Christmas is just around corner and so is yuletide season traffic. We can't deny the fact that every one of us is now up on our toes to do our last minute shopping. And with everything far from being dirt cheap--with everyone scrounging every inch of Divisoria, Baclaran, Taytay and other thrift-shopping meccas to get the best deals for gifts--we are spending much of our time on the road. But not every vehicle is a good companion when doing shopping. Good thing
Isuzu Philippines has brought along the
RZ4E engine that powers both the
Isuzu mu-X and the
Isuzu D-MAX because though the price of fuel prices by the pump gets cheaper, the traffic situation still worsens by the hour.
Also known as 'Blue Power,' the RZ4E engine is a
1.9-liter turbo diesel powerhouse which provides better mileage figures compared to the higher-spec variants for the Mu-X and D-Max, making it one of the toughest competitors in the turbo diesel market. Driven within the metro (EDSA traffic included) during daytime, the
mu-X RZ4E AT got some
8.9-9.1 kilometer to a liter consumption. For official figures, the RZ4E mu-X on manual transmission did a
37.27 kilometer per liter reading, which is
14 percent higher compared to the
2.5-liter 4JKL version while the one fitted with
six-speed automatic transmission gearbox had a
35.8 km/L reading; which is a whopping
48 percent improvement over the 2.5-liter variant, as result of a fuel economy test made by IPC, which was verified by the
Automobile Association Philippines (AAP).
Now imagine that the engine could hit those numbers: it could easily translate not just to more roads to be covered (mileage), but also bigger savings or even a bigger budget for those gifts that you are planning to buy for you and your loved ones. Sometimes (or even most of the times), you want to cover that much of space when you are stuck in traffic, meaning you do not want any pesky driver to just cut you off. Well, good news as the Isuzu mu-X RZ4E A/T did not undermine the importance of torque and power when it made a smaller displacement turbo diesel engine. For one, the mu-X 4x2 RZ4E A/T delivers around
148 hp and 350 Nm of torque, which is not far from what the 2.5-liter 4JKL engine was tasked to give out. Surely, the occasional jack-rabbiting when it comes to tight traffic can be dished out properly, very much needed on stop-and-go situations.
© Ruben Manahan IV for CARMUDI PHILIPPINES
When it comes to space, the Mu-X RZ4E variant can easily provide. Standing 4,825 mm long, 1,860, wide and 1,825 mm high for the base model with the higher-spec mu-X RZ4E given more height, it has some
235 liters of boot space with the third-row seats put up. You can have more than 1,800 liters of space should you decide to fold down the second row seats. So instead of trying to beat the yuletide rush, one might to consider the Isuzu's RZ4E offerings that packs a punch while provide space and comfort not just for the holidays, but for the whole year round.
[gallery size="vw_two_third_thumbnail_no_crop" ids="47691,47690,47696,47695,47698,47700,47699,47694,47697,47692">
