Isuzu just took its D-Max on a round Peninsula road trip without refuelling even once.
While there are many automakers out there patting themselves on the back for achieving 1,000+ km of range on a single tank, Isuzu is perhaps looking at them and laughing right now. This is because its freshly updated pickup has just completed a full journey around Peninsular Malaysia, covering an impressive 1,756 km on a single tank of diesel!
Now this feat came as part of the D-MAX One Tank. One Nation Challenge, which saw two new D-Max pickups, a 2.2L 4×4 Auto Premium and a 2.2L 4×2 Auto Plus, set off from Balakong, Selangor on August 17 before travelling counter-clockwise around the peninsula and returning to Kuala Lumpur six days later. Along the way, the trucks passed through Negeri Sembilan, Melaka, Johor, Pahang, Terengganu, Kelantan, Kedah, Penang and Perak, including a run through the mountainous East-West Link between Jeli and Gerik, before finishing at the Isuzu 3S Centre in Jinjang.
And as the challenge was a success, it does go without saying that neither truck needed to stop for fuel along the way. In fact, both pickups completed the 1,756 km journey with more than 4% of their fuel still remaining, meaning they apparently still had enough in reserve to carry on towards Melaka again.
So, what makes the new D-Max quite so good at sipping diesel? Well, a big part of it is naturally down to the new-generation 2.2-litre turbodiesel introduced with the pickup’s update earlier this year. Replacing the outgoing 1.9-litre unit, this 2,164 cc four-cylinder produces 163 PS and 400 Nm, with 255 Nm already available from just 1,000 rpm. It is also paired with a new eight-speed automatic transmission co-developed with Aisin, giving it two more ratios than before and allowing the engine to settle into a more fuel-efficient cruise while on the highway.
Isuzu currently claims this new 2.2-litre oil burner delivers a 10.7% improvement in extra-urban fuel consumption over the previous 1.9-litre, despite the increase in performance. It is also apparently cleaner, with emissions reduced by 21% and particulate emissions cut by as much as 99%, thanks in part to a new turbocharger, 250 MPa high-pressure fuel injection system, diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC), diesel particulate diffuser (DPD) and intelligent exhaust gas recirculation (EGR).
Unsurprisingly, the 4×2 Auto Plus used for the challenge also had a slight advantage over its 4×4 sibling when it comes to fuel economy, being based on the Standard variant but doing without the four-wheel-drive system. This cuts around 80 kg from its overall kerb weight, while also reducing the mechanical drag from the additional front drivetrain components.
Getting back to the feat itself though, this is incidentally not the first time an Isuzu D-Max has demonstrated its ability to go an absurd distance between fuel stops. Such is as the pickup previously entered the Malaysian Book of Records after travelling 2,000 km from Bangkok to Klang, on a single 76-litre tank of diesel.
And just as an aside for those who followed this latest challenge, one lucky participant from Kluang, Johor apparently had rather good faith in the D-Max’s fuel-sipping abilities. His guess of exactly 1,756 km proved to be spot on, earning him RM 5,000 worth of grocery shopping vouchers, which should hopefully last quite a bit longer than the diesel in the D-Max.
