First off, a day out at Fieldays with an off-road demonstration, then a few hours during the working week in a purpose-built playground on Auckland’s wild west coast a week later, oh yes, this is D-life!

Our weapon of choice was not the all-singing, all-dancing X-Terrain top-of-the-line Isuzu D-Max, we’ve already tested that one. Rather, we wanted to try a D-Max which serves as the backbone of D-Max sales, a regular round town 4x4, which is what New Zealand has come to know the D-Max for. 

And thus, we ended up with the LS-M 4x4 double cabber – not quite the top and a fair way from the bottom as far as Isuzu is concerned.

As readers will know, there have been some subtle external changes to this model and the one preceding it. We say subtle because there is only so much one can do to change a ute and still retain its basic brand identifiers. 

So yes, it helps to be a trainspotter, in essence, though, what we are seeing is a more sophisticated treatment in the front single width grille, some aerodynamic body diffusers to split the new dual lower light clusters and a few sculpted lines down the body. 

See? Subtle. As to the inside, well it’s a little more dramatic in here but in peculiar ways. For instance, the silver chrome surrounds on the previous model’s spotlights can now be found adorning the A/C vents of today’s model. 

The cyclopean central controller of the prior model – quite a point of difference – has now given way to some extremely functional and chunky knobs and a rather dated directional lever for in/out cabin airflow.

New features

What is a significant upgrade is the new touchscreen, which is larger and has greater functionality than before, aiding the connectivity Apple CarPlay/Android Auto and Bluetooth along with the increased features of the new model line-up. 

Increased features like the IDAS (Intelligent Driver Assistance System) safety suite as detailed in a previous edition and the (more crucial) electronic diff lock and hill descent control which the previous model did not have.  

While the top-of-the-line X-Terrain is oddly, at its best on the road, the LS-M by comparison is quite severe in its road manners. 

Even making allowances for an empty tray and the omission of a +1000kg payload, the Dunlop AT tyres seemed particularly sensitive to our roads and there was more than expected unwanted noise in cabin. 

Given Isuzu’s partnership with Mazda – a brand known for its refinement – for the 2021 model, it would be fair to assume the D-Max would benefit from Mazda’s input and have the ‘corners rounded off’ as the X-Terrain does.

Not so much for the other models it would seem, and while a few days tarmac trailing did allow us to see the eight L/100km fuel figure Isuzu reckons is do-able, there was still a sense of ‘this could be better’ as we threaded through the concrete canyons of the city. 

Then we went off-road. And the D-Max changed – for the better. 

We knew the new D-Max copes well with sand, and it’s pretty handy on gravel but how would it go in 4WD Nirvana? Aka Auckland Off Road Adventure Park?

All good!

Bloody well, as it happens. Once we got some mud on the tyres, going through the potholed forestry roads, our coarse-riding ute suddenly took on a new lease of life, like a kid in a sandpit. 

The change was nothing short of extraordinary. It was as if someone had come along and switched out the entire suspension setup for something ideally suited to off road work. 

Unusually, Roger decided it would be a good plan to escort us around personally, which came as a relief to me. At least we weren’t going anywhere Roger thought I might get into trouble…

We went off the muddy gravel and sandy roads the forestry trucks use, and we headed off into the pines by way of some clay trails and some ‘easy’ rut work. Easy from Roger’s perspective anyway, I had a touch of lost license plate anxiety on some of those approaches.

Roger on the other hand, was smiling as we negotiated the first round of “Cripes! That’s deeper on the right than the left” and “Really? You want me to climb that?” tracks and trails.

The D-Max was taking it all in stride and the precision of its steering on clay resembling owl snot (a bit yuck, but you get the point) was truly remarkable; this was more an Isuzu Dancer than D-Max.    

It was all going so well, I made the comment to Roger that the ute wasn’t being challenged at all, which is kind of like tapping a hungry shark on the nose. Roger’s wolfish smile should have been a warning to me…

We came to the top of a decent cutting – again on clay with some sizeable and variable ruts, perfect for photos and visually, not terribly threatening. What worried me was Roger going for a little stroll around the bend at the bottom to ‘make sure we had somewhere to go.’ 

Returning with a big thumbs up, Roger clambered into the left seat, the photographer bailed, and I engaged the hill descent control, checked we were in 4WD high and proceeded to slide the D-Max into the wet and slick trenches, to showboat our way down the hill. 

The D-Max performed like a champ, and we ended up comfortably in a decent turnaround mud-pit where after a little doughnut or two, Roger calmly directed me to an uphill trail. 

Step up

Near the top Roger had me stop to evaluate the next obstacle: it was about a two-foot vertical step which would involve careful front wheel placement and a helluva lot of torque to power pull the D-Max up and over it while the muppet behind the wheel tried to steer around a rather angry looking tree on the right.  

I was a bit unsettled with the route, but Roger – with his 40-plus years of off roading experience – was as calm as a cucumber. “Put your diff lock in and make sure you’re 4WD is engaged properly. You’ll need some gas for this one,” and that was all the advice I got. 

I tested out bumper clearance somewhat gingerly, because it really didn’t look good, but no, everything was fine for my first run. 

I backed up, gunned it, and proceeded to spit mud everywhere, most significantly from the front right. Got stuck, so I had to back out again. Tried it again, this time with a little more gusto. Nearly. 

Back out and the – slightly disappointed – word from Roger was, “I don’t think she’ll have it,” but I gave it one last attempt and with more than a minute’s scrabbling and spitting mud, the D-Max clawed its way up, over, and out.

And as we came up on to solid unrutted ground, Roger laconically said it all: “OK, I’m impressed.” 

Roger had often looked at tackling that obstacle with his own – older model D-Max but without diff lock, knew it was going to be a waste of time. “To be honest,” he admitted, “I didn’t know if this one was going to make it either.” I wasn’t quite sure how to take that, but it seemed Roger was quite happy to take the D-Max at face value – namely a hardcore 4WD that can do the business. 

SPECIFICATIONS 

Isuzu D-Max LS-M auto

BODY TYPE: 4-door DC Utility  

DRIVE Part time 4x4 with rear diff lock and 6-speed sequential auto 

ENGINE TYPE 4-cylinder, turbodiesel 

ENGINE CAPACITY 3000cc

MAX POWER 140kW 

MAX TORQUE 450Nm 

L/100KM (COMBINED) 8.0

CO2 EMISSIONS 207 g/km

TOW CAPACITY 3500kg

ANCAP RATING 5 Star

PRICE $63,990