Isuzu D-Max AT35 review

The ‘lifestyle’ pick-up – which looks to become an endangered species as the double cab BIK loophole closes – was once merely an exercise in fitting alloy wheels, a chrome ‘style bar’ over the cab rear and some improbably aggressive-sounding designation down the flanks. The adornments added more kerb weight than street-cred, but made the truck too pretty for real work, and most found favour with office-based middle managers carrying golf clubs, not gravel. Then Ford, on a roll with its class-leading Ranger, raised the bar considerably with a howling twin-turbo V6 petrol engine, multi-mode off-road technology and Baja-race inspired chassis, to create the Raptor, a vehicle you cannot fail to mention when assessing this Isuzu D-Max AT35.

Visually they appear to be two sides of the same coin, but really they’re chalk and cheese.

Design and equipment

The Ford is aimed more at private buyers who want a true 4WD better suited to carrying muddy bicycles or DIY materials than a leather-lined SUV’s load bay. In that respect, it excels; nearly 300bhp, 0-60 in under 8 seconds, auto-4WD which allows 4X4 on tarmac, a luxury cab interior and its supple suspension giving excellent ride comfort. In that respect the AT35 has no answer – it’s way slower, 2WD only on-road, not as comfortable or well-equipped and feels cheaper, despite actually being three grand more expensive than the Raptor. However, there is one more (very significant) difference. The Raptor’s payload is less than 1,000kg and therefore is not VAT reclaimable; the AT35 carries just over a tonne and therefore is. Perhaps Isuzu should have called it the ‘Vator’. It can also tow 3.5 tonnes against the Ford’s 2.5 tonnes.

Off-road specialist Arctic Trucks (which built the Hilux Top Gear took to the north pole) has three decades of experience and extensively modifies the range-topping V-Cross specification D-Max in the UK, adding around 40mm of combined chassis and suspension lift before fitting the 35in overall diameter tyres (hence AT35). This gives a minimum ground clearance of 266mm, with approach and departure angles of 35 and 29 degrees, on 315/70R17 tyres. A Raptor has 265mm of ground clearance with angles of 32 and 24 degrees sporting 285/70 R17 rubber. 

Performance and drive

The AT35’s drivetrain specification is unchanged from a standard D-Max, with a (rather unrefined) 1.9-litre turbo-diesel engine, part-time 4WD, low range and a rear differential lock. The Raptor boasts both front and rear differential locks, multiple off road modes, and full off-road progress control too, where the Isuzu has basic hill descent control. The Isuzu then, is unashamedly the ‘working’ pick-up of the pair, with those load and towing figures, whilst on test it returned an impressive 32mpg unladen over 309 miles of mixed roads. The cab layout is well considered with proper switches too and little reliance on a screen, whilst supportive seats and stacks of storage bodes well. The big tyres make the vague steering even worse and further blunt the performance but the auto ‘box is laid back and torque delivery linear, ideal for doing real work.

The Arctic Trucks version takes a lot of re-engineering and man-hours but at face value two inches more ground clearance and a 19% improvement in approach and departure angles over a standard D-Max V-Cross makes the price increase of £16,500 (ex-VAT) pretty hard to justify. In the final analysis, if you mainly want to turn heads, consider the AT35, but if you primarily want to turn a profit, get a basic D-Max. It is still, by far, the best value pickup on the market.