The present-generation Mazda BT-50 has been on sale now for over two years now and has been round lengthy sufficient to see the section transfer on with the launch of the brand new Ford Ranger.
Primarily based on the Isuzu D-Max, the BT-50 acquired an replace final yr which noticed the introduction of a brand new range-topping SP trim, together with entry-level variants that includes a smaller 1.9-litre turbo-diesel engine.
For the 2023, Mazda Australia has axed plenty of up-spec manuals, bumped up the priced of current automobiles, and likewise launched the brand new accessorised variant examined right here.
The 2023 Mazda BT-50 LE is predicated on the mid-spec XTR and is priced from $64,295 earlier than on-road prices. It’s solely obtainable in dual-cab pickup computerized kind with Ingot Silver metallic paint.
It has plenty of real equipment as customary together with a single-hooped polished alloy bull bar, a refined sports activities bar with an built-in brake mild, and a heavy-duty tub liner.
There aren’t any added luxurious options although, not like different Mazda LE variants, and it’s nonetheless powered by a 3.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine producing 150kW and 450Nm.
Does the Mazda BT-50 LE with its extra equipment do sufficient to seize your consideration in a aggressive section that features the likes of the Ford Ranger, Toyota HiLux, and Isuzu D-Max?
How a lot does the Mazda BT-50 LE price?
The BT-50 LE dual-cab pickup computerized is the third-most costly variant within the vary, undercutting the now auto-only SP and Thunder dual-cab pickup variants.
It’s priced from $64,295 earlier than on-road prices, with Mazda at the moment promoting a drive-away value of $68,882 for Victorian consumers (every state has barely totally different taxes). The BT-50 LE is predicated on the BT-50 XTR, which is $5165 cheaper at $59,130 earlier than on-roads.
Mazda has added plenty of real equipment to the LE, and claims choosing it represents a saving of round $2500 over specifying the identical equipment individually on an XTR.
The BT-50 LE can be $1785 costlier than the GT ($62,510) that does with out the real equipment, however picks up entrance parking sensors, distant engine begin, and brown leather-based upholstery with powered and heated entrance seats, amongst different equipment.
The BT-50’s closest competitor is its twin-under-the-skin, the Isuzu D-Max.
In LS-U+ dual-cab pickup computerized guise it’s priced from $63,500 earlier than on-roads. Though this specific D-Max variant misses out on the bull bar and sports activities bar, it options leather-accented upholstery with heated entrance seats as a substitute.
Different similarly-priced rivals embody the Ford Ranger Sport Bi-Turbo dual-cab pickup ($64,490), and Toyota HiLux SR5+ dual-cab pickup auto ($64,430). It’ll additionally go up in opposition to the Volkswagen Amarok Fashion TDI500 ($66,990) come April.
Different notable, barely cheaper rivals embody the Nissan Navara PRO-4X dual-cab pickup auto ($60,655), and Mitsubishi Triton GSR dual-cab pickup auto ($56,940).
What’s the Mazda BT-50 LE like on the within?
The Mazda BT-50 LE is predicated on the mid-spec XTR, so there aren’t actually too many surprises for those who’ve already taken a glance our earlier XTR overview. You’ll additionally see loads of similarities to the associated D-Max, which not too long ago acquired an replace.
The hard-wearing material seats within the LE are nearly sporty-looking with loads of thigh, torso, and shoulder help. They’ve a gray two-tone design with little strips of neoprene-like materials on the seat base and again.
Each the entrance seats are completely manually adjustable, though the motive force’s seat will get electrical lumbar help, which makes an already snug driving place even higher.
The steering wheel is wrapped in leather-based and feels completely scrumptious to carry. It’s buttery gentle which is one thing that not a number of workhorse dual-cab utes can declare. All of the buttons on the steering wheel have a tactile click on, including to the sensation of high quality.
Forward of the motive force are a set of conventional analogue dials and a small 4.2-inch instrument cluster display which tells you all you actually need to know.
I left the digital display within the ‘Journey A’ web page displaying distance travelled, common gasoline financial system, and common velocity for the journey. There are variety of different pages for the show together with ‘Journey B’, gasoline financial system, compass, music, adaptive cruise, and four-wheel drive standing.
You may get misplaced fairly simply within the journey meter’s settings, because it appears like there’s an choice for every thing. It’s good to have configurability however absolutely there’s solely a lot you are able to do with a 4.2-inch display.
A 9.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system is shared throughout the Isuzu D-Max and MU-X, and Mazda BT-50 ranges.
The display itself is nice to have a look at with its matte end, however picks up fingerprints and reflections like nothing else. The native person interface can be actually darkish for probably the most half, which amplifies these imperfections.
