2019 Ford Ranger vs Mazda BT-50

What's the difference?

The 2019 Ranger XLT with twin-turbo 2.0-litre diesel and 10-speed auto offers 10kW more power and 30Nm more torque than the venerable Duratorq 3.2 litre five-cylinder alternative, along with superior fuel economy. Although Aussies traditionally lean towards large capacity engines, based largely on perceptions that smaller ones have to work harder to do the same job, there was no evidence of that during our test.

Indeed, it hauled its one tonne payload up long and steep climbs with an effortless ‘you call this a hill?’ arrogance and with plenty in reserve. Pub-test perceptions are powerful things, of course, but so too is this new engine which makes light work of hard work.

That 3.9 might seem like a high score for a ute that, at times in this review, I’ve not been very complimentary of, but most of that score is for the BT-50 itself, not the Boss aspect of it; the Boss thing does nothing for the BT-50. 

Like most decisions in life, whether you opt for a Boss boils down to wants and needs. You might want a Boss but you certainly don’t need one – I don’t think so, anyway. The BT-50 is a solid, dependable ute with a top-notch engine and driveline without any of the Boss frippery. It’s a very capable unit for working and towing, and the Boss trim simply makes it look a little bit different to other BT-50s – whether that’s a good ‘different’ is up to you.

The BT-50 handles everything nicely and, while it never feels quite as refined as something like the Ford Ranger or VW Amarok, it’s still right up there with the best utes in the market. 

The Ranger’s rugged ladder-frame chassis rides on a big 3220mm wheelbase and with the XLT’s overall length of 5426mm and 1977mm overall width it remains one of the largest in the dual cab ute segment. 

Coil-spring independent front suspension and a leaf-spring live rear axle combine with electrically power-assisted steering and front disc/rear drum braking to produce a well-rounded chassis package, with excellent ride and handling for such a high-riding vehicle. Front seating is spacious and comfortable while the rear is a bit of a squeeze for three adults, particularly the one in the middle who loses the paper-scissors-rock shoot-out.

The Ranger’s off-road highlights include 237mm of ground clearance, 29 degrees approach angle, 21 degrees departure angle, ramp break-over angle of 25 degrees, 800mm wading depth and 12.7-metre turning circle.

On the outside, it looks like a BT-50 that Mazda has thrown a lot of black at: the Boss’s front grille, wheel guards, 17-inch, eight-spoke alloy wheels, wing-mirror caps, side steps, sports bar, soft tonneau cover and more are all black.

It even has Boss stickers down the side of the cabin, which are a bit cheap-looking and I copped a few dodgy looks at traffic lights, as if those people thought I’d put the stickers on myself. The stickers aren’t my cup of tea, but they might be yours, so good luck to you.

Beyond those minor cosmetic changes, it’s business as usual in the looks department. The front end that put people off years ago has long been designed away so it’s not anywhere near as annoying as it once was. Otherwise, the Boss shares same-same looks with its lower-level stable mates: it's blocky, solid, and ready for action. 

Inside there’s leather trim and gloss-black spots.

The XLT’s kerb weight of 2197kg combined with its 3200kg GVM results in an excellent payload rating of 1003kg, which means it’s a genuine ‘one tonner’ in local ute lingo. 

The load tub has a floor length of 1549mm and width of 1560mm, with 1130mm between the wheel arches. There are also four tie-down points, a 12-volt outlet, night-time illumination, a lift-assisted tailgate and protective liner

The XLT is also rated to tow up to 3500kg of braked trailer, but when you deduct 3500kg from the XLT's 6000kg GCM rating (or the most you can legally tow and carry at the same time), that leaves only 2500kg. 

And if you then deduct the 2197kg kerb weight from that figure, you’re left with only 303kg of legal payload capacity. Which is enough for two to three adults  before you can think about adding luggage, so do your sums if you plan to tow this heavy.

We don’t know how some manufacturers work out their towing/GCM ratings, because they are often as rubbery as their fuel economy figures. Our best advice, for real world driving, is to interpret any 3500kg towing limit as a 3000kg limit, to give you much needed legal and safety margins.

