2021 Ford Ranger vs Isuzu D-Max

What's the difference?

You don’t need a Raptor as much as you may want one. And if you’re a tradie, the Ford Ranger FX4 Max gives you a lot of the desirable elements of that truck, but with a more determined capability and real-world usability. 

Thanks to our mates at Kennards Hire Penrith for helping with this test.

The D-Max is much better than it’s ever been. In the realm of space cab ute variants, which are traditionally engineered for job-site duties with few concessions to comfort and safety, the D-Max has moved the whole market forward a great deal – if it’s not the king of these work utes, it’s pretty bloody close.

Even in space-cab form, this is a nice-driving utility and as a daily vehicle of choice, it’s not an unpleasant option. It’s still a purpose-built work vehicle, sure, and in space-cab guise it is comfortably so, but it’s so good in most other respects that it effectively shrugs off any job-site shackles and offers a formidable proposition as a work-and-play all-rounder for perhaps a couple and their dogs.

The Ranger FX4 Max isn’t a standard ute to look at - but nor is it as outlandish or broad-shouldered as the Raptor.

It has the standard Ranger body dimensions, meaning it’s 5446mm long on a 3220mm wheelbase, 1977mm wide (with mirrors folded), and 1852mm tall. But because it has the Fox Shocks and taller 33” tyres, the body is sitting a little higher than an XLT (1848mm). 

In fact, it has a load in height of 871mm, which is 31mm taller than a Wildtrak or XLT, and means you will need to heave heavier items into the tray with a bit more oomph. 

That doesn’t necessarily translate to a better towing experience, either. A lower centre of gravity as well as heavy mass of the tow vehicle typically translates to better handling and ease of towing, but thankfully, it’s not as though the FX4 Max has a lift kit fitted.

Instead, the 2.0-inch monotube Fox Shocks shock absorbers are fitted front and rear. The rear suspension maintains a leaf spring layout, but the rear shocks have a remote reservoir to apparently allow for optimal comfort and control. The front suspension has been tweaked for better control, too, with the coil spring setup including new lock-stop profile steering knuckles, new jounce bumpers and a 29mm stabiliser bar. 

And if you’re wondering about weight over those axles, the FX4 Max has a kerb mass of 2219kg, with a payload capacity of 981kg. The gross vehicle mass (GVM/GVW) is 3200kg, while the gross combination mass (GCM) is 6000kg - meaning you cannot be at payload capacity and towing a maximum load behind.

The towing capacity is 750kg unbraked and 3500kg braked - a full 1000kg advantage over the Raptor. And the FX4 Max’s payload rating is some 228kg higher than the Raptor (758kg). 

Plenty, if you get your jollies out of utes. And, admit, it, there are a fair few of us out there.

But let’s stick to the essentials.

This D-Max has the new-generation ‘double vampire fangs’ front end, which is a bit of a ‘like it or don’t like it’ kind of proposition. 

But it’s the rear on this D-Max that’s most interesting. Because rather than a tub/pick-up style back end, this D-Max has a heavy-duty alloy tray, which costs $2567 (RRP, including fitting). This tray is one of five available, including economy, general purpose, heavy duty (steel), and mine specification (steel).

This heavy duty tray has a built-in rear-window guard/protector and a top rail on the tray headboard that has a claimed 150kg load rating.

The cabin is, in keeping with the entry-entry-level SX mode, on the basic side of ‘basic’, lending itself appropriately to the rough and tumble of everyday life, including work and play.

The interior of the FX4 Max will be largely familiar to anyone who has sat in or driven or owned a PX series Ranger post-facelift. The cabin is well laid out for the most part, and roomy and practical as well.

The storage includes bottle holders in all four doors, cup holders between the front seats, a flip down rear cup holder / armrest, map pockets in the back, a flip-up seat base in the rear for additional stowage, a decent glovebox and a few other bins and niches for loose items.

The seats are comfortable and offer good adjustment for front seat occupants, both are manually adjustable. There is no seat heating or steering wheel heating. 

The media system is mostly good, with the requisite smartphone mirroring options, built-in sat nav and DAB digital radio. However, no matter how much time I spend in Ranger models, I do hope the next version has better HVAC controls, as you need to interact both through buttons on the centre console and through the media screen for fan adjustment.

