Tuesday 24th May 2005

Isuzu offers Prodrive power pack

Pickup gets performance boost but...

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Boosted pickup still desperately slow

Isuzu is jumping on the Subaru-pioneered Prodrive Performance Pack bandwagon and is now offering a PPP for its Rodeo Denver 3.0 litre pickup.

You'll pay £760 including VAT and fitting for a power boost from 129bhp at 3,800rpm to 153bhp at the same engine speed. Towers and load-luggers may appreciate the torque increase, from 207lb-ft to 258lb-ft at the same 2,000 rpm.

Apart from stronger throttle response and increased flexibility, the 0-60 mph acceleration time falls from 16.8 seconds to --wait for it -- 12.4 seconds. The extra power and torque is achieved thanks to a reprogrammed ECU which uprates the fuel supply and alters the ignition timing. Turbo boost is unchanged so Isuzu doesn't anticipate additional engine stress, and the PPP remains under the company's normal warranty.

Isuzu said the upgrade was chosen over power packs which rely on extra turbo boost as they do not meet Isuzu’s strict durability criteria. As a further aid to reliability, the engine reverts to standard power every time it is turned off so the unit is better protected during cold-starting. Ideally, the driver will select extra power via a fascia switch once the engine is warm.

Available now for manual versions and available from any official Isuzu dealer, the PPP will be offered for the Rodeo Denver automatic shortly.

Hold still my beating heart.

[AndySA]

Very good looking pick up, but the prodrive pack should be standard.

At 12.4 seconds it is not bad for a derv pickup at least you will be able to keep up with trafic. It was not that long ago when pickups took more than 20 seconds to reach 60.

[dannylt]

How do you alter the ignition timing on a diesel!?

[thanuk]

I think this is a tad unfair - the 0-60 time might be slow but that's due to the trucks weight and poor traction from skinny tyres. Once it's rolling it should be a reasonably rapid machine, at least in a straight line.

I've got the equivalent Nissan truck which has about 130hp and 230lb/ft and it has no trouble out-accelerating most normal cars.