• New Cars
    • First Impressions
    • Road Tests
  • Classics
    • Classic Profiles
    • Classic Driving Impressions
    • Classics Information
    • Events and Days Out
  • Motoring For Fun
  • News & Views
  • Bookshelf
  • Technical
    • Grumpy Old Mechanic
    • Kim’s Tips
  • Features
    • Visits
    • Track Days
  • Contributors
    • About our contributors
    • Kim Henson
    • Chris Adamson
    • Kieron Fennelly
    • Ant Henson
    • Rachel Henson
    • David Miles
    • Gerald Morgan
    • Dave Moss
    • Dave Randle
    • Robin Roberts
    • Tom Scanlan
    • Glen Smale
    • Keith Ward
    • John Price Williams
  • More…
    • About Wheels Alive
    • Tips for using this website
    • Useful Links
  • A-Z

Wheels Alive

Old cars, new cars, borrowed cars & blue cars. If it steers it's here!

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy

Isuzu D-Max Blade Double Cab Pickup – Road Test

Author/Source: Robin Roberts

23rd April 2018

Niche is Nice…

Robin Roberts (Miles Better News Agency) assesses Isuzu’s D-Max Blade Auto Double Cab Pickup.

The specialist vehicle market is where the money is to be made if you have the right products selling at the right prices, like the Isuzu D-Max Double Cab pickup. Isuzu will be one of many pick-up manufacturers and importers airing their wares at this week’s Commercial Vehicle Show at the NEC in Birmingham from 24 to 26 April.

Double Cab pick-ups for instance serve as useful vehicles varying from rural family duties, for business user-choosers attracted by the lower Benefit-in-Kind company car tax costs over a large 4×4 SUV, in the building and engineering industries, in farming, lifestyle and sports use, also for the rescue services, Highways Agency and the Police.

The Isuzu D-Max range, which took over from the Rodeo series, comprises Single Cab, Extended Cab and Double Cab models using the same engine and with a choice of six speed manual or automatic transmissions. They come with four-wheel-drive except for the entry-level rear-wheel-drive version and there are essentially five trim levels.

Our Blade Double Cab Automatic sits towards the top of the 18-model lineup and its standard equipment is very high, rivaling an executive car in many respects. Standard equipment includes LED lights, tinted glass, powered windows all round, Bluetooth & DAB radio with apps compatibility, touchscreen and satnav, leather seats and a full suite of safety features and 18-inch wheels. So it’s not lacking in the equipment stakes.

The bigger body is a bit of a climb into and out of but it’s very roomy and the seats are big and comfortable with reasonable adjustment on the front pair, and an adjustable steering column to tailor make journeys as relaxed as possible. There’s plenty of oddments room as well.

Under the big bonnet there is a comparatively small sub-2.0 litre turbodiesel four cylinder engine which works hard to perform and lets you know when heading towards maximum revs and it becomes boomy. Matched to a smooth six-speed auto-box the performance is adequate but not head-turning, but its overdrive higher ratios help it ease past 30 mpg overall. Use the box and that figure will dramatically fall away.

We did not see any point in taking the acceleration time as it would be slow by comparison with many vans, SUVs or cars but we did like the huge capacity loadbed even if it was a challenge to lift heavy items up onto the 90-degree tailgate and slide into the space. There are tie-down points and there is a single handle release for the tailgate, which is convenient.

Inside the cabin you have fairly good visibility but its bonnet does hide things up close and the reversing camera and sensors really come into their own when parking. The lights were reasonably long sighted and the wipers did a good job clearing the screen.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Noise levels were generally confined to the engine at speed but there was a bit of road rumbling going on underneath. The D-Max ride was naturally firm but not bouncy and it coped well with winding roads without making anyone feel sick.

The most annoying issue with the D-Max was a very big turning circle because of its commercial vehicle 4WD system which made urban driving a challenge when it came to manoeuvering or parking, but it was not an issue on open roads or in the country.

