Isuzu MUX: Better than Rocky Balboa in the ring

Inspired by a tiger, the newest SUV from the Isuzu stable is a mean, muscular beast. 

The moment I got my hands on the new Isuzu MU-X 4-wheel drive sports utility vehicle, I drove around the city looking to go off road. And when I found a patch of uneven, rocky dirt track, I shifted the knob on the floor console to 4X4H and simply stepped on the gas pedal.

The mammoth vehicle was better than Rocky Balboa in the boxing ring. It took off on the beaten path with tremendous ease.

The body roll was minimal and the suspension behaved perfectly, absorbing the bumps with ease. In the city, the ride was smooth and carefree. The ground clearance of this SUV stands at 220 mm.

The Isuzu MU-X is big in size. It is 4825 mm long, 1860 mm wide and 1840 mm tall. The vehicle is powered by a 3-litre, 4-cylinder, turbocharged diesel engine.

The engine has been mated to a 5-speed automatic transmission. The mu-X comes in two variants: 2-wheel and 4-wheel drive. Neither of the variants comes with a  manual transmission.

Isuzu is offering this transmission with a shift lock function and the driver can also manually select gears. One can select between 2WD High and 4WD High on the fly up to a speed of 100 kmph.

This transmission also offers brake shift lock and lock up torque converter on the third, fourth and fifth gears for fuel efficiency. It also holds the gear on varied gradient ascents and automatically selects a gear on descents to match speed with engine braking.

The MU-X comes with features such as auto braking system, traction control and electronic stability control. The vehicle has discs on all four wheels. Isuzu has also added emergency brake assist, two airbags, hill start assist, three-point retractable seatbelts with an emergency locking retractor, anti-intrusion bars in the doors, and many more functions to ensure safety of passengers.

The Isuzu MU-X looks muscular from all angles. The company says the design is inspired by the tiger. In the front you have the shiny double slat chrome grille. A two-tone front and rear bumpers add to the its aggressive looks.

The vehicle stands tall on multi-spoke 17-inch diamond-cut alloy wheels. Crowning these wheels are muscular flared wheel arches. The projector headlamps give the huge vehicle its strong eyes.

The headlamps come with daytime LED lights, along with fog lamps.  Roof rails and a roof spoiler add to its looks. Broad side steps enable an easy entry and exit.

The interiors are subtle, practical and yet not overloaded with technology. There is ample room inside the cabin in all three rows with comfortable seating for seven persons.

The Isuzu MU-X comes with power adjusted driver seat, a seven-inch touch screen infotainment with navigation and connectivity for USB, AUX and Bluetooth, steering mounted controls, roof mounted 10-inch entertainment screen for the second and third row passengers, automatic climate control, three-row cooling with separate controls for back rows, passive entry and start/ stop button ignition, cruise control and one-touch easy tumble seats for the second row.

The MU-X has a boot space of 235 litres, but that is with all three rows up. The boot space can be extended up to 1,830 litres, which is quite a lot. Even with just the third row folded flat, one gets 878 litres of storage space.