7 minute read
Cover Feature
Twin Peaks
The refreshed 2023 Isuzu D-MAX and MU-X have arrived—bringing a swag of extras.
WORDS: RHYS COLLINS
LOTSOFTHE things we love most get worse over time. Hairlines recede. TV series lose the plot. One day your toddler thinks you’re a sort of god, the next they’re a teenager and they’ve pinched your keys and driven to Timor.
And then, of course, there’s Isuzu’s hardy siblings: the D-MAX and MU-X.
Isuzu’s ultra-reliable D-MAX ute has been getting better all the time, like the Beatles song, with each iteration and update for two decades. In 2013 it became so irresistible that it produced an SUV offshoot: the mighty MU-X. Bucking trends, both have gone from strength to strength ever since.
Each vehicle is synonymous with dependability, both in terms of general quality and through the lens of continual improvement. So when the updated D-MAX and MU-X models were teased, the question wasn’t so much whether they’d be better than their predecessors. It was more about how much better they’d be.
The answer, in a nutshell, is revealed via a raft of evolutionary changes and refinements, each packaged with an Australian audience in mind. Major updates include improved functionality, new variants and a refreshed exterior design and colour palette (welcome to the team Granite Grey, Galaxy Blue and Neptune Blue).
That the new models are a step forward is no surprise. Equally satisfying, though, is that both continue to be packaged with customers’ requirements top of mind.
“In a market where some brands have removed features to meet delivery timeframes, we’ve listened to the feedback from customers and the media and have introduced new features to keep both the D-MAX and MU-X towards the top of the segment,” says Isuzu UTE Australia Managing Director Hiroyasu Sato. “Features that appeal to the modern ute driver, and the towing and touring adventurer.”
All will find improvements to satisfy their purposes. But let’s begin with the changes that target the trades.
First, the addition of three SX Crew Cab models means the 2023 D-MAX range now offers a grand total of 24 variants. Each features Isuzu’s versatile and fuelefficient RZ4E 1.9-litre turbo-diesel engine, paired with a bulletproof 6-speed automatic transmission.
For those seeking a little more grunt across the board, Isuzu’s famed 3.0-litre engine remains available across all models and body styles—including the value-packed top-of-the-range D-MAX X-TERRAIN. Producing a potent combination of 140kW of power and 450Nm of torque, it’s the largest-capacity four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine available in the ute segment.
Many of the refreshed D-MAX and MU-X’s exterior refinements are subtle, but the overall effect is a more commanding and more resolved presence.
Isuzu’s iconic signature horizontal bar grille has been massaged and is now sculpted to meet the swooped leadingedge creases of the bonnet and the chiselled front bar fascia. The new grille design’s finish varies between variants, with two-tone black on the SX, two-tone black and grey on the LS-M, two-tone grey and chrome on the LS-U and LS-U+, and two-tone dark grey on the halo X-TERRAIN. Completing the look, the LED rear combination lights are newly trimmed in dark grey metallic, rather than chrome.
Responding to customer feedback, new alloys also debut, from 17-inch light grey six-spoke versions on mid-level LS-M models to 18-inch machined alloys on LS-M and LS-U+ variants. The X-TERRAIN mirrors the latter template, except finishes it in a tasteful dark grey metallic.
To maximise traction and tyre life, all 2023 variants sporting 18- or 20-inch boots feature a new Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) that relays vital information back to the driver in real time. Another enhancement is entirely external and everyday practical. Tailgate Assist is a gas-strut system on D-MAX ute variants that makes lowering and raising the rear tailgate effortless, and allows easy onehanded operation. There’s also a handsfree powered tailgate across LS-U and LS-T variants of the MU-X.
Then there’s inside the cabin.
The third-gen D-MAX and second-gen MU-X were immediately lauded for their superb interior comfort, technological integration and thoughtful design from scratch. The 2023 models build on that offering with updated seat upholstery, ranging up to leather-accented trim and signature red stitching on the X-TERRAIN.
With more families than ever opting for a D-MAX as their sole vehicle, SX Crew Cab Ute and Crew Cab Chassis models add an additional USB port to the second row. Matching the offering in the other grades, it’s a boon to backseat device users, whether they’re apprentices buried in Instagram on the road between jobs, or kids being kept schtum by Disney+ on the annual Christmas pilgrimage up the coast.
If that pilgrimage includes towing—and it does for a huge proportion of both D-MAX and MU-X customers—the setup has also been simplified (see previous page).
Do most things you cherish diminish in quality as time marches cruelly forward?
Some do. But not everything.
Love can deepen. Birdsong becomes sweeter to experienced ears. TV shows might jump the shark, but TV sets grow ever larger, flatter and harder to burgle.
Coffee today is light years ahead of 1940s Nescafé Blend 43.
Arriving in Australia in late 2020, the third-generation D-MAX has been an unequivocal local success story. With more than 50,000 utes delivered to Australians since that date, despite international supply issues across the auto industry, the D-MAX has wowed punters and press alike.
Landing shortly after the D-MAX, the second-generation MU-X doubled down on its sibling’s combination of toughness and tech. It’s now been the leading ute-based SUV in the country for a decade, with more than 10,000 MU-Xs making their way into Australian driveways in 2021 alone.
That’s a daunting record for an updated model to live up to. But it’s also a foundation on which to continue momentum.
Featuring a raft of incremental improvements and a handful of more substantial changes, the 2023 Isuzu D-MAX and MU-X don’t just stay the course. They stay ahead of the game.
Tow Your Own Way
The MY23 D-MAX and MU-X have made towing even easier.
You could think of it as streamlining. Nearly half of all D-MAX owners say pulling prowess was a decisive influence in their choice of ute. And with MU-X buyers also enthusiastic about hauling vans, boats and trailers across the countryside, Isuzu is constantly on the lookout for ways to improve functionality.
To that end, engineers have simplified the towing setup by independently disabling Blind Spot Monitoring and Rear Cross Traffic Alert when required in 2023 models. This adjustment happens without need for manual intervention whenever a trailer is hitched and detected via the genuine trailer wiring harness. And while it had been straightforward to manually toggle off that functionality via the controls on the steering wheel—precluding the safety systems accidentally being triggered by the proximity of the trailer—the updated system works automatically.
It’s a further refinement to the already impressive towing setup, following the introduction of the Lane Support System Switch a year ago, which allowed drivers to toggle lane-keeping functions on or off with the push of a button.
