We hitched up our office camper, which weighed
around 1900kg at the time, and hauled it along
the freeway and along some local tracks. It was
obviously necessary to hold the lower gears for
longer, especially on take-off, but the vehicle was
as stable as the QE2.
Since filming the accompanying video, we hitched
the MU-X to a van weighing 2770kg (see page
18), with about 210kg on the ball. The difference
was pronounced, though not disconcerting. At
highway speeds, the front end felt just a little
‘floaty’. Unfortunately, Isuzu doesn’t recommend
or endorse the use of a weight distribution hitch.
With the lighter camper hitched, the MU-X was
relatively quick to get going and held its speed
reasonably well up hills, with some power in
reserve to perform overtaking manoeuvres if
necessary. The heavier caravan, however, had
the vehicle huffing and puffing a little more.
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The biggest change for the MU-X this year is that
it now comes with trailer sway control, a welcome
feature for what has become a well-regarded tow
vehicle.
The driving position is comfortable. While the
engine noise is there – a healthy diesel clatter –
it’s not intrusive.
The MU-X comes in three levels of specification:
LS-M, our LS-U, and the top-end LS-T, each
available in 4x2 and 4x4 variants.
The media player, I’ll note, works well but,
annoyingly, it seems to randomly choose a song
from the phone it’s paired to each time the ignition
is turned on.
The interior is quite family-friendly, but in my
case, with all kids on board, I really do need to
have the eldest in the third row. It’s just too much
of a squeeze to fit him between the booster seats.