway, around the side here,
01:54 one of the other changes is a new wheel design.
01:57 So, yeah, look, it's a pretty straightforward setup.
02:00 You've got a machined finish on the outside there,
02:02 graphite on the inside there,
02:03 and that all sits on an 18-inch alloy wheel.
02:06 This is a highway-terrain tyre as well.
02:08 So, when we go do a little bit of off-roading later on,
02:11 I'll be curious to see how it goes.
02:12 But it does look like a pretty sort of chunky highway-terrain tyre,
02:15 so it could be worse.
02:17 No wheel arch cladding.
02:18 It really is quite interesting that SUVs,
02:20 they just stick all this wheel arch cladding on,
02:22 but then vehicles that do go off-road and need that protection
02:25 don't really have anything there, so it's just a fascinating setup.
02:29 Up the top here, you've got chrome on the top of that wing mirror
02:32 with an indicator built into there.
02:34 Still no 360 camera for the D-MAX,
02:36 so you won't find anything under there.
02:38 No puddle lamps either.
02:39 Down here, you've got a set of sidesteps with that brushed plastic finish,
02:44 and they seem fairly sturdy to me.
02:46 Chrome door handles come around to the back.
02:50 Around the back here, you've got a set of partial LED taillights.
02:53 Slightly different design here as well to previous pre-facelift D-MAX,
02:58 so LED elements on the outside there,
03:00 but unfortunately incandescent on the insides.
03:03 Three-litre turbo diesel is that badge.
03:05 Then you've got Isuzu D-MAX on this side,
03:07 so 3.5-tonne braked towing capacity.
03:10 What they've now done as well,
03:12 integrated into the bumper here is a radar sensor
03:15 that is designed for two things.
03:17 First is your rear cross-traffic alert and also blind spot monitoring.
03:20 When you do hook up a trailer and connect it into the socket here,
03:24 it'll actually disable rear cross-traffic alert
03:26 and your blind spot monitors as well,
03:28 which I think is a pretty good feature.
03:29 You can retrofit this to previous versions of D-MAX,
03:33 but it's gonna cost you money if you're an existing customer
03:36 because the actual hardware module itself changes with that update,
03:40 so that's why they have to charge you for it.
03:42 Now, have a look at this.
03:43 Another feature that has been added, which I quite like,
03:47 hydraulics.
03:48 Look at that.
03:48 So instead of going down the path of a torsion bar,
03:50 which is what you see on a lot of dual-cab utes today
03:52 to make it easier to open and close the tailgate,
03:54 they've actually gone down the path of hydraulics,
03:56 which I think is pretty sort of premium sound.
03:58 You can option hydraulics on a lot of other dual-cab utes,
04:01 but the fact that this comes standard now I think is pretty good.
04:04 Only thing you need to be careful of,
04:05 if you do have your tray down most of the time
04:07 and you're in dusty conditions,
04:09 dust will build up on those hydraulic arms,
04:11 so you do need to keep those clean,
04:12 otherwise they will eventually stop working.
04:14 Now, this is...
04:16 Get that out of the way.
04:17 An accessory roller cover.
04:19 It's manually actuated.
04:21 You also have these accessory hoops over the top there as well.
04:24 But in terms of the actual tray itself,
04:26 we're talking about a load length of just under 1,600 mil,
04:29 1530 mil load width with 1,122 mil between the wheel arches.
04:34 So it is a pretty decent setup there in terms of your spacing.
04:36 And then you've got this drop-in bed liner as well
04:39 with some hooks over to the side.
04:41 No 12-volt outlet or any power accessories,
04:43 which is a little bit disappointing.
04:45 That is pretty standard now in a lot of dual cab utes,
04:48 especially the more expensive ones.
04:49 It would be nice to see that added in.
04:51 But outside of that,
04:52 it is a pretty straightforward setup for the D-MAX.
04:55 So let me know what you reckon
04:56 in the comments section below about the facelift.
04:59 Do you think they've done enough?
05:00 Do you think that this still competes with things
05:02 like Hilux Ranger and the bigger sellers in the segment?
