How to turn a holiday into an adventure? Have your holiday car be a MONSTER of an Isuzu D-Max!
Crazier things have happened in this already rather wild job, but Isuzu offering up the keys to a D-Max Monster (yes, that Borneo Safari thing) for a family holiday in and around Kota Kinabalu certainly ranks among the more memorable ones. And in what can only be described as a feat of self-admitted insanity, this writer actually said yes to this insane idea!
So while this trip was supposed to be just like any other family holiday in KK: a bit of food hunting around town, followed by a drive up to Kundasang for some cooler weather. Instead, it somehow turned into a proper adventure. Here’s how that went:
Day 1: In The Suburbs
Having just landed in KK, the plan for the first day was fairly straightforward: spend some time exploring the suburbs and hunt down some good local cuisine… Though right upon clapping eyes on the Monster waiting in the airport pickup lane, it became immediately apparent that this was perhaps not the most sensible vehicle for such an endeavour.
For starters, right from the off-ramp out of the airport, it already became apparent that the roar from those massive 35-inch all-terrain tyres is rather pronounced once on the move. There is to be a constant audible groan permeating the cabin, especially above 60 km/h. Thankfully however, the generally slower pace of suburban KK traffic meant that anything above 60 km/h was a blessed rarity anyway. And if nothing else, everyone on board quickly took to it as a rather effective speed alert.
Though while on the topic of constant presences, it should go without saying that the sheer size of this thing makes itself known all the time. The Monster towers over pretty much everything around it, making even the typically gigantic Land Cruisers look like Axias by comparison. It also wears brush guards on all four corners which, while not technically making the truck any wider as they protrude about as far as the wing mirrors anyway, are nevertheless one more thing to think about whenever squeezing through tighter spaces around town.
And don’t even get this writer started on parking the thing.
Despite having nearly a decade of parallel parking experience under this writer’s belt, the front-seat passenger nevertheless frequently found themselves promoted to the role of external parking supervisor. Every parking manoeuvre quickly became a team exercise involving hand signals, plenty of “stop, steady… wait!”, and a healthy amount of faith.
That said, the absolute monstrosity of this thing did occasionally work in its favour. Thanks to its ride height and general 4×4-ness, the Monster could happily occupy a few rather creative parking spots that most other vehicles wouldn’t even consider… though exactly where those were shall remain between this writer and Sabah.
A word too on cost.
The privilege of driving around in what is effectively a road-legal monster truck does not come cheap. Literally. The combination of a 3.0-litre diesel engine and giant tyres means you can almost visibly watch the fuel gauge moving, with the average around town hovering somewhere around 6 km/l. Thank goodness then that East Malaysia still has subsidised diesel.
Day 2: Onwards To Kundasang
As a new dawn rose in the Land Below The Wind, the drive towards Kundasang brought with it a rather surprising observation: the Monster actually blends in.
Pickup trucks are absolutely everywhere in Sabah. Hiluxes, Rangers and D-Maxes seem almost as common as Myvis, and among such company, the Monster somehow looked remarkably normal.
Well… normal-ish anyway.
And having just spent an entire day complaining about its size, this writer now has to eat some of those words back.
Such is the presence of this absolute unit of a truck sees that other smaller vehicles (aka pretty much everything else on the road) generally gave way without much fuss. And after a while too, there wasn’t really much guilt in occasionally holding up traffic because nobody else seemed particularly interested in driving all that quickly either.
Just switching into auto journalist mode for a second here too, the 3.0-litre diesel in the Monster deserves some praise. Despite hauling around massive tyres and enough accessories for a week in the jungle, this oil-burner (which remains completely stock, by the way) still had a surprising amount of grunt. Overtaking slower-moving lorries while climbing towards Kundasang was never really an issue.
Even the 5.5 km/l fuel economy achieved during the climb somehow didn’t feel all that terrible, considering what the truck was being asked to do.
And perhaps because this writer was slowly beginning to warm to the Monster, it was in Kundasang that something of an epiphany happened.
While a hillside town naturally comes with steep roads, it is nevertheless impressive just how many attractions seem to be perched atop improbably steep hills connected by roads that either feel like tarmac was simply poured over rocks as an afterthought, or have no tarmac at all. In the Monster though, simply engage four-wheel drive and those giant tyres pretend every crater is merely a pothole.
