Isuzu D-Max Interior Layout & Technology

The highly-specced V-Cross's move into the lifestyle market means the interior look and feel differs wildly throughout the D-Max range. V-Cross versions get leather, soft-touch materials, giant comfy armchairs and a 9.0in infotainment screen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The graphics are old-school, but the touchscreen is responsive enough and the size suits the interior. Double cabs also get eight grab handles and 10 cupholders, and the D-Max gets extra marks from us for retaining its separate climate control panel.
Space? Plentiful. And that's for both front and rear-seat passengers (who also benefit from 20mm more shoulder room, higher hip points and more reclined seats in comparison to the predecessor). Storage isn't in short supply, either, with two gloveboxes and an extra compartment nestled into the top of the dash. And, you know, a mighty great cargo bed just a couple of feet behind you. Family getaways should be a breeze.

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BBC News

4 hours ago

• BBC News

The self-drive tuk-tuks transforming travel in Sri Lanka

A local startup is helping travellers experience Sri Lanka like a local – and changing lives in the process. I had pictured what my journey from the highlands of Ella to the Unesco city of Kandy would look like, but this was even better. The looping mountain roads stretched out before me as I drove through palm tree-lined valleys and past reservoirs so blue they looked as if they'd been photoshopped. Purple-faced langurs with their bushy white beards sat on the roadside and looked inquisitively at me, while elephants occasionally sauntered into the street. This was a road trip that couldn't be hurried. While I could have zipped along in a hire car, I knew this the journey would be far more fun trundling along in a self-drive tuk-tuk. For the last 50 years, tuk-tuks or three wheelers have become a typical sight in Sri Lanka. Motorised versions were imported into the country by the Indian Bajaj Auto Company in the late 1970s, and by the '90s they were ubiquitous. Now there are one million of them putt-putting along Sri Lanka's highways. Serving as family saloons and taxi cabs to police vehicles and three-wheeled bakeries, these workhorses have proven they're more functional than a Swiss army knife. Holidaymakers fell for the fearless vehicles too, but while they could catch a ride in the hardworking three wheelers, they were only allowed as passengers. Then in 2016, with the launch of Katunayake-based start-up TukTuk Rental, tourists were given the keys to an adventure they would never forget. You can now hire and drive a vehicle, choose your own route through the highlands or along the palm-fringed beaches and stop for a cup of milk tea when the mood takes you. But what makes this experience extra special is that this business, which marries social good with financial goals, leases its tuk-tuks from locals. Since it started, around Rs300,000,000 (US$1m) has gone into the pockets of 1,000 families in Sri Lanka. TukTuk Rental was the brain child of Thomas Cornish, an Australian civil engineer who was working for a non-profit in India. On the second day of a cycling holiday there, Cornish crashed his bike. A local offered up an old tuk-tuk so that he could complete the journey. Cornish found the ride so enjoyable, he wanted other travellers to have the same experience. Since the distances between Indian cities can be challenging, he and his cofounders Richard McKeon and Wietse Sennema looked for another country where tuk-tuks were popular. Finally, they decided to launch TukTuk Rental in Sri Lanka. Sennema, who grew up on the island, was aware that tuk-tuk driving was a second source of income for many people. "They'll have a daytime job, then in the evenings they drive the tuk-tuk," he said. The trio started knocking on doors to see if the tuk-tuk owners would rent their three-wheeler to holidaymakers and earn an income while they stayed at home with their families. Shalitha Sankalpa from Mount Lavinia was one such owner. He worked at a hotel during the day then would drive his tuk-tuk for up to six hours in the evening. "I would earn 200 rupees a day on average," says Sankalpa. He heard about the new startup and, in 2017, decided to offer his family tuk-tuk as one of their initial 10 vehicles. Within a month, his earnings had doubled. "When I told my friends, they said, 'It's a risk. Don't give your tuk-tuk to foreigners.' Now they are asking me, 'How can I rent my tuk-tuk?'," he said. Sankalpa was living with his wife, son and in-laws in a small, rented house, but with the steady income he was able to buy a car and build his