05:06 Let me know what you reckon
05:07 down in the comments section below.
05:08 So we are inside the D-MAX.
05:10 We'll start off with the key.
05:12 You've got lock, unlock, a blank,
05:15 because on the top spec, you have a remote start function,
05:17 little bit of brushed aluminium around there,
05:20 and on the back, Isuzu.
05:22 It's a proximity sensing case.
05:23 You can leave that in your pocket.
05:24 Once you're inside,
05:25 you have a push-button start over here.
05:28 I quite like that because the last sort of non-top spec D-MAX
05:32 that we drive actually had a physical key to start it.
05:34 So it is good to see
05:35 that we've advanced to proximity sensing.
05:38 Look, I actually quite like the way this is all presented.
05:41 I have mentioned previously in our D-MAX reviews
05:43 that I like that they've gone to a bit of effort here
05:44 to give you that soft touch finish
05:46 along the top of the dashboard.
05:47 And they really have just put a bit of effort
05:49 into making this look modern and presentable.
05:52 There is a lot of piano black around here,
05:54 which I don't love, but you know,
05:56 it is offset by a big screen
05:58 and all the soft touch finishes around the cabin.
06:01 Now, what about your touch points?
06:02 So here, it's nice and soft and soft on the door as well.
06:05 How soft are they?
06:06 Well, we've tested the main surfaces
06:08 in this cabin with our gyrometer.
06:10 If you wanna see how this car compares to others
06:12 that we've tested before,
06:13 look at the link in the description below.
06:15 Now, build quality.
06:16 Yeah, look, it's not too bad.
06:20 A bit sort of loose around there, but it's okay.
06:23 And our door test.
06:25 Sounds nice and solid.
06:29 Now, let's talk infotainment.
06:30 So nine inch display here in the center.
06:33 Look, when this came out,
06:34 I thought it was a pretty decent system
06:36 because it had inbuilt satellite navigation,
06:39 wireless Apple CarPlay, wired Android Auto.
06:41 I'll show you that in a second.
06:42 But yeah, over time with the system,
06:45 it's not great and it's sort of a bit slow and laggy
06:49 and yeah, it can be just a little bit clumsy to use.
06:52 So I am hoping that Isuzu has plans
06:54 to perhaps modernize this, give it remote connectivity,
06:57 which has now become a bit of a mainstream feature
07:00 in dual cab utes in this segment.
07:02 So let's hope they're working on something like that.
07:04 But outside of the sort of standard features you see there,
07:07 you've got AM and FM radio in addition to,
07:11 in addition to an eight speaker sound system.
07:15 The sound system is okay.
07:16 It's nothing sort of too crazy,
07:18 no branding or anything like that on it.
07:19 But it does come with live surround sound.
07:23 I'll show you what wireless Apple CarPlay looks like.
07:25 Click that just there.
07:28 See what I mean?
07:31 It's like a few clicks to actually get stuff working.
07:34 Yeah, that all sort of works okay.
07:35 Nothing sort of too outrageous.
07:37 And then you have a button here on the steering wheel
07:38 to actuate voice commands that are sent
07:40 directly to your phone there.
07:42 And this is what Android Auto looks like.
07:44 Crank that open.
07:46 So same story there, full screen integration
07:50 and then maps as well.
07:51 It's actually pretty fast as well.
07:52 The only difference is you need to have this
07:54 connected using a physical cable
07:56 instead of it being wireless.
07:57 Ahead of the driver here as well,
07:58 you have a small display there
08:00 that gives you information like your trip computer
08:02 and some of your off-road controls.
08:03 Some of the other vehicles in this segment
08:06 are now moving to those big displays ahead of the driver.
08:08 So again, hopefully with an infotainment update,
08:11 remote connectivity,
08:12 Isuzu is looking at a full screen integration there.
08:15 And look, some people don't really want
08:16 all of that fancy tech.
08:18 And let me know in the comments section below,
08:20 are you one of those people?
08:21 Do you just want basic stuff
08:22 or do you prefer that full high-tech setup
08:25 of what you see in the new Ford Ranger?
08:26 Now let's talk safety tech.
