I suzu Motors South Africa (IMSAf) has launched the perfect wheels for avid off-roaders, professionals who need to travel to inaccessible places and city dwellers looking to make a bold statement.
The Isuzu Arctic AT35 bakkie is now available through the manufacturers dealers on an exclusive order basis, with a projected 50 units to be built annually in Port Elizabeth.
IMSAf technical services executive Dominic Rimmer said: “Arctic trucks are engineered for people who need to do tough jobs in tough environments.
“They combine this attribute with Isuzu’s heritage of engineering tough, reliable bakkies, which will surprise and delight our customers.”
IMSAf’s factory is the first and only Isuzu Motors facility globally to receive Arctic Trucks International’s stamp of approval to build a production Arctic Truck model.
The Isuzu Arctic AT35 begins life inside the Struandale body shop, where it’s welded together alongside regular D-MAX models.
Once the cabin and load bay are completed the unpainted body is moved into a special Arctic Trucks conversion area within the body shop.
Here a select group of handpicked Isuzu artisans and technicians begin the process of transforming a D-MAX into an Isuzu Arctic AT35.
An AT35 spends two days in the body shop, compared to a regular D-MAX completed in a few hours.
Once the body has been painted, the journey continues through the general assembly area.
Based on the D-MAX 3.0 Double Cab 4x4 LX Automatic, the AT35 package includes: an increase in vehicle height from 1 860mm to 1 980mm, with an impressive 268mm ground clearance (up from 220mm) and a wading depth of 718mm (up from 600mm).
The breakover angle increases from 22.4 degrees to 31.4 degrees.
This additional height delivers massive improvements to the standard D-MAX’s approach and departure angles with 36 degrees and 28 degrees, respectively.
The re-engineered wheel arches now accommodate the 17-inch AT alloy wheels and 35-inch tyres.
In addition to a 245/70R16 spare wheel, there is an emergency ResQ Puncture Repair kit as standard.
The interior is shared with the standard D-MAX, along with Isuzu’s familiar 3L intercooled turbodiesel engine and six-speed automatic transmission.
Fuel consumption is a respectable 8.6l/100 km, with CO2 emissions of 227g/km.
