Mazda BT-50 2011 review

MAZDA zooms toward the top of the ute class with the all-new, bigger and bolder BT50. While there will be discussion about the move toward a more SUV-like style - inside and out - there will be few questions about the on and off-road ability of the new machines as lifestyle dual cabs.

The BT50, as with its Ford Ranger counterpart, moves into this growing segment with confidence. The business is still dominated by Toyota's Hilux and the Nissan Navara; now there is fresh competition at this top end of the ute market from Mazda, Ford, Volkswagen's Amarok and the forthcoming Holden Colorado. 

People-carrying utes are a very healthy, steadily-growing segment of the local market and Mazda is prepared to forget some of the cheap-and-cheerful tradies workhorses to move in for a bigger slice of the top end. 

There are three BT50 cab styles, two and four-wheel drives, two engines, two transmissions and three spec grades. First up are the dual cabs driven at launch and available from November 1, followed by the Freestyle cabs later that month with single cabs due in early 2012.

Value

Final pricing for the 2011 class of BT50s is still under discussion but Mazda Australia promises 'competitive' deals to line up with rivals; prices are expected to rise between $1500 and $5000 across the range.

Expect then the volume-selling XT four-wheel drive dual cab around $45,000, running through to close on $60,000 for the top-spec GT version. Few miss out on a pile of gear from air conditioning and Bluetooth to traction control, stability control and roll control.

Design

The BT50 sits on the chassis developed with Ford but Mazda, with 50 engineers in Australia for four years, have gone their own way with exterior and interior style (along with damper settings).

The result is a ute infused with Mazda's current DNA - the front end carries the CX-7 wagon's big grin, the rear has its own special treatment with horizontal taillights that not only scream around onto the ute's side but also carry on to the tail gate.

Mazda reckons this gives the BT50 a 'dynamic, futuristic' look; some are uncertain whether Australia's ute buyers are ready for the future.

Technology

Mazda has stacked these utes, in particular these upmarket four-wheel drive versions, with a host of electronic driver aids. While there remains a full (and well-tuned) chassis below, an array of gear from stability and roll control to hill assist and hill descent control bring car-like driving and safety dynamics to the BT-50. The 3.2 litre diesel is Mazda's first five-cylinder engine.

Safety

The aforementioned secondary safety aids - including Load Adaptive Control to plot the electronics' reactions dependent on load and Trailer Sway Control - are complemented by driver and passenger front and side airbags plus curtain airbags. Mazda engineers are confident of a five-star ANCAP rating.

Drive

This new BT50 is a fair way removed from its predecessor. It is bigger inside and out, quieter and better-mannered on tar and dirt. Engineers have given it taut, passenger car-like dynamics with excellent turn-in to corners (with rack and pinion steering) and top grip on good and bad roads; it is particularly competent on fast dirt roads. 

The 3.2 litre engine is stacked with torque, handy on and off the road although the six-speed manual shift could be slicker; here the six-speed auto shines. But with either transmission the BT-50 is a quiet, always willing, machine at cruise or crawling speeds. This is yet another of these new generation utes that drive more like a capable SUV than load carrier.

Some may find Mazda have zoomed a tad too far toward SUV with the style inside and out (the centre console and its buttons for instance feel a bit dinky) but there is no doubting the new BT50's ability to cruise the highway in a fair degree of comfort or climb a rutted scrub track with confidence.