You’d choose the portrait-oriented touchscreen within the Ford Ranger as a substitute daily of the week, because the latter has higher processing energy and seems to have the next decision. With that mentioned, that very same suggestions applies to each dual-cab ute in the marketplace in 2023.
A variety of scorching keys beneath the touchscreen take you to key touchdown pages, flip the display on, and regulate the amount. It’d be good to have a quantity dial although as a result of it may possibly get a little bit annoying quickly tapping the identical button to crank up my favorite songs.
Satellite tv for pc navigation comes as customary on the BT-50 LE, and it’s very simple to seek for locations of curiosity. It’s nice to have the ability to select plenty of totally different route choices too.
Apple CarPlay appears to be like ample on the touchscreen, and it’s even obtainable in wi-fi kind. It’s price noting for many who personal inexperienced message bubble telephones Android Auto is wired solely (we don’t discriminate primarily based on cellphone right here – Ed.).
Wi-fi Apple CarPlay sometimes takes a minimum of a minute to load on startup, which may be fairly irritating. If you wish to set a navigation vacation spot, for example, you both want to attend patiently or punch it in when you’re driving.
I skilled plenty of wi-fi Apple CarPlay dropouts. Melbourne drivers who frequent Citylink in Docklands and the Chandler Freeway exit on the Japanese Freeway know precisely what I’m speaking about.
This downside is frequent in automobiles with wi-fi CarPlay, however the Mazda takes what appears like endlessly to reconnect relative to different programs. I spent this time prodding the touchscreen furiously to no avail.
There’s no wi-fi cellphone charger which suggests you’ll want to watch out when related to wi-fi CarPlay that you simply don’t run out of battery. There’s a beneficiant area to retailer you cellphone forward of the gear selector although.
The eight-speaker sound system has audio system above the heads of the entrance passengers which supplies a way of encompass sound. The general sound from the audio system is okay, however the Ranger’s customary six-speaker sound system is healthier.
Below the touchscreen is the dual-zone local weather management cluster, with a row of tactile toggles which are properly damped and straightforward to make use of when you have a pair of gloves on. The air-conditioning is powerful too, which saved me cool on sweltering Melbourne days.
The principle sections of the sprint are coated in gentle, padded leather-looking plastic. It’s fairly plush for a work-oriented, mid-spec ute. You don’t should look far to search out harder-wearing plastics although.
On the centre console there are clean buttons which suggests you cheaped out, and it’s largely coated in piano black which was actually scratched and smudgy after only a week.
The cupholders on the centre console are two totally different shapes and so deep a espresso cup will get swallowed utterly. There are additionally no enamel in them to carry bottles securely.
Transferring into the second row, it’s not good for adults on lengthy journeys however youngsters will probably be high-quality. At a leggy 182cm, my knees rested firmly in opposition to the seat in entrance, and I had simply sufficient headroom. All the principle contact factors within the second row are nonetheless gentle and spongey, however it’s simpler to search out onerous plastics.
Comfort objects embody a helpful hook on the backrest of the entrance passenger’s seat, air vents, and a USB port. There are additionally plenty of seize handles to help in getting out and in.
The bathtub on the BT-50 LE measures in at 1571mm lengthy, 1530mm broad, and 490mm broad. Between the wheel arches is 1120mm. The LE makeover features a heavy-duty tub liner and a refined sports activities bar often non-compulsory on the XTR.
The tailgate itself is extraordinarily heavy because it’s not assisted by any type of strut or torsion bar. It’s additionally not a part of the central locking, which suggests once you lock the ute you’ll want to manually lock the tailgate.
In case you didn’t know the tailgate wasn’t included within the central locking and also you left one thing of worth within the tub, it may get stolen very simply. Because it seems, that is fairly frequent within the dual-cab section.
What’s beneath the bonnet?
The Mazda BT-50 LE is powered by a well-recognized 3.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine that produces 140kW of energy and 450Nm of torque.
This precise engine can be obtainable within the Isuzu D-Max ute, in addition to the Isuzu MU-X SUV. The BT-50 is down on each energy and torque in comparison with some rivals, because the section benchmark at the moment hovers round 150kW and 500Nm.
The turbo-diesel engine is mated to a six-speed torque-converter computerized transmission, with drive despatched by a part-time four-wheel drive system. There are 2H, 4H, and 4L drive modes, in addition to a locking rear differential.
Claimed mixed gasoline financial system for the BT-50 LE is 8.0 litres per 100km, although throughout our time with the ute we noticed a mean of 9.6 litres per 100km over 650km of freeway and metropolis driving. All BT-50 fashions have a 76-litre gasoline tank.
