Isuzu D-MAX LS-U+ 2024 Review

At $63,500 plus on-road costs, the 2024 Isuzu D-MAX LS-U+ sits towards the top of the range, $4000 less than the X-Terrain flagship but $2500 north of the LS-U.

It’s in the same playground as the Ford Ranger XLT (from $63,390 plus ORCs) and Toyota HiLux SR5 (from $60,490), and will sit lineball with Mitsubishi’s soon-to-arrive flagship Triton GSR (from $63,840).

Be aware, however, that a substantially upgraded 2024 Isuzu D-MAX will arrive by mid-year, though doubtless with higher prices to match.

The 2024 Isuzu D-MAX LS-U+ adds a degree of luxury to the closely related LS-U, including black-stitched leather trim elements, an eight-way powered driver’s seat with power-adjustable lumbar support and heating for both front seats.

Isuzu’s standard D-MAX warranty is a small step ahead of most of the competition at six years/150,000km (whichever comes first), with seven years of roadside assist.

Capped-price servicing totals $3689 over seven years or 105,000km.

The 2024 Isuzu D-MAX comes with eight airbags and scored a maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating from 2022.

IDAS (Intelligent Driver Assistance System) is Isuzu-speak for a suite of safety equipment that includes high- and low-speed autonomous emergency braking (AEB) with intersection turn assist, post-collision braking, adaptive cruise control, traffic sign recognition, lane keeping aids, blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alert, multi-camera parking assistance and trailer sway control.

Automatic, self-dipping and self-levelling LED headlights as well as LED daytime running lights are also used from LS-U upwards, as are rear parking sensors and ‘walk away’ door locking that automatically activates when the driver leaves the cabin.

Refinements for the MY23 model year introduced automatic disabling of blind spot monitoring and rear cross traffic alert when a trailer was being towed (trailer sway control is standard), adding to the ability to manually de-select lane keep functions, also when a trailer was being towed, that was introduced in 2021.

The 2024 Isuzu D-MAX LS-U+ is well served with technology that includes a 9.0-inch infotainment screen with embedded sat-nav, wired Android Auto and wireless Apple CarPlay, AM/FM/DAB radio and voice recognition.

There’s an eight-speaker stereo and digital info displays on the (otherwise analogue) instrument panel, but the D-MAX LS-U+ does lack wireless phone charging capability.

The familiar 3.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel is at the core of the 2024 Isuzu D-MAX LS-U+, producing 140kW at 3600rpm and 450Nm of torque between 1600-2600rpm.

Those outputs place it below the smaller-capacity 2.0-litre Ford Ranger and 2.8-litre Toyota HiLux but the engine’s steady torque delivery – 300Nm is available from 1000rpm – is such that it continues to satisfy the legions of trailer-hauling Isuzu fans.

Although Isuzu’s combined-cycle fuel consumption claim for the 2024 Isuzu D-MAX LS-U+ is 8.0L/100km, we consistently recorded still-respectable real-world figures of around 9.3L/100km during a week of testing.

Even though the official figures suggest it should be the other way around, we found the D-MAX regularly beat the SR5-spec Toyota HiLux that was driven concurrently.

(A small point in the Toyota’s favour is that its 80-litre fuel tank is 4L larger than the Isuzu’s).

The D-MAX is no longer the cheap-and-cheerful workhorse it was once considered to be, and the 2024 Isuzu D-MAX LS-U+ is a case in point.

It rides and steers competitively in its class and, even though the powerplant isn’t as muted as the class benchmarks, it isn’t at all bad on the freeway.

The 3.0-litre turbo-diesel’s adequate passing power and strong hauling ability on the hills partners well with the nicely-controlled double-wishbone front/live-axle rear suspension. Unlike the all-disc-braked Ford Ranger, Volkswagen Amarok and GWM utes, the Isuzu makes do with the otherwise universally front ventilated disc, rear drum braking combination but never gave cause to worry.

Although the steering is quite low-geared (the wheel is a sizeable 3.75 turns lock-to-lock), the D-MAX is really not a handful – as some utes still are – on roundabouts or in sharp corners. In our recent comparison with the Toyota HiLux, we gave the nod to the D-MAX for its better all-round composure on sealed roads.

The new gas-strut-damped tailgate (a no-show for the Toyota HiLux) helps take the weight out of loading the D-MAX ute, while the tub liner that comes from LS-U upwards means one less stop at the 4x4 aftermarket store.

In two words, very good. The 2024 Isuzu D-MAX matches the class-leading HiLux in every discipline other than wheel-travel-challenging terrain where the Toyota’s off-road traction control system worked wonders and the Isuzu, lacking a similar system, was left floundering.

The MU-X SUV, which is in most ways a sister to the D-MAX, has off-road traction control and this, hopefully, will eventually find its way into the ute.

The transmission typically takes a little time to lock in low-range 4WD, but once that happens there’s not a lot that will stop the D-MAX, what with its rear diff lock, workable approach/departure and breakover angles, 240mm ground clearance and 800mm wading depth.

You’re looking at a competitive 985kg of payload in the 2024 Isuzu D-MAX LS-U+ and a practical, newly-introduced item on both LS-U and LS-U+ is a standard tub liner. The tub itself is almost identical in size to a HiLux.

Maximum braked towing capacity is the segment-standard 3500kg and repeatedly the D-MAX has proved itself as one of the best bets if you’re hauling, with impressive control and stability as well as that ample engine torque.

The 2024 Isuzu D-MAX LS-U+ cabin is nicely presented and inviting, the stitched part-leather seats pleasantly supportive and there’s room aplenty for full-size adults in front and back, which will please owners who task their utes with work duties during the week as well as weekend family outings.

Other than the LS-U+ D-MAX having a pleasantly habitable cabin, there’s a negative in that the sat-nav has a highly reflective, hard-to-read touch-screen and is unintuitive, more complicated and obscure in terms of operation than it needs to be.

The popularity of the Isuzu D-MAX is no accident. There’s a no-nonsense appeal and a faithful band of followers that virtually ensure its continuing tenure among the top sellers in the crew-cab pick-up segment.

The one fly in the ointment if you’re reading this review and ready to buy now is that a heavily upgraded D-MAX is likely to arrive before mid-year, which should rectify many of the complaints we’ve made mention of here, in particular the infotainment system and off-road traction control.

Still, if you can’t afford to wait, the current LS-U+ has plenty to commend it.

2024 Isuzu D-MAX LS-U+ at a glance:
Price: $63,500 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Engine: 3.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel
Output: 140kW/450Nm
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Fuel: 8.0L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 207g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP 2022)