Jo'burg to Cape Town on one tank of diesel
If you're envious of the consumption figures in hybrids and EVs but you can't afford one, fear not: Isuzu's D-Max once again proves that a diesel powertrain in the right vehicle can make all the difference if the driver doesn't have a heavy foot.
South Africans are no strangers to ridiculous fuel prices and we have to budget carefully if we want to keep our wheels rollings, so to speak. (Learn How to work out your car's fuel consumption here.) Of course, most of us would prefer hybrids like the Toyota Corolla Cross (search AutoTrader for one) or a fully-electric SUV like the Mercedes-Benz EQA (read my review), but more often than not it's way out of our price range. Fortunately there are still many cars available to South Africans that sip very lightly at fuel, and if there is a sensible driver behind the wheel, you would be surprised to learn how far one can actually travel, like from Jo'Burg to Cape Town on a single tank of fuel.
Going on a road trip? Drive a diesel for excellent fuel economy
As someone who enjoys road-trips, I usually opt for test cars that will give me at least 1000 km on one tank of diesel - some of my favourite frugal rides have been cars like the Renault Duster (read my road-trip review) and the Hyundai Grand Creta - click to read my review) but I have yet to take the new 1.9-litre D-Max on a cross-country road-trip. The 3.0-litre double-cab D-Max variant makes my list of Top 5 Cars for Discerning Families, however.
Here we are en route to Bloemfontein via Nieu-Bethesda's back roads in a 2022 Hyundai Grand Creta—in diesel, of course!
New Isuzu D-Max munches many miles on very little diesel
When the D-Max launched with its new 1.9-litre turbodiesel engine that replaced the 2.5, we were skeptical - was it going to be underpowered, especially when you need that low-down torque? And would it really be that much more economical than the previous generation? Well, a recent fuel economy run surprised us.
You can watch Chad's video review on the D-MAX 1.9Ddi Double Cab LS auto (2022) here.
"The introduction of the 1.9 Ddi engine is designed to fulfil the requirements for a modern turbodiesel engine that meets the increasingly stringent global emission standards, uses less fuel, is a lot quieter and more refined, and delivers ISUZU’s world-renowned reliability and durability,” says Kevin Fouché, Head of Product Planning and Programme Management at ISUZU SA. But talk is cheap, so an experiment followed suit.
Related: How much does it cost to fill SA's best-selling vehicles?
To illustrate just how frugal the latest iteration of Isuzu's D-Max can be, Grant McCleery, head of Isuzu Driving Academy, decided to conduct an economy run from Jozi to Cape Town, a precursor to the official 'Isuzu 1 Tank Challenge' which took place in March 2023. He managed to do a whopping 1431 km on one tank of fuel in the single-cab variant, but here is the catch: he drove no more than 100 km per hour over the entire distance.
His total amount of fuel used for the trip was a mere 73.82 litres, which translates to only 5.1 litres per 100 km, or 19.4 kilometres per litre! This is way better than hybrid driving; hybrids are excellent for city and urban commutes because, in most hybrids, you can get by on driving on EV power alone in slow-moving situations, but on mega-intercity road trips, a big tank of diesel and an economical powertrain are what you really want.
Previously, Isuzu conducted a similar test (in 2021) with a previous-generation D-Max 2.5 Single Cab, using a total of 102.31 litres, or 7.02 litres per 100 km or 14.2 km per litre, so the latest results are truly impressive.
Search AutoTrader for used and new Isuzu D-Max and KB models here.
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