08:28 So it is pretty loaded with safety tech,
08:30 which I really like.
08:31 And if you are driving in a fuel cab,
08:32 you need to be protected,
08:33 especially if you're putting workers in it.
08:35 So autonomous emergency braking,
08:37 it also comes with a junction assist function.
08:40 So if you try and turn across oncoming traffic,
08:42 it'll prevent you from doing that.
08:44 Auto-dimming rear vision mirror,
08:45 you have radar cruise control,
08:47 lane keeping assistant with a self-steering function,
08:51 which we will test later on.
08:52 Blind spot monitor built into the wing mirror,
08:54 you have rear cross traffic alert.
08:56 On the parking front,
08:57 you have rear parking sensors and a reverse view camera.
09:00 Show you what that looks like.
09:01 There it is there.
09:02 The quality is okay,
09:04 sort of nothing too crazy.
09:05 It's beeping 'cause we've got our suitcase there.
09:07 It is a little hard to see the suitcase there.
09:10 And the vision is a bit grainy,
09:11 but for the most part, it's okay.
09:13 And a new test that we've stuck into here,
09:15 as per your requests,
09:17 the steering honk, here it is.
09:18 (honk)
09:20 Sounds okay.
09:20 (honk)
09:22 Let's talk about your practicality,
09:23 and we'll start off with connectivity.
09:25 So you've got a 12-volt outlet just here,
09:28 that is 120 watts.
09:30 You have a single USB-A outlet,
09:32 and then an auxiliary port there.
09:34 It is a 2.1 amp outlet,
09:35 so you can charge your devices off that.
09:38 And given you have wireless Apple CarPlay,
09:40 if you are an Apple user,
09:41 it means that someone else can charge their phone
09:43 while you have that running.
09:45 In addition to that, storing your phone.
09:46 Where's it gonna sit?
09:47 Well, you can whack it down here.
09:48 There is no wireless phone charging.
09:51 Can pop it in the cup holders if you want.
09:54 Speaking of cup holders,
09:55 you have a slight issue here.
09:56 If you do have a coffee, watch this.
09:59 It disappears down there,
10:01 and it'll get de-littered
10:02 because it's such a deep cup holder.
10:04 So there is a workaround for that though.
10:06 And in front of the air vent here,
10:08 you actually have slots to stick drinks,
10:10 including coffee, which is great.
10:12 So on cold days, you can have hot air blowing on it,
10:15 and everyone is happy.
10:17 So that is a really good innovation there.
10:19 In terms of your bottles though,
10:20 they easily fit in there.
10:21 And even though there are no teeth,
10:23 it really does hold it nicely into place.
10:24 Fits inside the door too.
10:26 We'll try our big bottle inside the door.
10:31 Yep, fits as well.
10:32 There is also a little storage nook here
10:34 just next to the driver's knee
10:35 for coins and keys and little odds and ends.
10:38 Other storage, you've got center console here,
10:40 nice and deep there.
10:41 You have a glove box here
10:43 that is mainly consumed by the enormous manual,
10:46 but you do have a second glove box up the top there
10:48 for storing bits and pieces.
10:49 You've got this little slot here,
10:51 bump the top, and then you also have a sunglasses holder.
10:54 There are stacks of storage options around the cabin here.
10:57 Moving on to comfort,
10:58 you have dual zone automatic climate control.
11:01 You've got seat heating for the front row, which is good.
11:05 The seats themselves,
11:06 so this has changed the design of the seats.
11:09 So that was part of the update that's made.
11:11 Seats in these are really comfortable as well.
11:13 So if you are doing long distance drives,
11:15 the seats really hug you in quite nicely.
11:17 Driver's seat is electrically adjustable,
11:19 so you can go forwards and backwards.
11:20 Backrest can go forwards, backwards.
11:22 You can lift the front, you can lift the back.
11:24 You also have lumbar adjustment too, which is good news.
11:27 Passenger seat is manually adjustable.
11:29 On the steering front, you have tilts and reach adjustment.
11:33 And on our reach test,
11:34 all of this stuff is easy to reach while you're driving.
