Isuzu NLR 45-150 Servicepack X 2024 Review

Australia is mad about utes. In fact, in 2023, the 4x4 ute category alone was our second-best-selling vehicle category, behind only medium SUVs. So it stands to reason that, when it comes to tradies, Isuzu Trucks would like to pry a few from their beloved utes and get them into something a little more truck like – something like this Isuzu NLR 45-150 Servicepack X.

In fact, for those who might be swayed, Isuzu has already done the hard work. The Isuzu NLR 45-150 Servicepack X is part of Isuzu’s Ready-to-Work range, so it comes as a turnkey solution pre-fitted with – in this case – a service truck body. A hybrid body made from aluminium and steel, it’s fitted right here in Australia, and features internal LED lighting, gull wing side covers that lift up on gas struts, a couple of smaller compartments, and a rear dropside tray.

Add in hefty payload and braked towing limits, a car-licence-friendly 4500kg GVM, and a compact wheelbase and ultra-tight turning circle, and for tradies, service technicians and more this hardy little truck has plenty going for it.

This Isuzu NLR 45-150 Servicepack X retails for $71,449, excluding GST, dealer delivery costs and on-road costs. So it’s in the ball park of many of today’s premium dual-cab utes – and significantly under that of many of the ‘full-size’ US pickups.

The truck comes with a long six-year or 250,000km (whichever comes first) standard warranty and a three-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty on its body, as well as six years of complimentary 24/7 roadside assistance (when serviced within the Isuzu network).

A range of servicing packages are available to cater to different budgets and desired levels of cost certainty.

The star of the show here is the Servicepack X body. Fitted by Isuzu’s preferred body builder specialist in Queensland, this Servicepack X has the one main central storage area with gull wing doors – the standard Servicepack (without an ‘X’) has a central divider that splits the area into two halves.

Our test truck sports a sturdy hybrid body made from steel and aluminium, yet the gull wing doors (made from the latter) are still light enough to easily lift and lower multiple times a day. On one side the door takes up the entire side of the body down to the load floor, while on the other it’s a split affair, with a smaller main door and a drop-down lower panel.

The two internal LED strip lights give decent illumination but they’re only operated via a switch on the dash, which isn’t always convenient. And the compact three-sided drop tray at the rear, for bulky items like trollers or generators, for example, is lined with sturdy checkerplate and fitted with four chunky load anchor points.

There are two smaller compartments, on either side just aft of the rear wheels, and these too – like the main compartment – can be locked or unlocked using the truck’s central locking system.

This NLR also comes standard with a 4000kg-rated towbar with 50mm ball/pintle hook combo and a low-light-capable reversing camera.

The Isuzu NLR 45-150 Servicepack X fares quite well on the safety front. Both the driver and outboard front passenger get an airbag and three-point seat belts with pre-tensioners, although the centre passenger makes do with a basic lap belt.

The truck also receives Isuzu’s ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) setup, comprising autonomous emergency braking with forward collision warning, lane departure warning, stability control, ABS braking, traction control and more. A Traffic Movement Warning sounds an alert if you’ve failed to notice the vehicle in front moving off, and a Distance Warning System alerts you if you’re following too closely to a vehicle in front.

Facilitating many of these systems is the truck’s Hitachi Stereo 3D camera unit, located at the bottom of the NLR’s windscreen, which Isuzu says has better object detection, speed and depth perception than some systems that rely on a single camera and bumper-mounted radar.

The truck scores disc brakes at all four corners and the cab meets the ECE-R29 standard for strength, with side anti-intrusion beams.

The various active safety systems work well and are reasonably unobtrusive. The lane departure warning has two levels of sensitivity or can be switched off entirely via a large dash-mounted button, while an Auto Lighting System automatically adjusts the brightness of the headlights and taillights to suit the prevailing conditions.

Beyond the technology employed in the Isuzu NLR 45-150’s ADAS safety suite (see above), the highlight on the tech front is the MyIsuzu Co-Pilot multimedia system. While the 10.1-inch touchscreen isn’t fully integrated into the truck’s dash – this could well be addressed when the next-gen N Series arrives in 2025 – it does offer a sizeable high-resolution screen and excellent functionality.

Headline features include wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, integrated truck-specific satellite navigation, AM/FM/DAB+ radio, and a crisp and clear reversing camera (without predictive guides but with the ability to add further cameras).

It’s easy to use but the truck is crying out for integrated controls on its steering wheel to help keep a driver’s eyes on the road and hands on the wheel. Another aspect for the next generation, we hope.

There’s also a wireless smartphone charging pad just below the multimedia screen, with two USB-A charge points nearby.

A compact and old-school digital display is located between the analogue speedo and tacho, providing a variety of trip and vehicle data.

Otherwise, the NLR also has conventional cruise control (not adaptive) and standard air-conditioning, which on chilly Melbourne winter mornings heats a compact narrow-cab model like the NLR very effectively.

Tilt the cab of the Isuzu NLR 45-150 Servicepack X and you’ll find Isuzu’s 4JJ1-TCS engine – a 3.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel said to produce 110kW (150hp) at 2800rpm and 375Nm from 1600 to 2800rpm.

This proven unit has been mated to a six-speed automated manual transmission with torque converter, which affords fully automatic operation or manual but clutchless sequential shifting.

The truck meets ADR 80/03 (Euro V) emissions standards through the use of a diesel particulate diffuser and exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) – there’s no selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system and so there’s no requirement for AdBlue.

Over the duration of our one-week review of the Isuzu NLR 45-150 Servicepack X, and with an 800kg test weight of concrete strapped down in the back (roughly half its available maximum payload) and over a mix of busy city streets and some sections of motorway, we achieved an average fuel economy of 11.4L/100km, or 8.8km/lt.

