Isuzu D-Max

The Isuzu D-Max is a 2-door chassis cab / 2-door pickup truck / 4-door chassis cab / 4-door pickup truck from Isuzu, built from 2002, in the decade of stability control, dual-clutch gearboxes and the first serious hybrids. Under the bonnet: Diesel engine.

How it came about

The Isuzu D-Max is a compact pickup truck (first- and second-generation) and mid-size pickup truck (third generation) manufactured since 2002 by Isuzu. It is a successor to the Isuzu Faster/KB. The first and second-generation model shares its platform with the Chevrolet Colorado.

The third-generation model shares its platform with the third-generation Mazda BT-50, which is produced in the same Isuzu plant in Thailand. In Australasia the D-Max was marketed as the Holden Rodeo from 2003 to 2008, when it was relaunched as the Holden Colorado. The Isuzu D-Max itself was also introduced during 2008, selling alongside the Holden-badged offering. The D-Max also has an SUV counterpart based on the same platform, which is the MU-7 for the first-generation model, and the MU-X for the succeeding generations.

The hardware

Power comes from Diesel engine; other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. It weighs 1650 –. It shifts through a 5-speed MU-Series manual / 4-speed MaxMatic automatic. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.

Family and rivals

Its family tree is legible: it took over from the Isuzu Faster; its successor was the Chevrolet Colorado (for Chevrolet D-Max) / Chevrolet S10 Max (for Chevrolet D-Max); assembly was at Arica. Its contemporaries in the catalogue — the Honda Accord, the Porsche Cayenne, the Volvo XC90 — show what else the money bought that year. Its Isuzu stablemates include the Isuzu Gemini and the 4000 Series Medium Duty.