All I Really Need to Learn I Learned from Off-roading

MANILA, Philippines - There’s that old cliché of two roads diverging and the wise advise to take the one less travelled by. Then there is Isuzu’s idea of going in the direction where there are no roads at all.

Last April 27, Isuzu Philippines Corporation challenged the motoring media to explore the road-less back country of Tanay, Rizal with the Isuzu D-MAX 4WD Challenge. IPC brought the D-MAX units and Landcraft 4WD Center owned and run by Beeboy Bargas provided the terrain. According to IPC organizers, “The concept of the activity is to show that the D-MAX 4x4 has little limitation and the only matter that can slow the vehicle capabilities is its drivers. It is the first time in the local motoring industry that a manufacturer like Isuzu would subject three D-MAX 4x4s to the continuous use of 20 teams in competition and still come out intact.” And that’s exactly the outcome as the three pick-ups came out of the gruelling activity unscathed.

There were ten stages that tested the D-MAX on maneuverability, 50-degree climb and descent, sand surface driving, rock crawl driving, failed climb recovery, and river crossing. The D-MAX’s off-road driving capabalities is a revelation in this activity and the test of its limitations fall into the hands of its driver. As how IPC senior vice president Arthur Balmadrid puts it, “An outstanding 4x4 vehicle, such as the D-MAX, needs an equally outstanding driver to conquer various off-road terrain.”

It may be up to the driver to perfect his skills to be at par with the global D-MAX to run the course such as the one built for this event, but the paradox is the core lesson we all came away with and that is to learn restraint and trust in the D-MAX to do all the work.

There’s that tendency to think that it is all up to you to cross a river, over rocks and flowing water. You’d think that your foot pumping like crazy on the accelerator and your hands gripping the steering wheel like a hawk’s claws are the only things that stand between stalling and plodding on. But sometimes you just have to let the vehicle do the work. The Isuzu D-MAX needs the offroad driver to sit back, firmly hold the wheel and let the D-MAX’s 4WD on idle slowly but steadily and powerfully plow its way over the river’s road blocks.

And power is not the only thing that could get you atop a 50 degree incline. The D-MAX’s torque performance exhibited sure-footedness and obstinate determination demonstrating that on instances as such, neither speed nor momentum is the most efficient way to get to the top.

If you remember the movie “Cars” and that scene where the Hudson Hornet yells to Lightning McQueen to turn left in order to go right, well you got to take the old geezer’s word for it. On the sloping sandy river beach, the wisest thing to do is to turn left in order to go straight and let the D-MAX’s ABS system steer you onwards without letting the back wheels drag you down.

Indeed, there are paradoxes one comes across on the offroad to Tanay. But if you’re the kind who drives a pick-up like a D-MAX, It’s a necessary experience not only to take the road less traveled but to go where there are no roads at all.