The best pick-up line

H. Kishie Singh

Vehicles for personal use have a new twist -pick-up trucks. With more leisure time available, those who love their road trips, now need something for more than just 'ordinary' sedans and 'jeeps'. Pick-up trucks are increasingly filling the perceived gap. Nowadays a pickup truck has to have style as well as comfort. And, of course, they must have the looks as the new-age discerning customer demands that it should not look out of place when parked outside a fancy restaurant or a club. We look at two pickup trucks that are making waves.

ISUZU D-MAX PICK-UP

There is a new kid on the block, not very well-known in this country but nevertheless a name to reckon with globally, Isuzu. For those of you who had anything to do with Hindustan Motors Ambassador will know that a 2000-cc Isuzu diesel engine and the 1800-cc Isuzu petrol engine have done brilliant service for the last two decades.

Diesel engines are Isuzu’s strong point and foundation. Isuzu is almost hundred-year-old and 80 of these years have been spent studying and improving diesel engines. Their aim was to develop fuel-efficient, low-emission and powerful diesel engines. The result was the introduction of the direct-injection system with turbo charger and inter-cooler, which resulted in the electronically controlled common rail-direct injection high-pressure fuel injection system.

Isuzu has operations in 25 countries and sell in over 100 countries. India is the latest country for Isuzu’s operations.

Currently Hindustan Motors is assembling, under contract, a completely knocked down (CKD) kit of the Isuzu Pick-Up Truck, The D-Max.

The newly introduced D-Max is extremely good looking for a pick-up. Seen head-on there is not even a hint of the true purpose of this vehicle. It looks like any other sleek sedan on the road. A three-quarter look shows off the rear deck and the cabin with seating capacity for driver plus one.

Where The D-Max scores is that not only does it look like a sleek sedan, it drives like one. The front suspension is independent coil springs, coupled to a stabilizer bar and power steering which is tilt adjustable.

The interior is also sedan-like luxury. Comfortable seats, functional switches and the instrument dial are easily visible through the 4-spoke steering wheel. In the space-cab there is ample space behind the seats to carry equipment, baggage and shopping in safety.

The D-Max comes in three variants. The base model is a single cabin with flat deck, next is the space-cab with flat deck and the top model, space-cab with arch deck. The flat deck, so called, since the floor is absolutely flat because it rests above the rear wheels. The arch deck sits over the rear wheels which creates a bump to accommodate the wheels. Fuel consumption is an impressive 23.3 km/pl.

MAHINDRA BOLERO MAXI TRUCK PLUS

Mahindra, in the last seven decades, has supplied wheels of all shapes and sizes —jeeps, cars, tractors, trucks and three-wheelers to cater to the country’s demands. In the field of small to medium trucks, Mahindra is the giant. 

Demands change. So does Mahindra. In 2013, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) observed that there would be a demand for a small, commercial vehicle for intra-city movement of goods. This was to be the last-mile connectivity. This demand was fuelled by the way our cities developed and expanded. 

Alerted by SIAM’s observation, Mahindra selected the Bolero, which has many variants, to do battle in this particular field. So the Bolero Maxi Truck Plus was born. 

It has that I-am-not-pretty-but-I-am-tough macho look. Boxy and aggressive, Mahindra refers to the front-end as the sabre-tooth grill. It is the tough and rugged DNA associated with Mahindra vehicles. It is no surprise then, that M&M has 54 per cent share of the pick-up market.

The Bolero Maxi Truck Plus, other than being the ultimate workhorse, provides luxury and comfort for the driver. This is something that has been ignored so far in our commercial vehicles. Comfort is not a luxury, it is a necessity. Discomfort leads to driver fatigue. No matter how good the vehicle is, it is the driver’s welfare that is equally important. Driver fatigue is a major killing factor on highways. 

The Bolero Maxi Truck Plus features dual-tone interiors. The instrument panel is attractive when viewed through the boomerang-shaped steering wheel. The dash-board has an integrated glove-box. The fabric-covered bucket seats sit in a large cabin.

It is powered by the 2,523-cc CRD engine that puts out 63ps and 195Nm of torque. The maximum pay-load is 1,150-kg and the fuel consumption is 17.7-km.p.l. The drain period for engine oil is 20,000 km. One advantage that Mahindra has is its extensive back-up service net-work, easy availability of spare parts, and of course, a three-year unlimited km warranty for the engine and gear-box.