own home. The social business has continued to give him dream moments, including when South African cricketer Jonty Rhodes hired Sankalpa's tuk-tuk to drive along the coast to Ahangama. "It was a super special day for me," says Sankalpa. Letting tourists loose on the roads was fraught with potential problems, but with the help of the Automobile Association of Ceylon, TukTuk Rental was able to make sure that holidaymakers were legally covered by providing them with a Sri Lankan driving licence. The team also hired driving instructors to give each tourist a lesson before they took to the road, and employed mechanics to maintain the vehicles. Within two years, a fleet of up to 100 tuk-tuks was being driven by holidaymakers on their adventures around the island. However, the next few years would prove to be anything but a smooth road. On 21 April 2019, the Easter Sunday bombings led to lockdowns across the island, then a year later the pandemic hit. Even when Sri Lanka's airports reopened, tourism recovery was slow. In the first four months of 2021, the country saw just 9,629 arrivals compared to 507,311 for the same period the previous year. Slowly the tourists started to return. TukTuk Rental now works with 750 families across the island who rent their tuk-tuks to holidaymakers. More like this:• The 300km route shining a spotlight on Sri Lanka's tea history• A 210km drive through 'the most beautiful place on Earth'• An epic road trip over and under the Atlantic Ocean Charith Rajindra first supplied TukTuk Rental with a three-wheeler in 2022. Before the pandemic, Rajindra worked at a garment factory worker during the day and then as a baggage handler at the airport in the evening. During Covid, his hours at the factory were cut and the airport was closed for 10 months. He then heard about the start-up that was renting locals tuk-tuks to tourists. After watching their progress, Rajindra took a gamble, leased a tuk-tuk and gave the $4,500 vehicle to the start-up. Within two years he was able to pay off the lease and open a home stay. He then bought a second tuk-tuk in 2024, which he also rents out through the start-up. Rajindra says he's delighted visitors get to experience a different side of Sri Lanka. "I'm very happy that the foreigner wants to drive a tuk-tuk. [It's a] normal person's vehicle. It's not a high-end vehicle," he says. Rajindra says he can also see the impact the start-up has made: "It brings income for the locals, for the country, and everyone involved." Diana Hiptmair, a content creator from Toronto, Canada, decided to hire a tuk-tuk in April 2025 after seeing a post on Instagram. "We're always looking for opportunities to step out of our comfort zone, and renting a tuk-tuk felt like the perfect way to travel at a slower pace, connect with locals and immerse ourselves in Sri Lankan culture," she says. She and her husband rented a convertible cabriolet tuk-tuk for 26 days and travelled from Negombo to the beach town of Mirissa. "Supporting a company that gives back was important to us," says Hiptmair. "And traveling by tuk-tuk allowed us to visit small restaurants and local businesses that many tourists might otherwise miss." One of her favourite memories was a spontaneous pitstop for lunch: "The owner invited Daniel into the kitchen to help make kottu roti," says Hiptmair. Kate Dicks from Hampshire in the UK was also a huge fan of the experience. She rented a self-drive tuk-tuk with her boyfriend for a 10-day road trip in January 2025. They wanted to visit the highlands and national parks. As taxis were few and far between in these rural areas and the bus connections didn't fit their schedule, a tuk-tuk provided the perfect solution. The tuk-tuk also helped give them the David Attenborough moment they wanted. "The most memorable part of our trip was when we saw wild elephants along the road we were driving on," says Dicks. "To see an elephant that close in its natural habitat was just amazing." While the numbers of holidaymakers hiring tuk-tuks are rapidly increasing, the social business limits the amount of tuk-tuks that each owner can give them so as many people as possible can participate in the programme. Supplier manager Isuru Fernando says they don't want to support another company, they want to support the individuals. After I finished my journey and handed over the keys, I watched the tuk-tuk reassuringly wobble off along the road to begin its return journey to the highlands. I had no doubt it would get there. This plucky vehicle seemed representative of a country that even when faced with the toughest of journeys still remains strong. -- For more Travel stories from the BBC, follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram.

