The Isuzu D-Max pickup story began in Thailand where in 2002 it received a world premiere; the location was chosen because GM-Isuzu had recently decided to close their small truck assembly plant in Japan and move their joint operation to Thailand.

Down the years this pick-up of generous dimensions has featured a number of revisions, with the latest model which appeared in 2023 and again Thailand was the chosen location. The D-Max has become a true global vehicle and it remains extremely popular and recently I spent some time with one on home tarmac. Alas, I did not have the opportunity to put it through its paces over challenging terrain on this occasion; however, I have in the past and it is up to the task when the going gets tough.

I have to say that Isuzu is best suited to the rural scene; I discovered it was quite a handful in the town, not driving, but parking. My constant complaint is the spaces in car parks; clearly the owners of such want to squeeze in as many vehicles as possible. I had a D-Max V-Cross to put through its paces, this the flagship of the range; you will not fail to recognise it with aggressive styling and a complete contrast when you move to the well-appointed interior, which boasts a degree of luxury which did come as something of a surprise. I can understand why in certain markets the pick-up is popular managing to deliver a dual personality; a workhorse or everyday transport and in the USA it is very much for some like a cult vehicle. Here in Ireland it is certainly a popular choice with the farming community. At the heart of the D-Max V-Cross is a 1.9 litre turbo diesel engine which pumps out a respectable 164PS and 360 Nm of torque. Towing capacity is 3.5 tonne, and a one tonne payload. There is no doubt off road is little challenge for this Isuzu, with a robust 4×4 system, when the going gets tough, it is ready to take it head on. There is a rough terrain mode and a rear diff lock. Alas this time round I did not have the opportunity to go off road; I have in the past done so with Isuzu vehicles and they are pretty impressive.

Keeping safe all who travel in the D-Max V-Cross is a priority and there is a variety of aids, intelligent adaptive cruise control, and lane keep assist, blind spot monitoring and rear cross traffic alert. Build quality is military like and I very much appreciated the in command driving position. Now to the interior, which I found to be very much on par with well-appointed saloons and hatchbacks, something of a surprise I must admit. There are leather, heated front seats, the driver’s seat has a host of positions at the movement of a switch. The touchscreen is a nine inch and the entertainment system has eight speakers for music on the move. There is a seven inch driver’s display and there is Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. You can really make this Isuzu stand out from the crowd with a variety of accessories; an ARB ascent canopy, bed rug, over fender set, side bars, bonnet protector, ARB base rack, laser light bar, ARB wind deflector, wind visors, bonnet lift, wireless charger, tow bar with 13 pin electrics were all fitted to this test vehicle. Just one criticism, which was an irritation until I sorted it out. The vehicle has central locking; however you have to open the rear glass window on the ARB canopy with a key, then activate the central locking to drop the tailgate.

Ian Lynas