The Isuzu Alterra conquers Southern Luzon (Photo by ANJO PEREZ)

February 2010: Summer is here — quite early because of the El Nino; Discovery Suites opens another exclusive resort down in Bicol; Isuzu Philippines Corporation unveils this year’s iteration of the Alterra; So how do we tie all of these together?

IPC had this all figured out. Bring a handful of motoring and lifestyle reporters aboard the 2010 Alterra, fuel up with Caltex Diesel with Techron D, drive down south for 500 kilometers, enjoy the spanking new facilities of Misibis Bay Raintree Resort and fly back to Manila the following day.

The event called “Trailing Southern Luzon with the 2010 Isuzu Alterra and Caltex Diesel with Techron D” was Isuzu’s first event for the year. The event was aimed at showing reporters the unrivaled comfort the Isuzu Alterra affords its passengers even on long drives. And drive we did.

The event started with a breakfast buffet at the Crisostomo Restaurant in Nuvali Center in Santa Rosa, Laguna. IPC President Keiji Takeda together with Senior Vice President for Corporate Business Art Balmadrid were on hand to brief the participants about the new Alterra. “We’ve been getting a lot of positive feedback from Alterra owners, telling us how satisfied they are especially when taking the SUV on out-of-town drives.

So we’ve invited some members of the media to drive the new Alterra and experience the comfort for themselves,” Takeda said.

The previous Alterra is just right as it is — giving Isuzu engineers a hard time in finding things to improve on.

Said IPC’s manager for Product Development Joseph Bautista: “The only improvements we could give the Alterra were the ‘machine finished’ alloy wheels, replace the instrument panel with a lighter design wood grain panel, and install a new 2-Din entertainment system that is navigation-ready.”

Mr. Balmadrid, for his part, told the media participants to “drive the Alterra’s as if it were your own. The Alterra’s are well known for its riding comfort and we want you to experience it first-hand.”

“The route we chose in going to Bicol is long but it has different types of terrain and is very scenic as well, so it’s the perfect place to drive the Alterra and experience its comfort,” Balmadrid added.

Chevron’s Dominic Timbancaya was also at the briefing to explain to the participants how the Caltex Diesel with Techron D works perfectly with the Alterra’s 3.0-liter 4JJ1 turbo diesel engine. According to Timbancaya, the Caltex Diesel with Techron D has a lower sulfur content meeting strict Euro-III standards.

We get to drive the Alterra on a regular basis so we opted to stay in the second-row seat. With Isuzu’s Hermes “Chairman” Canon at the helm and IPC’s PR Manager Timmy Naval-de Leon upfront, we were able to enjoy the Alterra’s big cabin with legs stretched out and seatback reclined and watched as the scenery whiz by until we dozed off.

Just three hours after leaving Santa Rosa, we reached our first stop in Gumaca, Quezon. We stopped at the Golden Salakot Restaurant where we feasted on a heavy seafood lunch. We already covered 200 kilometers and wanted to reach Legazpi early so we decided to proceed with the trip earlier than scheduled. We passed by Calauag, then entered the Andaya Highway which is now, am happy to say, in a better state. Although there are still short portions being repaired, it wasn’t really a challenge for Isuzu’s FlexRide system which makes the Alterra shine above its competitors.

Travel time along the 100-kilometer highway is smooth and fast enabling motorists to traverse the highway and reach Sipocot town in just over an hour.

As we traversed the Andaya highway, we got to enjoy the Alterra’s high-resolution 7-inch headrest-mounted LCD monitors and a 5.1 surround audio-video entertainment system along with the bagful of snacks Timmy placed inside each unit. The iPod connectivity also worked great as it enabled us to switch between songs with just a touch on the remote control.

We reached Naga City by 4 p.m. and topped-up at the Caltex station. Wanting to take photos of the Alterra with Mt. Mayon in the background, we hurried on to Legazpi city which was 75 kilometers away. An hour and a half later, just before the sun set, we reached a place in between the towns of Bato and Polangui which gave us a spectacular view of Mt. Mayon.

The convoy parked on the side of the road and watched as the glorious sunrays disappear from the slopes of the majestic Mayon. We only had a few minutes to take shots of the Alterra and the volcano until the sun finally disappeared.

It was already dark when our convoy reached Legazpi City (6:30 p.m.) although we were ahead of schedule by an hour and a half. We picked up our guide at the Legazpi airport who then accompanied us to the Misibis Bay Raintree resort which was 30 kilometers away.

Just before we arrived at the resort, IPC PR supervisor Ronald “Mayor” Baladad announced over the two-way radio that a massage service is available for anyone who needs it to wipe away the body aches brought about by the 10-hour trip. But surprisingly, no one booked for the massage as everyone arrived at the resort relaxed and still full of energy to enjoy the resort’s facilities — proof of how comfortable the Alterra really is.