Like all Rangers the XLT offers numerous cabin storage choices including a large bin and bottle holder in each front door, along with a single glove box and overhead glasses holder. The centre console has an open storage bin at the front, two bottle holders in the centre and a lidded box at the rear which is also cooled and doubles as an arm rest. 

Rear passengers get a storage bin and bottle holder in each door, flexible storage pockets on the rear of each front seat and the centre armrest folds down to reveal two more cupholders. The lower seat cushion also swings up through 90 degrees and can be stored in an upright position if more internal floor load space is required.

The Boss interior gets leather trim, gloss-black styling, as well as Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and an eight-speaker Alpine stereo. 

There are leather seats and some soft-touch areas in the cabin but, apart from that, there are expanses of tough durable plastics. 

The dash and centre console are rather plain but it’s all nice and well laid out. 

The media screen is clear – it has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto – and controls for everything are easy to locate and operate – crucial when 4WDing at low or high speeds.

There are plenty of storage spots – door pockets, glove box, sunnies case, centre console, as well as USB ports and 12V sockets.

The interior is functional without being flash, which for a top-spec ute may be a let-down for some, but for me, it works. 

Driving position is nice and high but the steering wheel is tilt adjustable only, which is a bit annoying.

The back seats of utes can be a pain but the Boss’s are quite comfortable; there was plenty of legroom behind my driving position and the sculpted roofline offers head room aplenty. The seats are upright, straight up and down, and tall people might complain about a lack of under-leg cushioning, but for everyone else – yes, even most adults – they’re more than adequate.

The five-seater Boss is the new top-shelf BT-50 variant, stepping into the range above the GT. It is available as a dual-cab only and 4WD only. 

As standard, the BT-50 Boss has a drive-away price of $55,990 (plus on-road costs). However, our test vehicle had optional floor mats ($137.85), so its price as tested is $56,127.85.

The 3.2-litre engine and drive-train are carry-overs from the regular BT-50 – so what’s new are the few added extras on the inside and outside of the Boss. 

The Boss gets black accents everywhere – more about that below – as well as central locking for the tailgate and a tub liner. 

Boss buyers get one exterior colour: what Mazda calls “Snowflake White Pearl Mica”.

Ford’s latest member of the Ranger engine family is capable of meeting Euro 6 emissions with AdBlue, but it’s a simpler Euro 5 specification in Ranger. With the latest in sequential turbocharging, this engine produces 157kW at 3750rpm and 500Nm of torque within a 250rpm band between 1750-2000rpm.  As peaky as that may sound, in reality the two turbos working in sequence provide more than ample flexibility either side of this narrow band width. 

The 10-speed torque converter automatic’s closely-spaced gears have overdrive on the top three cogs for economical highway cruising and in Sport mode can be shifted manually via a small toggle switch on the side of the shifter. 

Its low 4.7:1 first gear, combined with the part-time dual-range 4x4 transmission featuring shift-on-the-fly engagement, 2.7:1 low range reduction and 3.73:1 final drive, provides a useful 47:1 crawler gear for tackling the toughest off-road terrain. There’s also a rear diff lock.

The Boss has the BT-50 line-up’s 3.2-litre five-cylinder turbo-diesel engine – 147kW at 3000rpm and 470Nm at 1750-2500rpm – mated to a six-speed automatic transmission. This is a proven combo, solid if unspectacular.

It has a dual-range part-time 4WD system and lockable rear diff. 

We put Ford’s fanciful combined figure of only 7.4L/100km to the test using trip meter and fuel bowser readings. Our first refill, after 538km, including a full GVM test, worked out at 10.65L/100km, which wasn’t far off the dash readout of 10.1. 

Our second refill, after 445km of mostly light and medium loads, improved slightly to 9.9L/100km compared to 9.7 on the XLT’s computer. So, based on our best figure, you could expect a realistic driving range of around 800km from its 80-litre tank.

Fuel consumption is listed as 10.0L/100km (combined). Fuel consumption on test was 11.6L/100km.

