Isuzu Malaysia's CEO flagging off the participants in Kuching

AAM officials checked and sealed each vehicle prior to the start

With inflationary trends making the cost of living more expensive, Malaysians are learning to be more conscious about saving in whatever way possible. For motorists in particular, the higher fuel costs since last month now have people thinking about how to economise on fuel, either through driving less or if they must, then driving more thoughtfully so as not to waste fuel unnecessarily.

Owners of the Isuzu D-MAX in Sarawak recently showed just how far they can stretch each litre of fuel when they challenged each other in the ‘Dura-Miles Challenge Kuching’ organised by Isuzu Malaysia. 32 owners took part in this event to see who could make their D-MAX use the least amount of diesel fuel along a 120-km route.

Prior to the event being flagged off, the owners met at Isuzu’s authorised dealer Rhino Motors in Kuching, Sarawak, for a scrutineering session where five Automobile Association of Malaysia (AAM) officers sealed off all possible refuelling points on each vehicle and also checked for fuel-saving devices. After the scrutineering, the participants then embarked on their quest to the town of Serian and back whereupon the fuel readings and samples were taken.

For the event, there was no overall winner and instead, there were separate prizes awarded for owners of the 2.5-litre D-MAX and the 3.0-litre D-MAX. Surprisingly, the best result was achieved by a 3.0-litre D-MAX which sipped fuel at a rate of 49.71 kms/litre while the best consumption in the 2.5-litre group was 44.89 kms/litre. On average, the competitors achieved a consumption of just 39.7 kms/litre, certainly remarkable considering that most drivers had never competed in a contest of this nature before.

“I didn’t do anything special,” declared Rosman Yong, one of the participants. “I just drove carefully and patiently and did not accelerate or brake too abruptly.” He regularly drives his D-MAX from Kuching to his hometown of Keningau in Sabah. Another participant said that with the D-MAX, he can almost halve his fuel bills compared to what he spent when he owned a sedan model previously.

3.0-litre i-TEQ Super Commonrail turbodiesel engine has maximum efficiency

Some of the participants on their way to impressive fuel economy figures

Mr Kondo explained that the event was not just to highlight the tremendous fuel-saving capabilities of the D-MAX but to also educate owners on how best to stretch their ringgit in light of the global trend of rising fuel costs.

“Higher fuel prices will be something the world needs to come to terms with but that doesn’t mean we need to spend a lot of money paying our fuel bills. With proper education, the right attitude and the ideal vehicle, you can stretch refuelling intervals and find those extra savings put aside for other purpose,” he said.

Mr Kondo added that Isuzu’s leading position at the cutting edge in diesel engine technology provide customers with vehicles such as the D-MAX which have the optimum balance between performance, durability, reliability and of course, fuel efficiency.

More about the Isuzu i-TEQ Super Commonrail turbodiesel engine

Talk about the Isuzu D-MAX in the MTM Forum