11:37 Now, before we hop into the back to look at room,
11:39 love this setup.
11:40 So it's like a 60/40 up-folding type arrangement.
11:44 So you can lift this side
11:45 and you have a little storage area under here.
11:47 It's even carpeted, pretty good.
11:50 You can then also lift the passenger side as well,
11:53 and you've got a similar storage space under there,
11:55 which is cool.
11:56 If you do drop the back of this,
11:59 you find a jack over there.
12:01 Hello, jack.
12:02 And then you also have two top tether points as well.
12:05 So really good setup there.
12:07 You can grab a handle to hop on in.
12:09 Now, in terms of room back here, it's actually pretty good.
12:13 So knee room's great.
12:14 Toe room is a tiny bit cramped, but it's not too bad.
12:17 Headroom is pretty good as well.
12:19 Other creature comforts, you have a set of map pockets,
12:22 little hook here for, you know, takeaway or whatever.
12:25 You're gonna eat with the kids at nighttime.
12:28 You've got a USB port over here,
12:29 another 2.1 amp socket as well for faster charging.
12:33 Air vents, you've got a center armrest here
12:35 with two cup holders.
12:37 So bottle goes in there easily.
12:38 Bottle can also fit inside the door
12:40 without any dramas at all.
12:42 You have two ISOFIX points
12:44 to join those two top tether points.
12:46 And what about our window test?
12:49 Here it goes.
12:51 So it's manual up and down.
12:52 Boom, goes all the way down.
12:54 Nice job, Isuzu.
12:55 We've just hit the road in the D-MAX.
13:01 So under the bonnet here,
13:03 you have a three-liter turbocharged
13:06 four-cylinder diesel engine.
13:07 Makes 140 kilowatts of power and 450 newton meters of torque.
13:12 And that's all mated to a six-speed torque converter
13:16 automatic transmission.
13:18 Look, if you do compare this engine
13:19 to other engines in the segment,
13:21 it is quite noisy in comparison.
13:23 So you do tend to notice it now when you're stationary
13:26 and also when you get up the throttle,
13:29 it does make a fair bit of a racket.
13:30 So they could probably do
13:31 with a little bit more sound deadening here
13:33 inside the cabin.
13:35 But in saying that, when you do step on it,
13:37 gives you a nice little push in the back.
13:41 It's quite a sort of confidence-inspiring engine.
13:44 And that's why this is one of the better choices
13:46 for towing it.
13:47 It really does feel under stress most of the time.
13:49 And when you do wanna get up and move,
13:51 it really sort of punches you in the back
13:53 and gets on with things.
13:54 So they don't sport that 500 newton meter torque figure
13:58 like a lot of competitors do in this segment at the moment,
14:00 but for the most part, it is achieving the same things,
14:03 but just with slightly less.
14:05 Let's talk fuel economy.
14:06 So Isuzu claims eight liters per 100 Ks.
14:09 We're currently sitting on 8.7, which I think is pretty good.
14:13 This is a really efficient engine.
14:15 We've done a lot of testing with this in the past,
14:17 and this is actually featured
14:18 in an upcoming mega ute test as well
14:22 that we're doing.
14:23 So if that is live,
14:25 there will be links to that in the description below,
14:28 but we did a range of testing here,
14:29 and this actually came out
14:31 as one of the most efficient dual-cab utes in the segment.
14:33 So pretty impressive there.
14:35 One of the other things I like about it as well
14:37 is the steering feel.
14:38 It is pretty light compared to a lot of other utes
14:40 in the segment, but you kind of want that.
14:42 It doesn't need to be as heavy or as sort of gruff
14:46 as the Hilux steering is.
14:48 This actually has enough feel to it,
14:50 but it is light enough to maneuver in and around the city.
14:53 In addition to that, I do also like
14:55 that they're listening to customers.
14:56 So they've added that feature with the Trailer Connect
14:59 that switches off some of the safety features,
15:01 but you also can now push and hold
15:03 the steering wheel button here,
15:04 and it will then turn off your lane support system.
