RV FEATURE
Travelling between 85km / h and 100km / h , depending on conditions , we ventured to the country town of Seymour , poked around there for a little while , and then jumped back on the freeway towards Melbourne .
Another 20 minutes was spent on and off the brakes as we made our way to a servo , where I again trickle-filled the diesel tank . The tank accepted 25.01L and the trip-meter indicated that we ’ d travelled 153.6km .
A quick calculation revealed that the vehicle had consumed 16.28L / 100km . Naturally , a range of factors will influence fuel consumption , from the prevailing weather conditions and traffic to the amount of air in the tyres . In any case , when towing a fairly hefty caravan with a large front profile , 16.28L / 100km seemed like a pretty decent result . I mean , I ’ ve towed vans with 4WDs that drank upwards of 20L / 100km when towing .
Interestingly , this fuel figure closely reflected the fuel consumption gauge on the dash , which fluctuated between 15.9L / 100km and 16.4L / 100km throughout the test .
SUMMING UP
So far , it ’ s fair to say that the Isuzu D-MAX has surprised us . When driving solo , the fuel figure of 7.5L / 100km ( combined city and highway driving ) was especially pleasing .
To then come up with a figure of 16.28L / 100km when towing about 2500kg in adverse weather conditions was also interesting . In all honesty , I expected closer to 17.5L / 100km and might ’ ve been more or less happy with that .
Had we increased the distance and thrown in a little more stopstart driving , it ’ s possible that fuel consumption would ’ ve increased , but in my estimation , any increase would only have been slight .
Yep , I ’ m quite pleased with the D- MAX – it appears to be reasonably frugal at the bowser , whether it ’ s hitched to a van or not .
– With thanks to Kakadu Caravans for the loan of the Sanctuary III semi-offroader used in this test .
THE FIGURES Weight of van : 2500kg ( approx )
Kilometres travelled : 153.6 ( combined highway and city )
Diesel used : 25.01L Result : 16.28L / 100km
D-MAX OVERVIEW + UNHITCHED FUEL TEST !
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