Daily Mirror

14 hours ago

• Daily Mirror

'I've driven an EV for one year and one small feature still scares me'

This time last year, I took the plunge and ditched my VW T-Cross for a full-electric Mercedes EQC, a move which has come with its fair share of ups and downs. I've already written various pieces on the lack of charging infrastructure across the country, an issue which affects thousands of drivers who rely on public charge-points on a weekly basis. I've also spoken about the often limited range of such vehicles and the anxiety that can come with the prospect of running out of battery on a long journey. But there's another, far less spoken about, element which still gives me anxiety as a driver. And that's how quiet nearly all electric cars appear to be. Only a few weeks ago did I drive down a private rural road, with a 15mph speed limit, and make a pedestrian walking her dog jump out of her skin, simply because she didn't hear the quiet churn of the EV. I was crawling down the road at less than 10mph fully aware that she probably hadn't sensed the car, and despite my best efforts, I still startled her. She wasn't wearing headphones, and I was the only moving car on the road - which meant the subtle EV sound was not drowned out by anything else. In comparison to a diesel vehicle, electric cars make a very dull whirring sound, almost like a space ship. They sound futuristic and high-tech, and from my experience so far, no two models sound the same. For example the Audi equivalent of my car is ever-so-slightly louder. Like everyone here in Britain, I am used to the loud sound of cars whizzing past, some with obnoxiously loud exhausts, large lorries thundering down the road. But with Keir Starmer's 2030 electric vehicle pledge, which will stop the sale of petrol and diesel cars completely in five years' time, that will change. This is not a nostalgia plea by any stretch, but the hard-of-hearing population, or those who are blind or partially sighted, rely on prominent sound to stay safe when crossing the road. And children who are learning to cross a road, or even the dangers of a main road, will now need to be way more observant when the louder vehicles fall silent as more and more people are forced to go full electric. My car is five years' old, it's relatively new, but I do often wonder if newer versions will be slightly louder to bridge the huge decibel gap that's currently there between electric and fuelled cars. Along with a synthetic sound, my car makes a very dull bleeping sound when in reverse, with cameras in play to ensure no one, person or vehicle, is behind me. The onus is always on the driver to make sure the area is safe, and that should never change. But the reason the reverse sensors give out a quiet sound is because drivers will always reverse at low speed, and EVs are designed to only get substantially louder when the car is above a certain mph. EVs don't have engines, therefore their sound is synthetic. The only noise people will hear naturally is the sound of tyres on the tarmac - after all, many EVs are heavier than their fuelled-counterparts due to the weight of the battery. According to PodPoint, an EV charging company, their quiet sound is not a major design flaw. It's there to avoid noise pollution above all. It says: "The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared traffic noise - which includes roads, rail, and air - as the second leading cause of negative health in western Europe. "The WHO recommends that people aren't exposed to noise exceeding 53 decibels (dB) during the day-night period caused by road traffic. Anything over 75 dB has the potential to damage our ears." It says the legal limit for vehicles is 72 decibels, but this could be reduced to 68 by next year. For EVs the legal requirement is 56 decibels. That doesn't stop the concern as the country makes the gradual transition to electric cars. EVs made after July 1, 2019 had to comply with an EU law called the Regulation on the Sound Level of Motor Vehicles. This means cars must make a sound when they are driven at 12.4mph when going forwards or reversing. This external noise is produced by an acoustic vehicle alert system (AVAS) which would warn other road users of their presence. When inside the car you can barely hear it - but that doesn't mean it's not doing its job. Is the answer a louder noise box - or simply a more realistic sounding car that imitates an engine? I don't know, but within the next decade our roads are going to sound a whole lot quieter. While I am here for it, all walks of life must be catered for in terms of safety - and until then, EV drivers like myself will need to be more vigilant and understanding of people who simply do not know we are there.

The Sun

17 hours ago

• The Sun

Watch moment iconic car maker enters space race after successfully launching reusable rocket

Eliana Nunes Published: Invalid Date, THIS is the spectacular moment one of the world's largest car manufacturers successfully launched a reusable rocket. Honda R&D - the research and development arm of Honda Motor - landed a rocket for the first time on Tuesday - after it reached an altitude of nearly 1,000 feet. 4 The experimental reusable rocket reached an altitude of 890 feet during its test flight - staying aloft for 56.6 seconds. It landed just 14.6 inches from its target touchdown point at the carmaker's test facility in northern Japan, according to Honda. Weighing in at 2,890 pounds when fully fuelled (1,984 pounds dry), the rocket is 20.7 feet tall and measured 2.8 feet in diameter. Honda's rocket has become the first prototype rocket outside the US and China to pull off a flight like this. The company said the launch and landing test demonstrated "key technologies essential for rocket reusability, such as flight stability during ascent and descent, as well as landing capability". The Japanese car manufacturer first revealed in 2021 that it had been working on a rocket engine for at least two years. After six years of development, this successful test marked a major step in Honda's push into space innovation. But Honda is not alone in the race beyond Earth. Other car makers like Geely, GM, Hyundai-Kia, Toyota and Venturi are partnering with space tech companies. Unlike Honda and Venturi that have developed rockets or space vehicles, Toyota has been involved more in robotics and space exploration tech. Vid shows supersonic test launch in bid for 1hr cross-Atlantic flights in 5yrs Geely, GM and Hyundai-Kia are partnering with aerospace firms or investing in space tech startups - rather than independently developing rockets yet. It comes after talk of a merger between car rivals Nissan and Honda collapsed in February. But the door to collaboration remains wide open. Nissan's CEO Ivan Espinosa said in March that the company is "very open" to partnerships. The company's chief performance officer, Guillaume Cartier, said Nissan had "never stopped" talking with its Japanese rival, confirming that the two continue working towards a potential partnership. Espinosa, who officially took over on April 1, said his company faces up to five simultaneous crises - including a damaged brand, low morale and the execution of a sweeping turnaround. Speaking at a company event, he said: "The way we are seeing partners is broadly, not only thinking about cars but how to push Nissan into the next era of technology." Toshihiro Mibe has been the CEO of Honda Motor Co. since 2021.