15:06 Previously, you had to go into the settings,
15:08 come to a stop, fiddle around with this infotainment screen
15:12 ahead of the driver here
15:13 to actually get all of that stuff set up.
15:14 Now it's just one easy click of that button.
15:19 What's your ride like?
15:21 Look, it is utey, which means it's leaf sprung.
15:24 It needs a bit of weight in the back to feel settled,
15:26 but it is pretty soft.
15:28 It doesn't sort of jiggle around too much,
15:30 but you do feel that sort of ute element to it.
15:33 And in and around the city,
15:34 it means that if you do hit speed humps and stuff,
15:36 then it has a bit of rebound to it.
15:38 See what it's like here on our sine waves.
15:40 Typically, utes don't fare all that well
15:43 here at 130 on the sine waves.
15:44 So let's see what the D-max feels like here,
15:47 130 being the max speed in Australia.
15:51 There's 130 there.
15:52 Actually, it really doesn't feel that bad.
15:56 That's quite surprising.
15:57 When we did that in Hilux, it literally left the ground.
16:01 This actually has a decent amount of body control
16:04 there at the top end.
16:05 So pretty impressed there on the sine waves.
16:07 Now, there are no drive modes, no sport mode,
16:12 but let's give it a little punt around our track here.
16:16 See what it feels like.
16:18 A fair bit of body roll there.
16:26 Get on the throttle,
16:26 gee, the gearbox is very slow to respond there.
16:29 Traction control biting a fair bit as well.
16:32 It's got an open diff at the rear end there,
16:33 so you're not really ever going to be in a spot
16:36 where you have a decent amount of traction.
16:38 And it is only two-wheel drive high range
16:40 for driving on sealed surfaces.
16:45 Yeah, you do notice there when the speed picks up,
16:46 there is a fair bit of wind noise coming over the mirrors,
16:49 but it is very windy today, so that's not surprising.
16:52 Yeah, look, it's a dual-cap ute.
16:54 It doesn't really feel overly sporty.
16:57 In fact, it doesn't feel anywhere near as sporty
16:59 as the Hilux Rogue that we tested recently,
17:01 where they sort of went to the effort
17:03 of changing suspension geometry
17:05 to give it a better on-road feel.
17:07 This still feels more traditional ute in that sense.
17:11 (engine revving)
17:13 And the gearbox definitely needs a sport mode, I think,
17:17 because, yeah, it's kind of very slow to react
17:22 when you go for full throttle there.
17:25 So let's see what it's like on our back straight here.
17:28 Yeah, look, it is picking up speed okay there.
17:33 Yeah, look, it just feels like a ute.
17:35 Nothing's in a too crazy here.
17:40 Let's talk zero to 100.
17:41 So there is no official zero to 100 time,
17:45 but we've got our V-Box set up.
17:47 We'll do zero to 100 and also to 120 as well
17:50 to see what our overtaking time is like.
17:52 It is still a tiny bit damp out there,
17:54 so I might switch traction control off.
17:57 There it is.
17:58 Dial up some revs and we'll see how we go.
18:01 (engine revving)
18:04 And it hooks up all right.
18:12 Okay, here we go.
18:13 Almost at 100.
18:18 There's 100.
18:19 Get ourselves to 120 and I'll jump on the anchors.
18:23 All right, there's 120 there.
18:27 Whoa, nearly.
18:29 Okay, so zero to 100 in 10.1 seconds
18:34 and 80 to 120 in 8.2 seconds.
18:37 So yeah, you can see there the overtaking pace
18:40 isn't amazing, but it is the same for most dual cab utes,
18:43 four cylinder ones in this segment.
18:44 And 10.1 seconds is where I'd sort of expect it
18:47 to be anyway for our zero to 100 run.
18:50 Okay, reverse speed test time.
18:53 Let's see how we go.
18:57 Wheel slip there.
18:58 And just under 50 kilometres an hour.
19:04 So it's time to test some of our autonomous systems.
19:07 So let me get this up to 70 k's an hour.
19:12 Set the cruise.
19:14 So this has not only a lane keeping assistant,
19:17 but also a lane centering assistant.
