Saying goodbye, the workhorse way

JOB COMES FIRST: D-MAX SINGLE CAB MADE TO PLAY HARD

- Charl Bosch

After three months and 2 300km, The Citizen's long-term Isuzu D-Max single cab LS has returned home after what has been an interesting tenure.

As mentioned in its introductory piece, single cab bakkies are seldom provided to the media for the seven-stay testing period, never mind an extended long-term evaluation, mostly as a result of being impractical for family usage and for lacking the latest and greatest features that are otherwise standard on the top-spec double cab derivatives.

While the LS represents the flagship single cab D-Max, it omits a reverse camera, rear parking sensors, leather upholstery, the bigger nine-inch infotainment system, push-button start and the suite of safety and driver assistance system found on the double cab LSE and V-Cross.

The other side of the coin though is that a single cab is designed to work and be less of a leisure tool with all of the trimmings as a double cab.

This presented a problem in itself as, right from the start, there was little need for the D-Max's workhorse credentials to be put to the test.

Apart from being called on to transport a pair of empty wine barrels for head of motoring Jaco van der Merwe, the D-Max was mostly bound doing the daily commute, waiting at OR Tambo for its minder to return from launches or running the errands.

Fortunately, this changed mid-September via a road trip to Bethlehem in the Free State to help a cousin move house.

A trip that would also put the single cab's long-haul capabilities to the test, the trek from Joburg also promised lower fuel consumption, which had been hovering around 10 litres per 100km.

Throughout the D-Max's tenure, the basicness of its interior came as a welcome departure from the tech-laden, but also sometimes fussy layout of certain double cabs.