2017 Ford Ranger vs Isuzu D-Max

What's the difference?

Toyota's HiLux is feeling the heat from Ford's (PXII) Ranger in Australia's hotly contested 4x4 ute market. Recent national sales figures show the Ranger is outselling the former undisputed champion of this segment and closing the gap on the Toyota's long-standing dominance of the 4x2 ute segment, as well.

Ford is obviously in a buoyant mood, celebrating the Ranger's success in early 2017 with the first XLT dual cab 4x4-based special edition called the FX4. Fans of Ford's US pick-ups will be familiar with this moniker. It was first applied to Ford's best-selling F-150 as a special off-road option package with heavy duty suspension, underbody protection and unique body accents.

The Aussie version gets the body accents but no mechanical upgrades. However, Ford Australia has form in this area from decades past, so it's no surprise to see a new millennium reprise of special editions which offer the same cake with different icing.

Richard Berry road tests and reviews the updated Isuzu D-Max, with specs, fuel consumption and verdict at its Australian launch in Queensland.

Australia loves its utes. We’re not just saying that either, you know in the same way you’d say Australia loves its pavlova or a game of Hungry Hungry Hippos, or sliding down a piece of wet plastic in the backyard on a hot day (although that’s true, too).

No, it is more official than that because Australians bought 42,104 examples of Toyota's HiLux in 2016, more than any other four-wheeled vehicle. It even beat the Corolla, and the popularity of the ute was further reinforced by the Ford Ranger in third place.

Isuzu’s D-Max ute was further back with 16,359 sold, which sounds piddling but it’s more than the total number of new BMWs and Volvos bought last year, and to put that in a bigger context Australia is the second largest D-Max market in the world.

That surely gives the Isuzu Ute Australia people a bit of clout when they visit head office in Japan and it appears they’ve used that leverage in the new D-Max which has just landed.

Now, when we say new, it is the same generation ute as the one which launched in 2012, but this is the first major update to the D-Max since then. All very simple – some restyling to the front, a better media system in the cabin, a different transmission and manual gearbox, but most importantly – a new diesel engine.

So what does that all mean? How does it change the way it drives? Have they hiked up the price? Oh, and can you see how its look is supposed to resemble a killer whale?

We were able to drive two different variants of the D-Max ute at its recent launch: the 4X2 LS-U crew cab ute with the manual gearbox and the 4X4 LS-M crew cab ute with the auto transmission.