19:19 So I'm gonna engage that.
19:21 You push that button, it goes green when that's all active.
19:24 And this is designed to keep the car within its lane.
19:28 And you can see there,
19:29 it's really already not doing a good job.
19:31 So we're testing it on the three outer lanes here.
19:34 And it's designed to basically pulse the steering
19:36 to get the car back into the centre of the lane.
19:40 And the reason we use the three lanes here
19:42 is it really tests the car's ability to,
19:44 yeah, this is really not a very good system,
19:47 tests the car's ability to hold the vehicle in the lane
19:50 when more steering torque is required.
19:52 So as we get to that outer banked lane,
19:54 kind of really makes the car work for it.
19:56 And you can see here that even on a very slight turn,
19:59 it is hugging that line way too closely.
20:02 And if I was next to a truck here,
20:03 I would want to take over from that.
20:04 So, all right, we'll jump over to the next lane.
20:07 See what it's like over here with a bit more requirement
20:12 for the car to chip in.
20:13 There we go.
20:16 So I'm gonna just lightly let go of the wheel,
20:18 see what it does.
20:19 We've crossed that line there completely.
20:23 So that's a fail there for the second lane.
20:25 Jump over to the third lane now as well
20:27 and see how it performs up here.
20:29 That's detected the lines,
20:32 wait for the steering to go green.
20:34 It doesn't look like it's gonna,
20:37 there we go, steering is green.
20:39 No, that's canceled.
20:41 Yeah, okay, no, it's, there, green, no, it's canceled.
20:46 Yeah, look, it's not a very good system.
20:48 Even in the most basic lane here
20:50 that you would experience on a freeway in Australia,
20:53 it can't even sit itself in the center of the lane.
20:55 So that system needs a little bit of work, I think.
20:58 Now, what's your road noise like?
21:03 Typical, you do get a bit of tire noise
21:05 that comes into the cabin,
21:05 and wind noise as well over the wing mirrors,
21:07 but it is actually surprisingly quiet.
21:10 When the engine isn't making a racket,
21:13 it stays pretty quiet inside the cabin,
21:15 and I do quite like that.
21:16 There's no sort of intrusive noises
21:18 that are making you hate
21:21 that you bought a unit at highway speeds.
21:23 So let's talk visibility.
21:24 I can see clearly down the front of the car there,
21:26 wing mirrors are huge as well
21:28 with that blind spot monitor built into them.
21:30 Visibility out the back is good as well,
21:32 so no dramas there.
21:34 It is a shame there's no front parking sensors
21:36 or 360 camera, 'cause it does make parking
21:38 in the city a little bit tricky.
21:40 Okay, it is time to do a little bit of light off-roading.
21:45 Let me run you through the specs first
21:47 so you can get your head around it all.
21:49 240 millimeters of ground clearance.
21:51 You've got a 30.5 degree approach angle,
21:54 which is the angle of the face you can approach
21:55 before you hit the front of the car,
21:57 and then a departure angle of just under 20 degrees,
21:59 which is the same, but in reverse.
22:01 And keep in mind as well that if you do have a tow bar,
22:03 it's always going to be slightly less,
22:05 'cause that sticks out a little bit further.
22:07 In terms of your four-wheel drive hardware,
22:09 you have two-wheel drive high range,
22:11 four-wheel drive high range,
22:12 which is only for unsealed surfaces,
22:14 four-wheel drive low range.
22:15 You have a hill descent control, a rear diff lock.
22:18 Keep in mind, rear diff lock only works
22:20 in four-wheel drive low range, unfortunately.
22:22 And then in addition to that,
22:23 we have an 800 millimeter weighting diff.
22:26 If you do want to get a better understanding
22:28 of what all this stuff means and when you need to use it,
22:30 have a look at our four-wheel drive controls
22:32 explained video by clicking up there.
22:33 So what we're going to do first
22:35 is go through our offset mogul
22:38 in two-wheel drive high range with traction control on.
22:42 Whole point of this is just to see
22:44 how well the traction control system works
22:47 when there is limited traction
22:49 and how it deals with that scenario.
