Its arrival initially met with scepticism, Isuzu’s new RZ4E engine is quickly proving itself to be an able successor to the tried and tested 4JK engine powering the D-Max pick-up truck.

 

Launched with the promise of greater fuel efficiency and much-reduced road tax, questions were posed on whether the diminutive 1.9-litre mill can truly match up to the outgoing 2.5.

The Millennium Challenge

Carrying 1,000kg of payload, scaling beyond 1,000m in altitude, covering more than 1,000km of roads with one tank of fuel, the Isuzu D-Max emphatically demonstrates the big heart of its little 1.9.

Far from drying up its 76-litre tank at the journey’s end, the D-Max actually clocked in at the finish line with still two bars on its fuel gauge and the trip computer reading an impressive average consumption of 7.2 l/100km.

Besides covering the distance and scaling the heights, the D-Max 1.9 was also loaded with a payload of 1,000kg. By the time it arrived at the Isuzu Service Centre in Shah Alam, the gutsy truck had clocked 1,145km on its trip meter and reaching maximum altitude as high as 1,604m at the peak of Genting Highlands.

Now, the D-Max 1.9 makes headlines again. The pick-up truck with the smallest engine in the market has successfully (and very comfortably too) completed the latest edition of the famous Isuzu Dura-Miles fuel efficiency challenge.

 

Past versions of the Dura-Miles challenge usually involved a D-Max being driven from Thailand to Malaysia on a single tank of fuel. This time round, the challenge flagged off from Pekan, after which the D-Max 1.9 Single Cab took a roundabout route to the Klang Valley, passing through Jeli, Gerik, Ipoh, Cameron Highlands, Fraser’s Hill, and Genting Highlands.

Knowing that conservative buyers still form a large subset of pick-up truck buyers, Isuzu went about to quickly let the 1.9 show its mettle in the real world, going into the jungle for Borneo Safari 2019.

CHALLENGE ROUTE

>1000

KM

DISTANCE

KG

WEIGHT

M

ELEVATION