But where the Monster really earned its keep was later that evening.
Purely because this writer thought it looked nice on the Airbnb listing, a place called Hidden Hills had been booked for the night. What wasn’t immediately obvious at the time was that the name was somewhat literal.
Getting there involved driving up what was essentially a logging track carved into the side of a mountain. And to make matters worse, thanks to some questionable holiday scheduling decisions, the drive only began at dusk.
After a rainstorm.
In dense fog.
Blessedly, the Monster was fitted with a massive roof-mounted auxiliary light bar and spotlights all around. What initially seemed like excessive overkill suddenly became the literal beacon of hope, illuminating all of about three metres ahead while climbing through the fog towards what increasingly felt less like Hidden Hills and more like Silent Hill.
It genuinely cannot be emphasised enough that without the Monster, this writer probably would not have made it to the night’s accommodation. There is a very real possibility that the alternative outcome would’ve involved becoming a brief mention in the local news.
That said, any sense of achievement from successfully navigating through the fog was somewhat undercut when, at the conclusion of what was possibly the most challenging drive of this writer’s life, a Perodua Bezza emerged from the opposite direction at a speed that could only be described as bat-out-of-hell fast.
Apparently, that route was only challenging for one person.
Day 3: Back Down The Mountain
The next morning began about as perfectly as one could hope for in Kundasang. A beautiful sunrise, cool mountain air and stunning views of Mount Kinabalu suggested that the day’s biggest challenge would simply be deciding what to eat for lunch while driving back down the mountain.
The weather gods, however, had other ideas.
Rather mercifully, they at least waited until everything (and everyone) had been loaded into the Monster before opening the heavens. And when it rained, it absolutely bucketed down.
As with what happened the previous evening, the decision to bring this Monster of a D-Max up the mountain suddenly felt considerably smarter than it did while trying to park it back in KK.
Flooded sections of mountain road barely registered beneath the Monster. With one sitting so high off the ground, there was almost a sense of detachment from whatever chaos was occurring down at road level. Waterlogged roads that would normally have most drivers slowing down and reconsidering their life choices were instead treated with little more than a shrug.
In fact, the rainy drive became comfortable enough that this writer’s attention eventually shifted away from the weather and towards the other creature comforts offered by the flagship D-Max X-Terrain upon which the Monster is based.
For all the giant tyres, brush guards and safari equipment bolted onto it, the Monster’s interior remains largely stock. Bar the CB radio mounted in the cabin, it is still recognisably a modern D-Max inside.
This handily meant all the creature comforts of the regular X-Terrain remained intact. The leather seats are comfortable, the air-conditioning is properly cold, and while the steering is admittedly on the heavier side (no thanks to those massive tyres), the chunky steering wheel is nevertheless rather satisfying to wrestle with for hours at a time. The stereo is excellent too, while conveniences such as walk-away auto locking, wireless Android Auto and a wireless charger make long drives remarkably effortless.
It also goes without saying that, with this being a Monster of a pickup, space was never a concern. Five adults fit comfortably inside, while the lockable canopy over the cargo bed provides what feels like all the luggage space in the world. Perfect for everything from a family holiday to disappearing into the Sabah wilderness for a long weekend.
Day 4: Closing Thoughts
The final drive back towards the airport wasn’t particularly long, but it did provide enough time to gather some final thoughts on the Monster.
And really, it is exactly that: a monster.
It is completely impractical for most daily circumstances. It is huge, noisy, thirsty and more often than not ridiculously over the top. Driving one demands full concentration, and parking one occasionally requires divine intervention.
But then again, it was never meant for daily life. The Monster was conceived to tackle the Borneo Safari, and this brief taster of Sabah’s more rugged side showed exactly why it exists. Whether climbing foggy mountain tracks, traversing flooded roads or helping this writer avoid becoming stranded halfway up a mountain in the dark, it never once felt out of its depth.
And for what it was built to do, it is absolutely brilliant.
Just ending on a personal note too, this writer has to thank Isuzu for turning what was supposed to be an ordinary family holiday into a genuinely memorable adventure. The scenery would’ve been just as beautiful in any other car, but the stories being taken home almost certainly wouldn’t have been.