22:50 So we're right in a position there
22:53 where the driver's side rear wheel is off the ground.
22:55 I'm going to just lightly apply throttle
22:57 and we'll see if the traction control does anything.
23:03 It's basically just spinning the wheels there.
23:06 I'm now flat to the board.
23:08 Nothing is happening at all.
23:10 Okay, so we'll switch traction control off.
23:12 I'm just going to push this button here.
23:14 Let's see, there it comes up saying traction control off.
23:18 There we go.
23:19 Now it's definitely not going anywhere.
23:24 Okay, so yeah, that is pretty disappointing.
23:28 I was worried we were going to be stuck there
23:33 and I wouldn't be able to get off this.
23:36 Yeah, so it is pretty disappointing
23:37 because it is slightly wet there,
23:40 but the whole point of the traction control system
23:42 is to stop the wheel spinning
23:44 and to send torque to the other side
23:46 that has plenty of traction.
23:47 And it clearly did none of that.
23:49 So we're going to go around to the other side now.
23:51 And this time around,
23:52 we're going to use four wheel drive high range
23:54 going in the opposite direction.
23:56 So you engage that by switching that over
23:58 to four wheel drive high.
24:00 And then once that is active,
24:03 that light goes solid like it is now.
24:05 We're now sending 50% of torque to the front axle,
24:08 50% of torque to the rear axle.
24:11 And we're going to go over our Mogul again in this direction
24:14 just to see how it goes with two wheels
24:17 that have limited traction,
24:18 which is going to be the front left and the rear right.
24:21 And we'll see if it can sort itself out.
24:23 Lean into that right about there.
24:29 Okay, so let's see how well traction control deals with this.
24:32 Same story again, we're getting nowhere fast.
24:37 So I'm just going to gradually apply more and more throttle.
24:42 There we go, I can feel it slightly lifting more throttle.
24:46 Oh, we're so close, we are so close.
24:48 Nothing is happening there.
24:52 So what we'll do is switch traction control off.
24:55 I'm just going to lay into this a little harder now.
24:58 There's the steering lock.
25:02 There it is, finally.
25:05 Okay, so we got there in the end,
25:06 but yeah, it is just,
25:09 yeah, not a very impressive four wheel drive system.
25:12 I think the fact that you can't use diff lock
25:14 without it being in low range
25:15 kind of just prohibits you
25:17 from doing very basic stuff like that
25:19 that you would be able to do in most other dual cab used
25:21 just with traction control on.
25:23 So yeah, probably something I think
25:25 that they need to work on.
25:27 Okay, next up is our heels.
25:29 So I'm going to pop this into low range.
25:32 So you've got to slot that over neutral,
25:34 switch that over to 4L,
25:36 does a bit of a click, comes up there.
25:38 Also going to lock the rear diff as well to get up here.
25:42 So what we're going to do,
25:42 I'm going to go up once just sort of normally,
25:45 and then I'll come back again and come to a stop
25:47 and then try and accelerate up as well.
25:49 So for that to lock, there we go.
25:52 All right, here we go.
25:54 Keeping in mind this is on highway terrain,
25:56 so I don't know how well it's going to do getting up here,
25:59 but we'll see how we go.
26:00 Yeah, it's actually doing a nice job.
26:05 It'll slip there, but look at that.
26:07 Very impressive.
26:09 So there with the diff locked in four-wheel drive,
26:11 low range, it really climbed up there
26:13 without too many dramas at all.
26:16 Power through our little mud bog here.
26:18 Okay, so let's test hill descent control.
26:24 I've switched the rear diff lock off.
26:26 I'm going to push that on.
26:27 There it is there.
26:27 That is now active.
26:29 Drive over our descent here, see what it feels like.
26:33 We lose our walkie talkie.
26:39 Yeah, it feels fine.
26:40 So nothing too special there.
26:41 You could hear it activating as we went down.
26:43 You get the effects of, I guess,
26:46 engine braking and four-wheel drive, low range anyway.
26:48 So yeah, nothing too crazy.
26:50 All right, another mud bog here.
26:51 Let's get through this.
