2011 Mazda BT-50 Reviews

We are moving on from not being fans of the new Mazda BT-50s styling - it's subjective anyway. Looked at clinically, the new gen'  Mazda XTR 4x4, 3.2-litre ute (tested) is an impressive package in most areas, particularly load capacity and off road ability. It also offers generous room for five inside and plenty of kit in the dual cab model we drove.The Boss Sports Pack fitted to the test vehicle has possibly the most aggressive looking alloy bull bar we have ever seen, side rails, a rear sports bar, twin driving lights, wild looking alloys and a hard tonneau cover.VALUEThe Boss pack adds $8509 to the $50,810 test vehicle price which touches the Luxury Car Tax trigger. It (the tax) needs reassessment because this isn't a luxury car.Mazda is targeting cashed up "lifestylers" with its new ute. The XTR is mid-spec and comes with plenty of goodies including dual zone climate control, Bluetooth phone, hill descent control, hill start assist, five mode trip computer, satnav, a locking rear diff and alloy wheels - a well equipped package by anyone's measure.DESIGNWedgey profile is different but the rounded styling is a big step away from the boxy functional look that has come to be expected from a ute. Steep screen is aerodynamic, interior is as roomy as a medium size SUV. The ladder chassis feels strong and extensive measures to cut noise and vibration boost interior comfort.In practical terms, the load box is big and can take up to 1097kg in dual cab guise. The leaf spring rear suspension coped easily but can be over firm unladen. Load tray height is an issue especially on sloping ground.TECHThe new five-cylinder turbodiesel has variable turbo nozzle control for efficiency gains but it's still a "lazy" engine generating 147kW/470Nm from 3.2-litres. Benz has a 2.1-litre four pot producing 150kW/500Nm.Switch on the fly 4WD is handy and it offers low range as well as high. The front double wishbone/coil spring suspension is a big improvement on torsion bars. BT-50 gets rack and pinion steering but drum rear brakes. Six-speed auto with sequential mode is a cracker - forget the manual. Interior treatment is stylish but looks hide hard plastics.SAFETYThe five star rating sets new standard for one tonne utes. BT-50 even has safety gains for pedestrians. Ladder chassis strength is not compromised by crumple zones. Gets other goodies like roll stability control and trailer sway mitigation.DRIVINGIt's a surprisingly smooth and quiet engine especially on the highway. There's plenty of punch once underway and the auto teams up nicely with the new five pot. Ride quality is firm with an empty tray, good when loaded. Handling is OK but the thing is so long it's issue turning or parking. The seats are acceptable but could do with more back support (even with lumbar on full). Overall impression is a move to an SUV feel rather than a workhorse.VERDICTIt's big bikkies for Thai-made truck especially when you consider Thailand is used because it's a "low cost" country. Ha,  and it ain't just Mazda. But the BT is a decent thing, undoubtedly reliable, well made and safe.MAZDA BT-50 XTR DUAL-CAB 4WDPrice: from $40,950Warranty: 3-years/100,000kmService interval: 15,000km/12 monthsSafety: N/AEngine: 3.2-litre, 5-cylinder common-rail turbodiesel, 147kW/470NmBody: 4-door utilityDimensions: 5365mm (L), 1850mm (W),1821mm (H), 3220mm (WB)Ground clearance: 205mmTowing: 3350kgWeight: 1795-2159kgTransmission: 6-speed manual or 6-speed auto, four-wheel driveThirst: 8.9-9.2l/100km, CO2 N/A.

Like it or loathe it, the new Mazda BT-50 ute is here to do business offering tradie and "lifestyle" punters a choice of body styles, three equipment grades, two turbodiesel engines and two transmissions.The prices for the Thai-made truck range from $32,590 for the XT Freestyle cab-chassis 4x2 manual up to, gulp, $52,710 for the dual cab GT auto. Cheaper single cab-chassis arrives further down the track. Most current BT-50 sales were in base spec' single cab-chassis to tradies but Mazda wants a larger slice of the lifestyle pie this time putting greater focus on dual cab 4x4.A new one tonner is a rarity, they only go through generational change once in a blue moon. The new BT-50 marks a decided shift in styling direction away from a utilitarian and boxy workhorse look to a more rounded wedge shape. It's big (200mm longer than before) and bold and polarising especially around the rear with almond shaped tail lights that leave nobody in doubt it's a BT-50.Turbodiesel only in 2.2-litre four pot and 3.2-litre five pot, just like twin under the skin Ford Ranger.The 2.2 is good for 110kW/375Nm while the five is good for 147kW/470Nm. The smaller donk uses as little as 7.6-litres/100km in base manual spec' while the larger unit goes through 8.4. With an 80 litre tank, both engines will give an impressive driving range. This is the first five cylinder engine from Mazda and goes pretty well.Six speeds in both manual (rubbery) and auto yield benefits in performance and fuel efficiency for BT-50. But you can't get the 2.2 in auto, for some reason it's only on the 3.2.The auto is adaptive and offers sequential change mode while the manual has an upshift indicator to help economical driving. The 4x4 system offers three modes 2H, 4H and 4L selected by turning a knob on the console. The auto gets hill launch assist and hill descent control and a locking rear diff'.It's on a ladder chassis featuring double wishbones and coil springs up front, live axle and leaf springs at the rear. Turning circle radius is reduced by more front wheel steering angle. The body rides on liquid filled bushes to reduce noise and vibration.BT-50 offers passenger car levels of safety and was built to comply with a five star crash rating. The base single cab models get four air bags while the larger models get six. Stability control and other dynamic modulators are fitted. Trailer sway control, flashing tail lights under panic stops and roll stability control are featured on new BT-50.Hectares of cheap, hard, grey plastic greet passengers inside, a glamour inside it certainly isn't. But there's adequate kit and it's easy to use but no reach adjust on the steering. Seats for five in the dual cab model are relatively comfy and there's plenty of room and easy access. The audio is acceptable and though small, the info/satnav screen is handy. Multi-media connectivity is excellent offering Bluetooth phone and audio streaming as well as other plugs and wheel mounted control buttons.The cargo box is larger than before and all models are rated higher for towing and load capacity, all capable of taking a tonne or more. It's a dual skin cargo box but a tray liner is optional.

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.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.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.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.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.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.