Secondary controls were straightforward and worked well, the instruments were clear and sensibly sized while the good-sized touchscreen was easy to read and use.

Brakes were well up to the required job and the parking brake securely held it on a slope.

With the pulling power of 360 Nm (266 lb.ft) from 2,000 rpm it was good for towing and so long as you sensibly used the gears you could keep a good pace on open roads.

VERDICT

There are many rivals to the Isuzu D-Max but I find them lacking in room and sometimes refinement as well, so it may not be your first consideration, but could be the last word for serious leisure or workhorse requirements.

For: Comfort and room, interior trim and equipment, durable powertrain, lower company car tax rate than a large 4×4 SUV.

Against: Restricted turning circle, lacklustre acceleration, unladen firm ride, some access & visibility issues.

Mini-Milestones and Wheels-Alive Tech. Spec. in Brief:

Isuzu D-Max Blade Auto 4×4 Double cab Pickup

Price: £34,739

Mechanical: 164 hp, 360 Nm (266 lb.ft), 1.9 litre four cylinder turbodiesel, six speed Auto

Max Speed: 112 mph

Combined MPG: 31.4

Insurance Group: 40A

C02 emissions: 205 g/km

VED road tax: Commercial vehicle £250 annual charge

BiK company car tax: Commercial vehicle £3,350 standard rate where the 20% tax employee will pay £670 a year, the 40% tax rate is £1,340 a year.

Warranty: Three yrs/60,000 miles

Sizes: L 5.30 m (17.39 ft), W 1.86 m (6.10 ft), H 1.80 m (5.91 ft)

Payload: 1,101 kg (2,427 lb)

Kerb: 1,949 kg (4,297 lb)

Save Post as PDF

Categories: Road Tests, Robin Roberts Tags: Double cab pickup, Pickup

Tip: For improved search accuracy, enclose search terms for multiple words in quotation marks. For example:
"Land Rover".

Advertise with us
A-ZPlease visit the A-Z page for listings by make, model, year etc. and an advanced search form.

Recent Posts

Nissan confirms faith in Sunderland plant, and X-Trail seven seater Road Test

Latest Seat Arona – Road Test

Kim’s Tips – Run the engine frequently to avoid alternator (and other) woes…

Rolls-Royce buyers explore Bespoke options galore during the last year

Significant Lotus anniversaries during 2021

TVR factory preparation and conversion starts

Volvo V90 B6 estate car – Road Test

Latest Honda Civic Type-R – Road Test

Contributors

contributors

Our well-respected contributors live and breathe motor cars; aren’t we lucky?

Contributors to the site include talented, highly-respected people (so they tell me) on the hallowed membership list of the Guild of Motoring Writers, and from the similarly well thought-of Western Group of Motoring Writers. In addition there are valued contributions from other knowledgeable and capable motoring writers who have something useful to say about all aspects of driving and running vehicles in the 21st Century. All of our team are passionate about motor cars!


Read about our contributors  ››

Popular Tags

4x4 4x4 SUV Audi Austin Beaulieu BMW Book review British Motor Museum City car Compact SUV Convertible Coupé crossover Electric electric vehicle estate Estate car executive saloon five door estate five door hatchback five door SUV Ford four door saloon hatchback Honda hot hatchback Hybrid Hybrid SUV Kia large SUV luxury SUV Mazda MG mid-size SUV Mini Mitsubishi MPV news News round-up Nissan People carrier PHEV Pick-up plug-in hybrid saloon seven seater MPV Seven seater SUV Skoda sports sports car Sports saloon sporty hatchback sporty SUV Supermini SUV Suzuki three door hatchback Tyres Vauxhall Volkswagen
All Tags ››

Wheels Alive Social

  • E-mail
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Like us on Facebook

Like us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

My Tweets

Contact us

We welcome your questions, comments and feedback. Please click here to contact us.

Advertising Opportunities

Please contact us if you would like to discuss advertising opportunities on Wheels Alive.

Please share our website

Copyright © 2021 Kim Henson, Wheels Alive