26:53 Oh, that one's nice and deep.
26:56 Okay, hill take two.
26:57 This time what we're going to do
26:59 is I'll come to a stop about halfway up
27:04 and we'll see how it goes with resumption of traction.
27:08 So we'll come to a stop there.
27:10 I'll just roll onto the throttle now.
27:11 Yeah, that is really good.
27:15 A little sketchy there, a little stain there.
27:20 Yeah, nice.
27:21 Got there in the end.
27:23 Very nice.
27:23 Yeah, so I didn't love coming to a stop there
27:25 with that sort of soggy terrain,
27:27 but once it sort of figured itself out,
27:29 it just started climbing on its own, which is pretty good.
27:31 So very happy with that.
27:33 Let us continue on now.
27:35 Okay, time for rocks.
27:37 Let's see how this feels over our rocky section.
27:41 240 mil of ground clearance is a fair bit,
27:45 so it should be okay through here
27:46 without any big bashes or crashes.
27:49 And I've left it in low range as well
27:51 so I can ride the brake with the throttle.
27:53 This is really quite comfortable.
27:56 Yeah, it's weird.
27:58 Some utes here will throw you around a lot,
28:00 whereas as we saw in the on-road section,
28:04 this actually just feels...
28:06 It's really well thought out.
28:08 It might not be the best handling ute out there,
28:11 but for this type of stuff,
28:13 with the exception of that traction control system,
28:15 it's really nicely resolved and very comfortable.
28:18 So yeah, good job, Isuzu.
28:20 Okay, time for our water crossing.
28:24 It has been very wet here, so let's see how we go.
28:29 800 mil wading depth is a really decent amount,
28:34 I think we're at about 700 mil at the moment
28:36 for our water crossing, so we'll see how it goes.
28:40 Now, keep in mind as well,
28:41 if you are doing water crossing in D-MAX,
28:44 you need to be in low range
28:45 because the forward collision sensors
28:49 can sometimes think that the water
28:51 is actually a solid obstacle,
28:54 so you don't wanna be in a position
28:55 where it then stops all of a sudden.
28:58 Oh, it seriously sounds like we're floating through here.
29:03 That's awesome, so did a great job there.
29:05 And then we've got our steep climb
29:07 out of here on the concrete.
29:08 Yeah, nice, piece of cake.
29:12 Very good, okay, so D-MAX off-road.
29:18 Really good, but just totally let down
29:20 by the traction control system.
29:21 I just don't understand how it's so bad
29:23 given Isuzu makes two cars,
29:26 and both of them are off-road capable,
29:28 and both of them have this same traction control system.
29:31 So there's probably a little bit of work
29:32 that needs to be done on that,
29:33 and we'd love to see the ability
29:35 to use rear diff lock in two-wheel drive
29:37 and four-wheel drive as well,
29:38 similar to the Ford Ranger.
29:39 So Isuzu D-MAX, look,
29:45 it is still a really competent dual cab ute.
29:48 I like the engine, it's quite robust.
29:50 The ride is really good for a dual cab ute
29:53 in this segment.
29:54 It doesn't feel too utey.
29:55 It actually has a bit of comfort to it,
29:57 especially when you do some of that light off-roading.
29:59 But it is let down by the traction control system off-road.
30:02 I really don't think that's very good.
30:04 And ultimately, I think it is gonna get left behind
30:06 by some of the other utes in the segment.
30:08 As they start throwing tech at them,
30:10 this will start feeling aged pretty quickly.
30:13 So I'm hoping Isuzu is working on a plan
30:16 to bring this into the modern tech age
30:18 so it can compete with things like the Ranger as well.
30:21 So let me know what you reckon in the comments section below.
30:24 Are you a D-MAX fan?
30:25 Have you bought one?
30:26 What's it like to live with?
30:27 Is it reliable like everyone says they are?
30:29 Let me know down there in the comments section.
30:31 If you did enjoy this video,
30:32 please make sure you like it
30:33 and you share it with your mates.
30:35 And if you haven't done so already,
30:35 subscribe to our channel and press the bell icon.
30:37 But until next time, take it easy.