BIG as the D-Max is, the iconic high-riding truck is still at home on city streets.
Rich torque for sprinting and short-shifting: With torque peaking early at 320Nm, this D-Max variant feels good in a sprint but a better use of the early onset push is to go easy on the throttle and trigger those upshifts when you reach 1500rpm. This’ll make for a brisk shift ladder with an upshift into 2nd at 10km/h, into 3rd at 25, 4th at 40, and finally into 5th at 55km/h. Be alert for these early shifts and you’ll easily get an impressive 11km/l even in moderate to heavy city traffic.
Tall but also nimble: BIG as she is riding high atop fat tires, the D-Max makes easy work of unpaved patches. And yet, her wheelbase geometry, mindful overhangs and balanced handling also keeps her nimble enough to smoothly navigate crowded city roads and structures.
Strong/stable front: Steering is light and predictable even when going downhill, braking and then turning. The Super Carry’s signature tension rods shape the wheel mounts into strong tripods, preventing the front wheels from being pushed back in those turns, protecting the intended caster and camber, and stabilizing her on tight curves as well as on fast straightaways.
Adaptive rear: With load compensating suspension and brakes in the rear (features typical on larger truck segments), the Super Carry does a decent job of keeping all four wheels planted under hard braking and vigorous turning. About 75% of leaf spring tension is online, all the time, with the other 25% implemented with a partial/floating bottom leaf that comes into play only when the mini-truck takes on a heavy load, or when doing some G-pulling turns. Braking is intuitive and predictable with the ventilated discs up front complemented by standard drums in the rear featuring Load Sensing Proportioning Valves (LSPVs)–LSPV maintains braking traction on the rear tires even when there’s little or no cargo to tamp down the back.
Early in the drive, an informal fuel-eco run on NLEX from Petron Marilao to Petron Lakeshore, showed the M20 consuming just 1.5L of 95-test unleaded over a distance of 50.2km (based on the M20’s trip-meter). This translates to an impressive 33.5km/l on a max-conserve cruise with the engine turning at 2250rpm for 80km/h in 5th gear. (At 2250rpm, the engine had been delivering an estimated 99lb-ft or 89% of its peak torque though at mid-range, keeping power consumption to just 40hp or 38% of maximum.)
And, finally, at Sagada itself with narrow twisting roads made even more crowded by numerous transports either chartered or plying regular routes to the popular destination, the M20’s precise, electrically boosted steering, was an excellent match for the compact MPV’s heft. With little or no give to the system, with any tug causing a steering change, the M20’s setup needs getting used to but the end result is a relatively compact mini-van that could weave politely amongst pedestrians and vehicles alike.
