After using just one tank of fuel to successfully complete a loop of Peninsular Malaysia, the 2026 Isuzu D-Max headed to East Malaysia and managed to achieve a similar as part of the ‘D-Max One Tank. One Nation Challenge’.
This time, the journey using just one tank of the fuel was from Sandakan in Sabah to Kuching in Sarawak. Similar to the first outing, the challenge involved two variants of the latest D-Max, including the 2.2L 4×4 AT Premium and 2.2L 4×2 Auto Plus. Both use the RZ4F-TC 2.2 litre inline-four turbodiesel engine, which was introduced in March this year to replace the previous RZ4E-TC 1.9 litre unit.
A new environment presented new challenges for the pick-up trucks, with East Malaysia’s rugged terrain and extreme elevations, the latter including the climb over the Crocker Range, having a huge effect on fuel consumption.
According to Isuzu Malaysia, the pick-up trucks began their journey at its showroom in Sandakan before heading Telupid where construct of the Pan Borneo Highway remains on-going. Next came the ascend up to Kundasang en route to Kota Kinabalu, with the convoy next making its way towards Sarawak via Brunei.
Stops at Miri, Bintulu, Sarikei and Sibu were also planned, some including visits to Isuzu dealer outlets. By the end of the trip, the pick-up trucks covered 1,605 km and achieved their mission of completing the trip on one tank of fuel.
“It is easy to claim that a vehicle is fuel efficient by driving it along a smooth and quiet highway. But for us, the Isuzu D-Max’s superiority is best showcased by keeping it real on roads our customers drive on daily. This means traversing narrow trunk roads choked with lorries, roads under construction, and even crossing the Crocker Range at Mount Kinabalu, Malaysia’s highest mountain rather than avoiding it,” said Kenichi Kudo, Isuzu Malaysia’s COO for light commercial vehicles.
“Besides the obvious savings customers gain through the vehicle’s amazing fuel efficiency, the new Isuzu D-MAX 2.2L offers lower operating costs through greater durability, higher productivity and lower road tax making it the compelling pick-up truck choice of in today’s economic climate,” he added..
Isuzu D-MAX
from RM103,121 
but i see many owners in city drive pickup truck to compensate for their tiny balls, and they usually drive fast and reckless until they come across an ev owner, which they cannot catch up due to instant torque
fuel tank cap is 76liter. 1 litre needs to go 21km in order to travel 1605km with just 1 full tank. i have to be stupid to believe this is true.