Rear adult occupants will have enough room to be comfortable - I’m 182cm or 6’0” tall, and can comfortably sit behind my own driving position without too much limitation on knee room and toe room. Head room and should space is good, and you can fit three across if you need to. If you have children, there are two ISOFIX and two top-tether attachments.

The SX cabin is a space well suited to work. It’s basic but without being spartan; it’s comfortable without being plush.

The flooring is vinyl, the seat trim is cloth, and there’s an abundance of hard plastics. All of that’s fine with me, but you may have a problem with the paucity of modern comforts and conveniences.

The 7.0-inch display is quite a bit smaller than the 9.0-inch unit that’s in some more expensive variants. It looks a bit odd, with such a thick border of ‘screen nothing’ around it, and it’s also fiddly to operate on the move.

Controls elsewhere are easy enough to use – temperature, fan direction and speed are all big dials – but there are a few dummy buttons around, just to rub in the fact that you’re not driving a higher-spec D-Max, as if you care.

In terms of storage there is a shallow tray in front of the shifter, cupholders between driver and front-seat passenger, a centre console, and pop-out cupholders under the outboard air vents.

There is a USB port and a 12V socket.

The rear wing doors allow for easy enough access – to throw in gear etc – and the rear bench has shallow storage spaces underneath.

The Isuzu D-Max SX space cab chassis 4x4 auto has a manufacturer suggested retail price (MSRP) of $45,700. SX is the entry-level spec for the D-Max line-up.

Standard features include 7.0-inch multimedia display (with Apple CarPlay (wireless) and Android Auto (USB) and voice recognition), halogen headlights, auto headlights and auto high-beam lights, auto wipers, tilt and reach adjustable steering, rear wing space cab doors, as well as 17-inch steel wheels, vinyl flooring, cloth seat trim, a reversing camera, and air-conditioning.

Safety gear is plentiful and includes eight airbags, AEB (with pedestrian and cyclist detection), lane keeping assistance, blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alert, front turn assist, driver attention assist. 

The D-max has a maximum five-star ANCAP crash-test safety rating.

Our test vehicle costs more than a standard example because it has the heavy-duty alloy tray ($2567, including fitting), towbar with seven-pin-plug ($1199, including fitting), and an electric brake controller ($820, including fitting). Isuzu calculates on-road costs (registration, CTP, stamp duty, delivery etc) to be $4309. So, the actual price as tested for this vehicle is $52,576, drive away.

Paint choices include Mineral White, Cobalt Blue mica, Basalt Black mica, Mercury Silver metallic, and Obsidian Grey mica. Any metallic paint option costs $500.
 

The FX4 Max is only sold with the brand’s 2.0-litre four-cylinder Bi-turbo diesel engine. 

The outputs bely the capacity of the engine, with a hefty 157kW of power (at 3750rpm) and 500Nm of torque (from 1750-2000rpm). Those are class-equalling four-cylinder engine outputs, and best in the market for an engine of this capacity.

This engine is only available teamed to a 10-speed automatic transmission, and there are no paddle shifters - but there is a manual mode toggle switch on the selector. 

The Ranger comes with selectable four-wheel drive (4WD or 4x4), and an electronic locking rear diff is standard too.

The Ranger FX4 Max has a kerb weight of 2219kg, which is heavy. Towing capacity is 750kg for unbraked loads and 3500kg for braked trailers - the best you can get in this size segment.

The gross vehicle mass (GVM) is 3200kg, and the gross combination mass (GCM) is 6000kg, so keep in mind you cannot legally run the vehicle at payload and tow the maximum braked trailer. You’d be looking at closer to a 2800kg trailer maxed out. 

This D-Max has the range’s new tweaked 3.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine, which produces 140kW at 3600 rpm and 450Nm at 1600-2600rpm.

It has a six-speed automatic transmission and a dual-range transfer case with high- and low-range gearing. It also has a recalibrated off-road traction control system and – sound the trumpets! – a rear differential lock.

Official combined cycle fuel consumption is 8.0 litres per 100 kilometres - there’s only one figure, as there’s only one engine/transmission combo offered for this spec.