Mazda claims a 3500kg braked towing capability, whereas unbraked towing is 750kg. Payload for the BT-50 LE is 1000kg.
How does the Mazda BT-50 LE drive?
Beginning the Mazda BT-50 LE you’re greeted with a well-recognized diesel grumble that teleports me again to listening to my Dad begin his ute at silly o’clock on the farm.
The idle may be loud and gruff earlier than the engine warms up correctly, which is to be anticipated on a piece ute.
When the BT-50 LE is totally unladen the engine feels fairly robust. From 0-30km/h it’s fairly fast and also you’ll be maintaining with nearly all of metropolis visitors from the lights.
This sense of velocity doesn’t final lengthy although, as from 30km/h and above it has to work tougher to select up momentum.
That is made even worse once you’re towing as the additional weight actually holds the BT-50 again and you’ll want to choose your battles when pulling out into visitors, as we found throughout our current Ute of the 12 months testing. That very same criticism was aimed toward loads of its four-cylinder rivals.
In case you actually push it the engine will get fairly loud and revs onerous, which once more is to be anticipated in a work-oriented ute.
I discovered the six-speed computerized within the BT-50 to be fairly slick beneath mild masses. There’s no have to push the three.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine as peak torque comes on faucet from 1600rpm.
Driving within the metropolis with no load within the tray the entrance suspension felt fairly compliant, however the rear actually slapped over velocity bumps and felt busy normally. It simply by no means settles, which is a typical criticism of unladen utes.
The steering within the BT-50 is kind of mild in low-speed situations and makes you’re feeling such as you’re driving one thing so much smaller than it’s. There’s no getting over the scale of the ute although as parking is usually a little bit of a nightmare at occasions on account of its general size.
The real bull bar on the BT-50 LE makes this even worse as the general size is prolonged by round 10 to 15cm.
It’s good to be actually cautious when pulling up behind one thing as a result of for those who’re not conscious of how a lot the bull bar stands out, you’ll be hitting the factor in entrance of you earlier than you realise.
The second the velocity is dialled up within the BT-50 LE it nearly instantaneously settles down. You possibly can solely actually hear the wind noise from the big facet mirrors.
Regardless of the light-feeling steering in city conditions, the ute felt actually planted and controllable on highways and freeways.
Its suspension setup smoothed out nearly all of the tough edges at excessive speeds too, although over steady bumps it felt a little bit floaty on the high finish of the suspension journey. From the motive force’s seat it may possibly have you ever feeling such as you’re on a rollercoaster.
It’s apparent the BT-50 is geared extra in direction of rural consumers who will drive on tough roads with a load within the again, or are towing one thing.
The adaptive cruise management for probably the most half works as supposed. It’s very simple to activate from the steering wheel controls and may be clearly seen on the small digital instrument display.
It reacts to different automobiles fairly naturally and appropriately; if one other automobile pulls forward of you it doesn’t immediately slam on the brakes and as a substitute permits it to drag forward regularly.
I did expertise one unusual interplay although within the Burnley tunnel the place the cruise received confused and couldn’t inform if a automobile was in entrance of me. It will quickly speed up as if the automobile wasn’t there after which slam on the brakes onerous when it will definitely noticed the automobile.
At some factors it even turned on the autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system which noticed shiny lights get thrown up in my face. It does a fantastic job of getting your consideration although!
We’ve reached out to Mazda to know why this may need occurred.
Talking of driver assists, the lane-keeping may be annoying because it bounces the ute across the lane and will get confused simply when the lane markings fade.
Fortunately the suggestions the lane-keeping help provides the motive force is proscribed to mild vibrations within the steering wheel. The system will also be turned off with a conveniently-located button on the steering wheel.
After I took the BT-50 off-roading final yr on Fraser Island, our group was all explicitly advised to modify off all of the traction management and driver help aids.
It’s apparent they might hamper our expertise because the AEB system may activate halfway by a water crossing, for instance, and go away you stranded and in want of a tow to dry land.
The four-wheel drive system itself is straightforward to make use of, and it’s simple to know what the system is doing throughout mode switches due to updates on the journey laptop display. You simply have to recollect for those who’re on a sealed floor you’ll want to have the ute in 2H.
The BT-50 is a succesful car off-road with its locking rear differential aiding in sending torque to the rear wheels evenly. There weren’t many occasions I used to be too anxious about getting caught because the ute simply saved on chugging.
Even after six hours of extreme off-road driving on washed-out tracks, it felt just like the BT-50 may preserve going for days. Myself then again couldn’t get a cocktail any faster.
What do you get?
