Isuzu Double D-Max
It’s alway good to catch up with other motoring writer friends, and although not a writer per se, Dave from Autobears is actually more of a YouTuber. As luck would have it, it turned out that we both had an Isuzu D-Max press car during the same week, I had the AT35 Basecamp and Dave had a V-Cross, and was interested to driving a few interesting lanes.
As Dave lives somewhere flat, Lincolnshire, I figured I would introduce him to a strange northern phenomenon called hills, and in between him and me are a good selection of them just outside Holmfirth, Last of the Summer Wine country.
Our first lane was our meeting place, Trailwise ref; SE1005-06 or Rake Head Road, and after a brief chat we set forth for an afternoon of adventure.
Rake Head Road isn’t particularly demanding and can be driven in a Fiesta, but after a a bit of rain, which isn’t uncommon in Yorkshire, you’re left with quite a few large puddles - pretty pictures time!
Soon Rake Head Road turns into Holme Woods Lane which eventually takes you over the dam at Riding Wood reservoir which was completed in 1878, if you’re interested in those sort of things.
Arriving at Riding Wood reservoir, weather permitting, it’s always nice to pull over and admire the views. It’s exceptionally beautiful in Autumn when the trees turn golden. Anyhoo, this view was more interesting today. Just check out the stance of the AT35!
With Ramsden Road just around the corner it’s time to engage low ratio. It may begin with a simple narrow track between stone walls, but recently it has gained some challenging deep opposing ruts. I featured this lane in issue 55, our final (up to now), magazine. I was in Deux Smurf and instantly became cross-axled as she only has a centre locking diff. The AT35 on the other hand has a rear locker, but thanks to other traction aids it didn’t hesitate and flexed its way through, as did Dave in the V-cross.
From here there’s a slight left turn and the lane carries on upwards through a wooded section until you reach a right hand bend where it opens up to become wide, rocky with some gnarly steps.
As last time I found myself being disappointed with the amount of off-piste activity that was evident.
When I drove this last in Deux Smurf, after a bit of track maintenance, I managed to climb the step, but because the AT35 has what can only be described as metal girder underneath the rear bumper, it kept getting hung up. So to minimise damage to both the lane and the very expensive AT35, I figured I’d take the easier side route, and Dave followed.
From here the road narrows and the surface is now huge stone slabs - the many storms we’ve endured over that last few years have washed all the surface dirt and hardcore away, so traction new is very good.
The next section is what makes Ramsden Lane famous, a tight 90 degree left turn with quite a deep water channel that’s off-camber and big enough to swallow most things. Although it still looks quite gnarly, the entrance is now slightly flattened and therefore much easier to negotiate.
From here on it’s back into 2WD for a gentle meander to the end, though don’t forget to take in the epic views.
When you reach the end of Ramsden Lane you end up at a staggered crossroad, and carrying straight on takes you onto Cartworth Moor Road, SE1305-02. Although classified as a green lane, this is one long dirt track that is access to local farms, etc and can be easily driven in a normal car.
From here we nipped through Holmfirth and made our way to our next lane SE1708-04, or Scar End Lane. It’s fairly steep and narrow in places with the occasional rock to negotiate, but it has a solid enough base, in fact, the last time I drove Scar End I was in a Subaru Forester press car that made it look like I was traversing a Tesco car park, despite the torrential rain at the time.
Again, it isn’t the most challenging, even in wet conditions, but the main reason I like to drive it is for the views over New Mill, Holmfirth and beyond, they’re stunning, so it’s worth pulling over at the top for a brew.
Upon reaching the end (north), you have three choices; carry on, turn left for other green lane or right onto Intake Lane. I chose to take Dave on the latter and headed towards our final lane of the day, Cheese Gate Nab Side. I kid you not, that’s it’s name.
Cheese Gate Nab Side, or SE1607-02 has changed a lot over recent years and has become more difficult. Although there’s no signage up, there’s a still a one-way order in place - east to west, or downwards. Although it’s easy to blame over use by fellow 4x4 and bike owners, and yes, driving upwards will damage it, but there’s plenty of evidence to show that rainfall has caused a lot of natural erosion.
Knowing how gnarly it is, we stopped just before the first technical bit and walked down to get a feel for it. I’m not going to lie, Dave’s face did turn pale!
I went first because I was in the lead, and this would allow me to direct Dave down some of the trickier sections. In the AT35 I had all the ground clearance in the world, whereas Dave in the V-Cross, well, not so much.
With its 2” suspension lift, 2” body lift and 35” tyres, all this extra clearance can sometimes feel like you cheating when it comes to rock steps ruts, apart from over exaggerated leans, the AT35 takes everything in its stride. When I reached a relatively easy spot I jumped out to guide Dave down a particularly nasty drop, but I was too late, there was a crunch, I winced and Dave looked worried. Dave had driven off quite a steep step and landed on the sidestep, which was now the shape of a banana, and the near side rear tyre was flailing in the air.
Option one would have been to roll forward and do even more damage to the V-Cross, or option two, engage the rear locker and simply reverse out of the situation and take another line. Amazingly, option two worked an absolute treat.
After a few more deep ruts we arrived at the tight, right hand turn that herald’s the final two potentially dangerous sections.
First we had to drive down a short, narrow and off-camber section that leads you out the final bend, a wide left hander with and deep rocky rut to negotiate. Thankfully there’s a decent area in which you can take the corner quite wide and therefore avoid further damage to the lane, and your 4x4.
The narrow section had me sweating slightly as the AT35 is a wide beast, but she was fine, and I managed to get a nice wide turn and drove down the final couple of steps.
Next was Dave who took a swing at the section, but not wide enough and found himself in a bit of a predicament with the near-side rear wheel teetering on the edge of a crevice, and obviously the photos don’t do it justice. It didn’t help when 3 quad bikers squeezed past us, then, whilst assessing the situation around 20 ramblers rambled passed, all looking at us as if we were scum of the earth!
Anyhow, after umming and ahhing for a few minutes on what would be the best damage-free way forward, I got the traction boards out of the AT35, and using them as a ledge, Dave accelerated out of the situation and continued to the end of the lane - phew!
As you would expect the AT35 pretty much walked everything, it was just its girth that kept me on my toes. The standard V-Cross at the hands of Dave did a sterling job, and Dave handled the gnarly Yorkshire hills like a pro!
Overall we had a cracking afternoon, well, at least I did, Dave was still quite pale as we said our goodbyes!
Both vehicles performed marvellously, as you would expect, the only downside was the V-Cross’ ground clearance on some tricky terrain. Thankfully Isuzu has an answer to that, and as part of a ‘comfort’ package, a Pedders suspension lift-kit is offered that increases the ride height from 35mm to 40mm, depending on model year, as well as enhancing the entry and exit angle. Isuzu have fitted this kit, along with other mods, to their one-off MudMaster D-Max, which I’ll share with you soon.
In the meantime, enjoy the rest of the photos!
