All three double-cabs in this year’s tests show how far these vehicles have moved on in recent years. But the Isuzu Yukon D-Max feels most like an old-school pick-up.
The ride is bouncy in solo driving and the steering is slow to respond and needs lots of arm-twirling in corners. The engine has lots of mid-range pull, but it’s very noisy.
Hitch up to caravan weighted to 85% and you can tow from 30-60mph in 18.5 seconds. At a steady 60mph the Isuzu was reasonably stable, but in the lane-change test the D-Max felt out of its depth. The pick-up struggled to keep the caravan under control, with big steering inputs needed from the driver. The stopping distance of 11.5m from 30mph looks good, but the caravan repeatedly shunted the back of the D-Max, which felt very unpleasant from inside the cabin.
In the hill-start test the Isuzu’s handbrake needed a firm pull before it would hold. Tackling the hill was predictably much easier in 4WD low-ratio than in 2WD high-ratio.
Price-wise, the Isuzu sits in between the budget SsangYong Korando Sports and the pricey Volkswagen Amarok. The Yukon version tested here is well equipped, and a five-year warranty matches the Ssangyong’s and puts the Volkswagen’s to shame.