BT-50 LE highlights:
Exterior
- 18-inch alloy wheels
- Full-size spare wheel
- Auto LED headlights with auto-levelling
- Auto high-beam
- Halogen tail lights
- Entrance LED fog lights
- Rain-sensing window wipers
- Polished single hoop bull bar
- Polished sports activities bar
- Silver facet steps
- Chrome door handles
- Energy-folding door mirrors
- Heavy-duty tub liner
Inside
- 4.2-inch instrument cluster display
- 9.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system
- Wi-fi Apple CarPlay
- Wired Android Auto
- Satellite tv for pc navigation
- DAB+ digital radio
- 8-speaker sound system
- Twin-zone local weather management
- Rear air vents
- Keyless entry
- Push-button begin
- Leather-based-wrapped steering wheel
- Leather-based-wrapped gear shifter
- Auto-dimming rear-view mirror
- Rear seat centre armrest
- Carpeted flooring
- Material upholstery
- Manually-adjustable entrance seats
- Driver’s seat electrical lumbar adjustment
BT-50 GT provides:
- Brown leather-based upholstery
- 8-way energy driver’s seat
- Heated entrance seats
- Distant engine begin
- Entrance parking sensors
- Heated chrome exterior mirrors
BT-50 SP provides:
- 18-inch black alloy wheels
- Black grille
- Gloss black exterior mirrors
- Gloss black door handles
- Darkish gray facet steps
- Gloss black sail-plane sports activities bar
- Gloss black wheel flares
BT-50 Thunder provides (over GT):
- LED mild bar
- Metal bull bar
- Fender flares
- Black sail-plane sport bar
- Energy tonneau cowl
- Facet steps
Is the Mazda BT-50 LE protected?
The Mazda BT-50 wears a five-star ANCAP security ranking with a 2022 date stamp, primarily based on exams performed on the associated Isuzu D-Max. This ranking applies to all variants bar the BT-50 Thunder.
The utes had been not too long ago reassessed regardless of having already acquired five-star scores in 2020, because the D-Max and BT-50 acquired a design change to the motive force’s knee airbag and instrument panel.
The BT-50 acquired scores of 86 per cent for grownup occupant safety, 89 per cent for little one occupant safety, 67 per cent for susceptible highway person safety, and 84 per cent for security help.
It’s price noting the BT-50’s distinctive entrance finish in comparison with its Isuzu twin garnered a barely weaker pedestrian safety rating (from 69 per cent).
Commonplace security options embody:
- 8 airbags incl. front-centre, driver’s knee
- Autonomous emergency braking (AEB)
- Blind-spot monitoring
- Lane departure warning
- Lane preserve help
- Rear cross-traffic alert
- Driver consideration monitoring
- Visitors signal recognition
Computerized fashions additionally function lane-keep help and adaptive cruise management. XTR variants and above get tyre strain monitoring which is new for 2023.
How a lot does the Mazda BT-50 LE price to run?
The Mazda BT-50 is roofed by a five-year, unlimited-kilometre guarantee with roadside help for a similar interval.
Logbook servicing is required each 12 months or 15,000 kilometres, whichever comes first.
Service costs fluctuate relying on the mannequin, however the first 5 companies are capped at $443, $409, $699, $524, and $329 within the LE 3.0-litre 4×4 dual-cab pickup. This equates to $2404 over 5 years.
This five-year whole service pricing is appreciable costlier than the Ranger Bi-Turbo ($1696), and line-ball with the associated D-Max ($2435).
It’s cheaper to service over 5 years although than the HiLux ($3766) which solely has shorter six-month or 10,000km service intervals and three-years of capped value servicing.
CarExpert’s Tackle the Mazda BT-50 LE
The Mazda BT-50 is a stable various to the top-selling Ford Ranger or Toyota HiLux.
It’s fairly SUV-like to have a look at in and out, has some gentle inside trimmings, and has the flexibility to be a piece ute for day-to-day use, or a life-style car for your loved ones.
In LE spec as examined right here, the $5000+ value premium you pay over the workhorse XTR spec it’s primarily based on doesn’t really feel justified as you should buy a extra premium Ranger Sport or D-Max LS-U+ for across the similar value.
Positive you miss out on the real equipment, however not everybody needs an enormous chrome bull bar that stands proud a good means on the entrance bumper. It’s additionally actually irritating the BT-50 LE is simply obtainable in silver.
In case you’re set on getting a BT-50 (and aren’t married to the accent suite), go for the XTR as a substitute as you’ll pay much less and nonetheless get all of the options the LE has, together with the hard-wearing material seats and plush steering wheel.
You possibly can even get the BT-50 GT as a substitute of the LE variant and pay much less. You’ll additionally get luxury-focused options together with leather-based upholstery and heated entrance seats.
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