Versatile: The Mzda BT-50 is impressive both on and off-road.
Photo / Supplied
Versatile: The Mzda BT-50 is impressive both on and off-road.
Photo / Supplied
Mazda's BT-50 is more than just a Ford Ranger in a new suit. Mazda's barely acknowledged part in its development included 50 engineers spending four years with Ford Australia staff.
What's new The BT-50's first full-model change since 1998 brings Mazda's family face, with strongly carved and almost futuristic lines,a long way from traditionally chunky Kiwi ute styling. Mazda NZ managing director Andrew Clearwater says commercial vehicles tend to focus on reliability and durability while design and comfort take a back seat. But with the bracket now our third most popular, and utes doubling as family cars, that's changing.
BT-50 is 200mm longer, with a wider track and the wheelbase extended 220mm, making for a generous load tray and spacious cabin, with a car-like design in a ute that can climb mountains and wade 80cm into rivers.
It uses the same, 147kW/470Nm 3.2-litre five-cylinder common rail turbo-diesel engine as the Ranger, matched to the same six-speed manual or six-speed ZF auto and it gets the same 3.35-tonne tow rating.
Mazda says its unique front and rear suspension improves on-road feel without making off-road compromises, with different springs and shocks plus bigger brake discs.
Stability control is now standard on all New Zealand Mazdas. Also standard for BT-50 are Bluetooth, cruise control, air-con, keyless entry, power windows, six speakers and a diff lock (only an option for many Rangers). The top-spec Limited includes leather seats, rear park sensors, rain sensing wipers and dual-zone climate air-con.
The company line The flood-mandated temporary closure of the Thailand plant building BT-50 may not affect launch sales with two months of supply already landed or on the water. But "it's a pretty fluid situation" puns Clearwater, who needs production lines to restart within a month, though "natural disasters are something we're having to learn to cope with".
Meanwhile, Mazda NZ hopes to offset your own natural disasters by setting a $200 fixed service cost.
What we say Mazda has priced its ute to just undercut Ranger and delivered workaday stuff like the diff lock as standard. The more rugged-looking Ranger sticks it on the options list for several variants along with city frills like satnav and a reversing camera, which Mazda says can be better supplied by cost-effective after-market items.
On the road It's hard to tell how effective Mazda's altered suspension tune is without having driven the Ranger on New Zealand roads. But this is a remarkably refined ride for a leaf-sprung ute and six speeds deliver fuel-frugal cruising.
Off road on rain-drenched hilly paddocks and farm tracks the suite of four-wheel-drive, hill descent, very effective traction electronics and a diff lock meant we went anywhere we wanted to.
Why you'll buy one You want a ute that's effective both on and off road and like Mazda's on-road manners, standard diff-lock and futuristic design.
Why you won't That face will frighten the horses and, anyway, the Ranger has cupholders in the load tray.