Given the NLR comes with a 75L diesel tank, this economy figure equates with a safe working range of over 600km.

If you’ve never driven a truck before, the first thing that will strike you about this Isuzu NLR 45-150 Servicepack X is just how incredibly easy it is to drive. You can drive it on a standard car licence and it really is no more difficult to manage, even on busy inner-city streets, than a typical ute or passenger car.

And hopping into or out of the NLR is even easier than many utes. The cab is low and the large door opens to a full 90 degrees, while ingress is further helped by the footstep and a sturdy A-pillar grab handle.

Once behind the wheel the basic seating gives some rudimentary four-way adjustment, but it is a sprung unit that you can adjust to suit your weight. Given the truck’s commercial-imperative suspension, the sprung seat does go some way to further isolating bumps and potholes, although you do still feel the bigger hits. Add in a steering wheel adjustable for tilt and reach, and it’s no problem to find an effective and comfortable driving position.

Vision is superb, courtesy of the large windscreen, large side windows, and sizeable twin-deck side mirrors, while the view to the rear is complemented the excellent camera display on the multimedia unit.

The 4JJ1 engine is a faithful companion; even with an 800kg load on board the truck is quick enough off the mark and able to hold its own in the cut and thrust of city traffic.

The six-speed AMT is calibrated to give a pragmatic mix of performance and economy, with a bias to the latter, but if extra urge is needed the manual sequential mode affords more control as well as pleasingly quick and slick shifts. It’s reasonable quiet too – engine noise is nicely suppressed, despite the fact you’re basically sitting on top of the engine.

But it’s perhaps maneuverability that is one of the real highlights in this truck. Isuzu quotes a kerb-to-kerb turning circle of just 8.7 metres and that undercuts that of most utes. Certainly it’s no bother to guide through tight spots, and even parking isn’t the issue it could be because the whole thing only measures 5020mm from tip to tail.

One area where the NLR might concede to a ute is its roof height. At 2172mm, the truck won’t have access to many tighter multi-story carparks, but then plenty of lifted utes with roof platforms ran into the same issue.

Getting about town in the NLR is aided by steering that requires only a light touch on the wheel and strong braking that also affords a nice degree of feedback. There’s also an auxiliary (exhaust) brake, but this only adds a fairly small degree of additional stopping power.

Overall, however, the Isuzu NLR 45-150 Servicepack X is a winning formula – gusty, nimble, and highly functional.

If numbers tell the story, the Isuzu NLR 45-150 Servicepack X has a great tale to tell. Despite its compact dimensions and modest 2825kg tare weight, this mighty little workhorse can handle a maximum payload of up to 1675kg and a braked towing limit of up to 4000kg. Try that in a typical ute!

We barely noticed the 800kg weight strapped down in the back of the truck and, although we didn’t tow anything in this review, we know from years of experience that Isuzu products are eminently fit for purpose.

The gull wing doors gives fast and easy access to the main load area, which measures roughly 2.3m long by 1.8m wide, and the entire service body appears to be very sturdy and well-constructed.

And we also like the smaller rear dropside tray, which measures roughly over 750mm deep and over 1800mm wide. The three sides can be dropped or raised independently and the two grippy steps make it really easy to climb onto the rear, for example to access the roof racks.

The interior of the Isuzu NLR follows a fairly strict utilitarian theme – lots of hardwearing, durable and easy-to-clean plastic, with rubber floor mats and (in our test truck) genuine accessory Isuzu canvas seat covers.

Beyond the MyIsuzu multimedia touchscreen, the many other accessories are controlled mainly by large and chunky dash-mounted buttons that are simple and easy to use, even if wearing work gloves. Ditto the air-con controls, which are large old-school dials. So while the cab might not look particularly refined by passenger car standards, it’s rugged and highly functional – what most want in a tool of trade anyway.

Cab storage is modest, but you do get a central pull-out cupholder and there are twin overhead shelves with netting to prevent their contents spilling out. Other than that, there are slim door pockets – just enough to accept some papers or an A4 folder or clipboard – and there are a couple of cubbies in the centre of the dash for odds and ends.

If you’re looking for a tough little truck that punches well above its weight and which can slot straight into your business without any fuss, there’s a whole lot to like about this Isuzu NLR 45-150 Servicepack X.

Sure, it might not have the same street cred at a dual-cab ute come the weekend and it’s no match for same when it comes to family transport, but for those after a serious workhorse to help take their business to the next level, it brings with it a long list of attributes and talents for a competitive outlay.

If you’re pondering your next ute, put a test drive of any of Isuzu’s car-licence-friendly Ready-to-Work models on your list too. You could well be pleasantly surprised, and it will only be to your business’s benefit.

Price: $71,449 (RRP, excluding GST, dealer deliver, and on-road costs)
Engine: 4JJ1-TCS 3.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel
Power: 110kW (150hp) at 2800rpm
Torque: 375Nm at 1600 to 2800rpm
Transmission: Automated six-speed automatic with torque converter
GVM: 4500kg
GCM: 8000kg
Tare: 2825kg
Max. payload: 1675kg
Max. braked towing: 4000kg
Wheelbase: 2490mm
Length overall: 5020mm
Turning circle: 8.7m (kerb to kerb)
Fuel tank: 75L
Fuel: 11.4L/100km (as tested)
Safety: Autonomous emergency braking with forward collision warning and distance warning, lane departure warning, stability control, traction control, antilock braking, Traffic Movement Warning, Auto Lighting System, hill holder, driver and outboard passenger airbags