During our testing loop with the 2.3-tonne chipper in tow, we saw a real-world at the pump return of 13.0L/100km, which is pretty good.

The Ford Ranger has an 80 litre fuel tank capacity. There is no long range fuel tank option but it does have fuel saving start-stop technology.

It runs at Euro 5 emissions levels, with a diesel particulate filter (DPF) fitted. The stated emissions are 210g/km CO2, which is low for the class.

It has a claimed fuel consumption of 8.0L/100km. The dash-indicated figure was 8.9L/100km, but I recorded an actual fuel consumption on test of 9.2L/100km.

The D-Max has a 76-litre fuel tank.

I’ve always thought of the Ranger - in normal leaf spring guise - as one of the best utes in the segment to drive, but with Fox Shocks the case is pushed even further toward GOAT status.

The ride is supple and composed, with excellent comfort over lumps and bumps. You can still tell it’s a ladder-frame, leaf-sprung ute, but those big BF Goodrich tyres help it feel assured and secure.

The steering is excellent - fingertip light and easy to judge, despite lacking some feel to the driver’s hands. It’s so easy to park this ute, it seems to almost defy physics.

The engine and transmission are mostly really good in daily driving, too. The downsized bi-turbo engine seemed to have a bit more low-speed lag in this version of the Ranger than in others I’ve driven, and that could come down to the tyres having better grip on the surface below and the engine needing a bit more throttle to take off from a standstill.

Once moving though, the powertrain offers excellent grunt. It’s smooth, refined and the 10-speed auto - while at times fussy and busy between the ratios - always finds the right cog to allow you access to the torque on offer.

My biggest annoyance isn’t actually driving the Ranger FX4 Max - it’s getting in and out of it. Those side steps jut out way too far, and I constantly found myself stumbling to get in, or worse, bashing my shins while reaching into the cabin. Annoying!

Those were the drive impressions for unladen, unhitched driving. What about how it tows?

It’s actually pretty decent for an extra cab/space cab ute. Traditionally, these utes, in which the tray size is the priority over cabin space, have offered very average overall ride and handling, because they’ve simply not been set up to exhibit those characteristics. In the past, these utes have been engineered to handle large payloads comfortably, not to actually be comfortable.

Well, that’s changed quite dramatically with this latest revised D-Max line-up. The new dual-cab variants offer quite car-like on-road manners, and while the space cab has certainly improved over previous iterations, it’s not quite at car-like levels of driving assurance yet. But that’s the nature of the load-focussed beast, because it is on load-carrying leaf springs at the rear afterall.

There’s a fair bit of in-cabin noise, mostly diesel engine clatter, and the unladen space-cab D-Max yields a jittery ride, skipping around merrily as this ute traverses surfaces with even slight imperfections. 

But, as always, if you expect stable, composed ride and handling in an unladen ute that’s mostly a tray, then you ought to take a long hard look at yourself.

In most other aspects, this D-Max is right up there with the best in this realm, and you certainly can’t fault it in terms of what it offers in pure drivability, functionality and safety tech.

The D-Max range has achieved a maximum 5-star ANCAP safety rating in 2020. The line-up is one of the best-equipped ute ranges on the market.

Every D-Max has Isuzu's Intelligent Driver Assistance System (IDAS), which includes such driver-assist tech as AEB (which works at speeds more than 10km/h), electronic lane departure prevention, traffic sign recognition, and a reversing camera.

This variant also has eight airbags, blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alert, front turn assist, driver attention assist, hill descent control and more.

Buy a Ford Ranger and you get a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty plan included.

That also covers five years of roadside assistance, and there’s a lifetime capped price servicing plan. The first four services are cheap, at $299 per visit. 

Service intervals are every 12 months/15,000km.

Read our Ford Ranger problems page for more info on concerns, issues, recalls, problems or common complaints.

A six-year/150,000km warranty applies to this D-Max. Servicing intervals are set at 15,000km/12 month intervals. Capped priced servicing costs are $389, $409, $609, $509, $299, $749 and $409, costing a total of $3373 over the period.

A new D-Max owner also gets no-cost, seven-year roadside-assistance cover.