Isuzu D-Max vs Mercedes-Benz Glb250

What's the difference?

There’s a fairly big change hiding under the metal of one of Australia’s favourite utes. The Isuzu D-Max has a new 2.2-litre engine, replacing the 1.9-litre unit, and it brings a couple of other things with it.

A bigger engine designed to be more powerful and more efficient can only be a good thing, surely, especially with Isuzu looking down the barrel of stringent emissions laws with only two models in the line-up, both diesel powered.

But is this new 2.2-litre engine any good? Isuzu’s gone to the trouble of a new gearbox and some new tech to go with it, so we check it out to see if it stacks up against the increasingly strong competition.

We all know by now Mercedes-Benz loves to fill a niche, and if it can't find a niche to fill, it will create one. So, please welcome its latest niche-filler, the GLB.

Despite shaping up as a mid-sizer, the GLB is a small SUV… with a twist. Whereas other small SUVs have five seats, the GLB has seven, lending itself to unrivalled practicality.

So, does the GLB operate in the 'Goldilocks Zone', or is it an answer to a question no-one asked? We put its mid-range GLB 250 variant to test to find out.