Isuzu D-Max Blade vs Ranger Wildtrak X — budget performance bakkie head-to-head
Running the Land Cruiser 79 DC for 9 months now, 86600km on the clock including 7 proper off-road trips. Here is my honest take.
The good: the ride quality on corrugations is noticeably better than the Hilux — Isuzu did something right with that suspension tune. I have done Sani Pass, Swartberg and multiple Kruger trips without a single mechanical issue. The 3.0L turbodiesel is 10L/100km on tar if you keep it under 120km/h.
The bad: parts availability outside major centres is still behind Toyota. In the Richtersveld, a Hilux owner will always find a part before a D-Max owner. Also the dealer here in Bloemfontein could learn something about customer service, but that is a SA-wide problem not specific to this brand.
Mods I have done: Rhino 4x4 bar (R9k fitted), Ironman suspension lift (R13k fitted), TRED Pro recovery boards, and a Engel MR040 fridge. Total spend on mods: around R80k. Worth every cent.
Price paid at my Bloemfontein dealer was R698,500 — they threw in a full tank and floor mats. Finance rate was 11.5% over 72 months which is the reality of SA interest rates in 2025.
Would buy it again. Happy to go into detail on any specific aspect.
3 Replies
On the mod budget — R67k sounds like a lot but if you are amortising it over 9 years of serious use, it works out to less than R1,000 per month. And the safety improvement in a real recovery situation is not something you can put a price on.
Running the Land Cruiser 79 DC for 9 months now, 86600km on the clock including 7 proper off-road trips. Here is my honest take.
The good: the ride quality on corrugations is noticeably better than the Hilux — Isuzu did something right with that suspension tune. I have done Sani Pass, Swartberg and multiple Kruger trips without a single mechanical issue. The 3.0L turbodiesel is 10L/100km on tar if you keep it under 120km/h.
The bad: parts availability outside major centres is still behind Toyota. In the Richtersveld, a Hilux owner will always find a part before a D-Max owner. Also the dealer here in Bloemfontein could learn something about customer service, but that is a SA-wide problem not specific to this brand.
Mods I have done: Rhino 4x4 bar (R9k fitted), Ironman suspension lift (R13k fitted), TRED Pro recovery boards, and a Engel MR040 fridge. Total spend on mods: around R80k. Worth every cent.
Price paid at my Bloemfontein dealer was R698,500 — they threw in a full tank and floor mats. Finance rate was 11.5% over 72 months which is the reality of SA interest rates in 2025.
Would buy it again. Happy to go into detail on any specific aspect.
— boetie_botha
Good honest review. My experience with the Raptor has been similar — the factory setup is surprisingly capable if you know how to drive it. The tyres are always the first thing that needs changing regardless of which bakkie you buy.
What suspension are you running now? I have the same setup and am looking at OME BP51 bypass shocks — around R10k fitted at my local workshop. Keen to know if the ride quality improvement on corrugated gravel roads is as significant as people claim.