The Boss has an 80-litre fuel tank.

The Ranger is a comfortable drive around town. Ford has also done a good job with NVH (Noise, Vibration and Harshness) suppression too, particularly with the 2.0-litre diesel and its under-bonnet surrounds.

It’s an excellent engine for this application, with acceleration that feels more energetic than the ‘high performance’ Raptor, even though they share the same drivetrain. The XLT fairly leaps away from standing starts at full-throttle and surges towards triple km/h figures with a vigour not shared by its desert raider cousin.

We can only put this down to two variables. One is the XLT’s superior power-to-weight ratio, because it’s a massive 135kg lighter. The other is that the Raptor’s larger diameter tyres result in slightly taller gearing. So if you want more get-up-and-go, the XLT would be the better option.

The intelligent 10-speed auto is a smooth operator, with largely seamless shifts between its closely-spaced ratios. The over-driven top three are great for fuel economy at highway speeds although top gear in full lock-up seems a bit tall for this engine, given that peak torque is between 1750-2000rpm yet it’s only doing 1500rpm at 100km/h and 1600rpm at 110km/h.

You can also select ‘S’ for sport and shift gears manually using the toggle switch. However, we found it worked best when left in auto mode, as it quickly adapts its shift protocols to suite different driving styles and begins downshifting with enthusiasm when you start braking, particularly on steep descents.

We put the XLT’s 1003kg payload rating to the test by strapping 890kg into the tub, which combined with the driver resulted in a 990kg payload. The stout rear leaf springs compressed only 60mm (about half that of any coil-spring ute we’ve tested) resulting in a near-level ride height with plenty of rear bump-stop clearance.

With this load it maintained good handling and ride quality over a variety of sealed and unsealed roads. If anything, such a large amount of sprung weight improved the ride, with a hint of bottoming only being detected on the largest of washouts and road dips. 

It also powered effortlessly up our 13 percent gradient 2.0km set climb, self-shifting back to fourth gear at 2400rpm all the way to the top, with the right foot barely touching the accelerator pedal. Most impressive.

Engine braking on the way down, though, was minimal but not unusual for small capacity diesels. Our only other gripe was a slight but noticeable driveline shudder from standing starts between 0-10km/h. It was also evident when unloaded, only less noticeable. 

The BT-50 Boss is a comfortable daily driver.

Its engine is strong and has plenty of punch about it – with ample torque from low-down – and it’s never stressed. 

The auto-and-engine combination works well and the Boss generally slots into the sweet spot rather than hunting for it.

Steering has a real weight about it at the right times, visibility is good in all directions and throttle response is sharp with impressive acceleration off the mark. 

It sits nicely on the track, solid and stable, and the suspension – front coils and a leaf-sprung rear – sorts everything out pretty well. Sure, on sharper, more severe corrugations and deeper potholes, ride gets a bit jittery but it’s never terrible. 

NVH (noise, vibration and harshness) intrusion is limited to some low-level engine growl and a bit of wind noise around the wing mirrors.

The Boss basically just keeps on trucking no matter what – even under pressure, the whole package feels smooth enough without being quite at the top of its class, in terms of refinement. 

The Boss has a five-star ANCAP rating but it lags behind its rivals in terms of up-to-date driver-assist tech. Its safety gear includes six airbags, reversing camera, trailer sway control, emergency brake assist, and hill descent control, but its safety suite looks a bit light-on when compared to other dual-cabs which have AEB, rear cross traffic alert, blind-spot monitoring and more. 

The Ranger XLT is covered by Ford's five year/unlimited km warranty. Scheduled servicing is every 12 months/15,000km whichever occurs first. And capped pricing for first five scheduled services ranges from $360 to $555. Roadside assistance is available for up to seven years if the vehicle is serviced at a participating Ford dealer.

A five-year/unlimited km warranty applies to this ute. Its capped price plan covers runs to five years/75,000km. Service intervals are recommended at 12 months/15,000km. Average cost per service over five years is $459.40; total service cost over five years is $2,556.