Isuzu KB300 D-Teq double cab 4x4 LX - Your friend in leisure, and how it’s better...

By Ané Theron

When you have an Isuzu double cab with an 80-litre tank full of diesel for the weekend, there’s only one thing to do: Drive until it’s empty!

It’s no secret that I am an Isuzu girl. I love a Hilux as much as the next person (especially the new Dakar Edition!) and the Ranger’s pretty cool too, but to me, an Isuzu just has that overall rough-and-tough macho demeanour. When people say that the Ranger and Hilux diesel engines sound more refined, I couldn’t care less. It’s that distinctive Isuzu-clatter I like so much!

On this road-trip I didn’t tow a boat or a caravan, I merely used it as a  leisure vehicle when my fiancé and I set off for a weekend getaway to aptly named De Rust near Oudtshoorn. When high stress-levels turn into chest pains, the little Karoo is the only place that offers sensory recuperation - and our serene lodging for the weekend makes my top 5 list of places to rejuvenate, physically and spiritually. Do yourself a favour and go to The Travelling Tortoise and book yourself into the isolated Padloper cabin on top of the hill. Here you can drink in the views of the Redstone Hills on the one side and the majestic Swartberg Mountains on the other. It’s a characterful, rustic eco-cabin that will bring out your most romantic and creative side (a dangerous combination). There are beautiful bigger cabins too, if you’d like to bring the whole family along.

But let’s get back to business. Here’s why the KB300 D-Teq double cab 4x4 LX auto (R594 500) made me a very chipper road-tripper:

It’s a looker!

I will be honest - the Isuzu X-Rider Black is my new heart-throb in the line-up (I drove a ‘Pull me Over Red’ KB250 double cab X-Rider, R416 000, at the beginning of the year), but the latest KB300 D-Teq Double Cab 4x4 LX auto is handsome in its own right. With its assertive nose and chrome grille, silver body shell, roof rails, rear sports bar, and stylish alloys with Grabber all-terrain tyres (255/60 R18), you better watch out if it appears in your rear-view mirror - it looks properly intimidating.

Space in the rear is of the best in its class

The days of sitting uncomfortably in the back of an Isuzu are long-gone, and while many other double cab bakkies (4x4 turbo-diesel autos of similar engine size) offer better performance than the KB300’s 130kW and 380Nm, one the Isuzu’s definite advantages is its comfy rear-passenger compartment with decent rear legroom, with more space available than the VW Amarok, Mazda BT-50, Nissan Navara, Toyota Hilux, and Mitsubishi Triton double cabs.

Fuel consumption is good too…

While Isuzu’s claimed diesel consumption figures for the KB300 is 7.9 litres per 100 km, in reality we attained around 9.5, which is ever-so-slightly better than the Hilux 2.8 GD-6 Raider 4x4 AT. In fact, the Isuzu’s realistic fuel consumption was only beaten by the VW Amarok 2.0 BiTDI 4 MOTION Highline AT’s 8.8 l/100 km, the Nissan Navara 2.3 DCi LE 4x4 AT’s 8.6 l/100 km, and the Mitsubishi Triton 2.4DiD 4x4 Auto’s 8.8 l/100 km (these are not manufacturer figures).

It handles whatever you throw at it

Being impulsive has landed me in some hot water, and combined with my fear of heights I have found myself in situations less than fortunate (for me). My last-split-second decision of crossing a mountain to see what the little town of Van Wyksdorp looked like, ended in us traversing the little-known Rooiberg Pass.

The long and short of it is that it’s a scenic gravel pass (more long than short, really), with a lovely assortment of hairpin bends and blind corners with a rocky abyss down below. It took us an entire hour to travel 14 kilometres across a surface strewn with loose rocks and gravel, and my eyes had to remain closed while my fearless fiancé piloted the bakkie. In the end, the views were the only thing to die for and once I realised I was in no real danger, I was elated that we opted for that route, albeit by mistake.

We easily switched from 2H (front-wheel drive) to 4H (all-wheel drive) via the Isuzu’s rotary knob below the automatic gear lever (you can do so “on the fly”), and it was not an overly uncomfortable ride, given the tremendously rocky road surface - here the Isuzu’s heavy-duty all-terrain tyres were of great help, while its long-proven suspension settings seemed to cherish every metre of our little detour.  Smoother dirt or gravel feels like the Isuzu’s natural habitat, and traction control further enhances that sure-footed feeling.

Removing and replacing the loading bay cover is super easy

You may not think that this is such an important feature, until you start struggling to cover the load bay like you would a large mattress with a tiny fitted sheet.

The Isuzu’s vinyl tonneau cover has clips and you simply secure them over the edges of the loading bay, in a folding motion. Easy and strangely satisfying, especially if you’re a little OCD. Much easier than getting the Hilux tonneau cover back on!

Convenience features like satnav are included in its price

Want to connect to the internet? The KB300 LX can be your hotspot and internet radio can be streamed. Satnav is also standard, along with the usual USB and Auxiliary ports. But you would need a sharp-edged object to open the flaps below the air-conditioning controls to gain access to the USB port - fingers don’t do the job, due to this design flaw. However, the infotainment system itself is quite easy to use, but the buttons on either side of the screen have a hard plasticky feel when you press them. The Hilux’s touch screen system is not my favourite either - so the Amarok’s system wins this battle for being intuitive and logical. I don’t care much for the Navara’s infotainment system either.

Is the KB still a good buy, with such an extensive local bakkie line-up?

While there is so much on offer from the South African bakkie menu, the Isuzu KB300 still has its place. While the KB300’s 130 kW and 370 Nm of torque will surely assist in towing or transporting heavy goods, I would probably opt for the manual 4x2 KB250 D-Teq double cab X-Rider (R 416 000 with 100 kW/ 320 Nm) instead, if I only needed a leisure vehicle for family road-trips.  it’s not that much less powerful and it can be had in 4x4-guise too at R463 200. The only downside is that you won’t get all the airbags that the LX-variant gets - six is a good number if there are kids in the back. The X-Rider only has two in front. Traction control is a standard feature.

Will I remain an Isuzu girl? Indeed, I will.  Ask any farmer why he drives a KB, and he will tell you that it’s because it’s so hardy, robust, and because it tackles dirt roads like a dream! While I don’t have farming aspirations, I can still appreciate why it remains a popular choice amongst those who don’t just use it for good times.

*The blue KB (see photos) is the top-tier 5-speed manual model, the Isuzu KB 300 D-Teq Double Cab 4x4 LX, R580 100.