Pasay City, Philippines | 12 November 2019–Isuzu Philippines has officially introduced their Traviz light commercial vehicle (LCV) at the SMX convention center today, first presenting the new model to motoring press and Isuzu dealers in the morning and then displaying it to the general public in the afternoon.
The Traviz is Isuzu Philippines’ first ever entry into the LCV segment that was dominated previously by the Mitsubishi L300 (until the L300 was discontinued in 2018 and then reintroduced last month with a new Euro 4 engine). Last year, the Traviz was first introduced with a Euro 2 engine in Indonesia where it replaced the Isuzu Bison–ironically, a rebadged Mitsubishi L300.
Bigger than the L300 it rivals and replaces (here and abroad, respectively), the Traviz has a gross vehicle weight (GVW) of nearly three tons and a load factor reaching 120 percent. It’s at the very top of its Category 2 truck classification, already bumping up against the 3000kg lower threshold for Category 3 haulers that include Isuzu’s own N-series light-duty trucks.
For the Philippine market, the Traviz is available in two chassis lengths, the Traviz S chassis with a 2250mm wheelbase and the Traviz L with 2400mm (consistently 50mm longer than the 2200mm and 2350mm of the standard and extended wheelbases of the old Euro 2 L300). Prices of basic cab and chassis variants are at P962k for the Traviz S and P992k for the Traviz L .
Now powered with a Euro 4 version of Isuzu’s rugged 4JA1-L turbodiesel delivering 77hp @ 3900rpm and 177Nm @ 1800rpm, their new LCV appears to have finally justified an update to this, the engine of their bestselling Crosswind AUV that was taken off the market last year because of its Euro 2 engine.
Challenger / successor to L300
Developed by the Isuzu Global CV Engineering Center (IGCE) in Thailand, Isuzu’s dedicated truck engineering unit for emerging markets, the Traviz was first introduced globally in April 2018 in Indonesia which accounts for a large chunk of the global LCV trade. The new model was badged as the Traga for Indonesia where it directly succeeds the Isuzu Bison which, in turn, is actually a re-badged second-generation L300 they introduced in 2010 but with a 40 year old design dating back to 1979.
Indonesia’s Isuzu Bison is identical to the Philippines’ standard wheelbase Euro 2 Mitsubishi L300 except for having Isuzu’s 80hp/195Nm 4JA1-L low boost turbodiesel (the engine also under the hood of the Crosswind) instead of Mitsubishi’s 69hp/140Nm 4D56 direct injection non-turbo diesel that we have here (before their upgrade to a Euro 4 intercooled tubodiesel this year).
The Traga was designed to be larger, more agile, and also more rugged than the Bison/L300. It has a slightly longer 2250mm wheelbase (compared to the standard 2200mm of the Euro 2 Bison/L300) but retains a tight 4.5m turning radius. The ladder frame is based on the chassis of their rugged D-Max pickup, resulting in an undercarriage rated for 600kg more in GVW .
Euro 4 update, finally
Just months after the Indonesia roll out last year, the Traga was previewed here at the 2018 Philippine International Motor Show. Initially renamed the VTO2 for this purpose, the new, as yet Indonesia-stock LCV, had opposite, right-side steering and, more significantly, still the same Euro 2 4JA1-L turbodiesel that they had in the Crosswind AUV–Isuzu’s bestselling model that had to be discontinued last year because it didn’t have a Euro 4 engine.
In the face of these incompatibilities, the preview hinted at imminent adaptations for the Philippine market. Good news since it presented a new model’s justification for development work on the trademark engine of the bestselling old Crosswind which gained even more stature when it was discontinued in 2018.
The Crosswind had to be taken off the market last year when government regulation made Euro 4 compliant engines mandatory for all new vehicle registrations. Even in the face of imminent enforcement of Euro 4 standards, the Crosswind’s developer–Isuzu Astra of Indonesia, also the producer of the Traviz–could not justify an update to the engine of an old model that’s a bestseller only in the Philippines.
Now, apparently, the Philippines’ new Traviz has broken that loggerhead and precipitated the update of the venerable Isuzu 4JA1-L low boost turbodiesel to Euro 4 standards by means of a new high pressure common rail direct injection (CRDi) fuel system and an electronic engine control unit (ECU). Updated to Euro 4 compliance, the Traviz’s powertrain retains the Crosswind’s proven and peculiarly successful combination of the slightly over-square and quick-revving 4JA1-L with its 93x92mm bore and stroke dimensions, and its MUA-5S 5-speed manual transmission with extra deep gear ratios …
- 1 : 4.357 in 1st
- 1 : 2.502 in 2nd
- 1 : 1.501 in 3rd
- 1 : 1.000 in direct drive 4th
- 1 : 0.909 in overdrive 5th
- 1 : 4.777 for final drive
Manufacturing outlook
The Isuzu Traviz is reportedly being imported from Indonesia as semi-knocked down (SKD) kits, giving Isuzu Philippines’ workforce some elbow room for working in some local input and shoring up Isuzu’s foothold as an automotive assembler. But the Traviz’s further reaching effect on the economic footprint of Isuzu Philippines is how it suggests a possible reintroduction of the Crosswind as a completely knocked down (CKD) model to be rolled out by assembly lines that were momentarily mothballed while the big brand truckmaker waited for motivations to align and deliver a Euro 4 engine update.
