Isuzu Returns to Mount Pinatubo

"Because it is there."

If that’s enough reason for hardcore mountaineers and casual trekkers alike to head up the slopes while lugging a fourth of their earthly belongings strapped to their backs and donning stupid "outdoor" wear, then that should be reason enough for Isuzu Philippines Corp. as well. But Isuzu proved a tad wiser, as the truckmaker opted to take to the mountains aboard flashy, spanking new D-Max 4x4 pickups, so hauling earthly belongings is made a lot easier, not to mention sparing everybody concerned from the agony of walking — if not from stupid "outdoor" fashion altogether.

The event, dubbed as the "Mount Pinatubo Revisited: The Isuzu D-Maximum Drive," was held last February 28 and was participated in by selected members of the motoring media and personnel from Isuzu and co-sponsor TOTAL Philippines Corp. With the assistance of some people from the Angeles City Four-Wheelers Club lending their expertise in both off-road driving and knowledge of the terrain in and around Mount Pinatubo, the convoy of three D-Max pickups took off at dawn from Angeles City, Pampanga, and made its way to Bgy. Santa Juliana in Capas, Tarlac, one of several routes that lead up Mount Pinatubo’s crater. Isuzu first made the trip in similar fashion in April, 2002, but driving the company’s flagship pickups at the time, the venerable — if not venerated — Fuego 4x4. Which means then, as in now, the event’s participants got to take in the scenery and given the chance to commune with nature from within the confines of a vehicle’s air-conditioned and CD player-equipped glory.

To be accurate, though, the pickups can’t take one right up to the volcano’s top, as the trail gets too narrow and steep for vehicles as it gets closer to the crater. But the D-Max did get the group to around 10 kilometers from the goal, or as close to only a two-and-a-half hour hike (Which those among group who actually did take swear by as truly arduous). Now that significantly cuts the six or eight hour hike it takes for those not fortunate enough to be invited by Isuzu.

And what fun it is to drive the D-Max up there too. Because the D-Max is bigger, roomier and occupies a higher rung in the Isuzu pickup evolution ladder, the truck is thus an infinitely more comfortable ride. The seats are plushier yet more supportive at once, and the backseat actually qualifies as one and not a mere misnomer like those found in the Fuego. The D-Max scores major points in the noise, vibration and harshness levels as well, offering quite a refined feel, and the materials found in the truck’s interior boasts of quality fit and finish.

Also, the D-Max’s controls have a more positive feel, the steering’s power assist just-right light, the column-mounted stalks for the wiper and light switches reassuringly precise, and throwing the shifter into any gear does not feel like breaking a chicken’s rubbery neck, slotting into its gates slickly enough. Plus, the D-Max offers a nifty push-of-a-button convenience when switching from two-wheel drive to four-high or four-low modes, which is, of course, only available in the four-wheel drive model.

Taking the highway from Angeles City before peeling off it in Capas, the D-Max’s 3.0-liter turobocharged (with intercooler), computerized direct injection system engine packs plenty of grunt, but thankfully minus a lot of the diesel clatter. At speed, the truck feels relaxed and composed even when tackling some two-lane country twisties that lead to Santa Juliana, a glance at the speedometer reveals a pleasant surprise — or utter disbelief. You’d think you were doing 60 kph when you’re already pushing close to the hundred kph mark. Of course, some degree of chassis quake inherent on body-on-frame vehicles like pickups is present on the D-Max, but it’s something one can live with.

When the road ends in Santa Juliana and laharlandia begins, the D-Max proves the journey need not stop. Simply switch to four-wheel high mode and the truck treads the soft lahar unfazed, its 245/70 R16 tires taking care of the task at hand. Meanwhile, the D-Max’s double wishbone with torsion bar front suspension, and the rear’s rather archaic semi-elliptic leaf springs nothithstanding, takes to the rough terrain competently. When the going gets tougher, push the four-wheel low button, and drive right on. River fording or rock crawling, it doesn’t really matter. The D-Max takes it all with surefootedness, as if it were walking on legs.

Moronic limb-related metaphors aside, the trail ultimately has to end for the D-Max. But traveling is better than arriving, and strangely, Mount Pinatubo’s bleak landscape characterized by rocks, boulders and alien natural formations is a joy to traverse. There is an otherwordly splendor to the place, where the predominantly gray setting is broken in places by bits of greenery. The wind blowing up there is pleasantly chilly as well, and a hearty noontime meal washed down with cold drinks is made more special when you consider the fact that you are actually in the middle of nowhere.

No wonder the Department of Tourism considers Mount Pinatubo a worthy destination for local and foreign tourists alike, as DOT Region 3 director Ronnie Tiotuitico himself said during the dinner program that capped the event. The DOT likewise lauds corporations like Isuzu for its part in promoting places such as Mount Pinatubo, and also cited individuals like Ron delos Reyes of Auto Review who, unknown even to his colleagues in the motoring beat, was one of the first people who explored a trail that leads up to the volcano’s crater.

But an equally important fact is that Isuzu, through the D-Max, proves yet once again the point that vehicles can not only be useful, if not downright necessary, for one’s daily utilitarian needs. But that vehicles, like the D-Max, are excellent means that enables one to partake of some of life’s more sublime pleasures — like trips to middle-of-nowhere places. And one goes because he can — and simply because it is there.