Shooting Times & Country – 21 August 2019

Vehicle test

D.

GOULD

Isuzu D-Max Uta

Huntsman Plus

Isuzuhasenjoyeda goodreputationforbuildingoff-roadvehicles for

manyyears,andtheD-MaxHuntsman doesn’t disappoint, saysEdColes

38 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

Businessend

Atthebusinessendofthings,shiny

protectionplatesguardthediff

and4x4vitals,andit’sthesameat

thefrontwiththestrengthened

undertray— suggestingIsuzumeans

businesswiththis.Glancingleftand

right,thesuspensionconfirmsit.

Thisis the‘Plus’bittotheHuntsman;

it’sfittedwitha Pedderssuspension

kitwithincreasedtravel— stability

is thenameofthegame.Somenice

shiny red uprated springs and shock

I

waswaitingeagerlyforthe

IsuzuHuntsmantoturnup,

andat firstglanceit hasthe

airofa stealthfighteraboutit,

particularlyinthiscolourwithblack

wheels.If BruceWaynehada 4x4in

thecave,it wouldprobably have been

theHuntsman.

TheD-Maxhasearneda good

reputationasa 4x4pickup.It’sbeen

awardedbestpickupseveraltimes,

sotheDNAoftheHuntsmanis sound.

Isuzuhastakenthedouble-cab,

D-MaxUtahandputtogether an

optionalextraskit.

Thebeastontestis theHuntsman

Plus— beinga Utah,theinterior spec

is already pretty high.

absorberspushtheD-Maxupa little

at thefrontandat theback,withthe

additionofupgradedsuspensionand

ananti-rollbar.It looksas if it can

handlemostterrain.

The18inwheelscomewiththekit

andaresuppliedwithruggedPirelli

AllTerraintyres,includinga spare.

They’reblack,soyouwon’tbegiven

awaybymoonlightglareoffshiny

silverwheels.Similarly,thegrille,

mirrors,sidestepsanddoorhandles

are in a matt fi nish, or ‘dechromed’

ISUZUHUNTSMAN |PRICE£25,709

PROS:COMFORTABLE,HIGH-SPEC INTERIOR,

UPGRADED SUSPENSION

CONS:NONE,THOUGHTHEUPGRADED

SUSPENSION MIGHT BE OVERKILL

“TheD-Maxhasa goodreputationasa

4x4, so the DNA of the Huntsman is sound ”

E XCL. VAT

Isuzu’sPlusversion

oftheHuntsman

doesn’tdisappoint