Isuzu D-Max V-Cross Review - Plenty of Bang For Your Buck in This Pick-Up Truck
Isuzu is a company that knows what it’s good at.
The Japanese brand has tried selling various cars here in the UK. One of the first cars I ever drove as a fresh faced motoring journalist was the Isuzu Piazza, which was marketed as having ‘Handling by Lotus.’ Proton tried a similar tactic. It was a good looking coupe, which was a bit of a contrast to the vehicle that put Isuzu on the map in this country, the 4x4 SUV Trooper. Think of tough and rugged, and you’ve got the Trooper.
But their first big success was the Isuzu TF, a pick-up truck which had a reputation for being unstoppable and with the capability of carrying a heavy load and pulling an even heavier trailer. It arrived in 1988 and it’s still here, albeit in a very different guise.
It’s morphed into the Isuzu D-Max, and while you can still get a very basic, quite agricultural D-Max, you can also get various models which will provide an alternative to traditional, day-to-day SUV transportation.
Take this Isuzu D-Max V-Cross for example.
‘Holiday trips won’t require careful packing…just take everything, including the kitchen sink’
Rather than being marketed as a vehicle that’ll be handy for carrying bales of straw, a pallet of bricks or a dozen fence panels, Isuzu aims to show that with the addition of a few bells and whistles, this D-Max can be a family friend and lifestyle statement.
Okay, you’ll never get away from knowing that this is a pick-up truck that really is capable of scaling a mountain, but you’ll no longer be short of luggage space, and there’s plenty of room for five adults to travel in a decent degree of comfort. Holiday trips won’t require careful packing…just take everything, including the kitchen sink.
And in V-Cross trim, I think the D-Max looks rather smart in a hunky, rugged sort of way.
Configurations, Trims & Prices
Quick look at what’s available in the D-Max range.
There are three cab configurations: a single cab, an extended cab and a double cab. The single cab has just two seats and the longest load area. The extended cab has small, occasional seats behind the front pair, but they’re mainly for small bags and coats. The double cab has four full size doors and 5 seats, but this eats into the load area. The latter is the most popular, proving that folk prefer additional versatility.
If you want the best value and intend to use the D-Max as a proper business workhorse, go for the Utility trim, although you can get this version in all three configurations. Prices start at £28,755, and you can also choose between rear- and all-wheel drive. It’s not totally basic inside, with a touchscreen infotainment screen, reversing camera, DAB radio, cruise control, and air con — the bare necessities.
There’s then the DL20 and DL40 before arriving at the one I had, the V-Cross, which tips the scales at £39,395.
There’s only one model higher than the V-Cross, the outrageous D-Max Arctic Trucks AT35, which comes with massive 35-inch all-terrain tyres, flared wheel arches, and raised ride height. It’s a serious off-roader; however, it’s seriously pricey too at just over £58k. I suppose that’s the price of having something that looks like nothing else.
V-Cross is a D-Max with plenty of goodies thrown in
Back to the Isuzu D-Max V-Cross.
As with every D-Max, you can carry one tonne and haul 3.5 tonnes. Impressive. They all have the same engine, a rather old school 162bhp, 1.9 litre diesel which can hit 112mph, reach 60mph in 12.7 seconds and give an average fuel return of 33mpg. It clatters a bit at tick over and when you need some power, but it’s reasonably muted when cruising.
The V-Cross is only available as a 5-seat double cab, which sort of confirms that Isuzu don’t expect this D-Max to do too much grafting. You can opt for a 6-speed manual or auto gearbox. All-wheel drive comes as standard. This might be a D-Max with plenty of goodies thrown in as standard, but it is still hugely capable off-road.
It’s big, measuring almost 5.3 metres in length, so good luck negotiating a tight multi-storey car park and finding a space. You also need to clamber in because the ride height has increased to allow a wading depth of 800mm.
‘The ride is a shade bouncier than in a typical SUV’
As I mentioned earlier, you’ll always be aware that this is a vehicle designed to do some load-lugging. The ride is a shade bouncier than in a typical SUV. The engine is a bit coarse when accelerating, and the steering wheel takes a fair amount of twiddling. But I wouldn’t expect that anyone who buys a D-Max is seriously going to expect the same road manners as a modern SUV and, with that in mind, the D-Max is a perfectly acceptable vehicle to punt along in. It’s quite fun, actually.
In V-Cross guise, you get plenty of bang for your buck.
If you want to break the mould and drive around in something different, incredibly versatile and hugely capable off-road, the Isuzu D-Max V-Cross will tick all those boxes. To be honest, I was surprised by how much I liked it.
words: Graham Courtney
pictures: Isuzu
