Mazda's new ute is a beaut

Oct 20 2008 Chris Russon

IT'S the Ute of the Year in Australia and now a refreshed version of Mazda's pick-up truck is on sale here.

Restyled and revamped the latest BT-50 has got more of Mazda's Zoom Zoom with a new three-litre turbo diesel fitted to the top range Intrepid model.

That's going to cost you £21,909 if you are a private buyer or £16,995 for commercial users but it comes with automatic transmission, air con and plenty of bling as standard.

The 155bhp range topper is exclusively for Britain and joins four other versions of the BT-50 powered by a 2.5-litre diesel engine.

Single cab versions are available in two or four wheel drive form and priced from £10,495 and £12,295 respectively (£12,685 and £14,826 with VAT).

The double cab models can be had in TS or TS2 trim and are fitted with four wheel drive and five speed manual gearboxes and priced from £14,995 for business buyers or £17,652 for the private motorist.

Mazda's pick-up faces stiff competition in the form of the Nissan Navara and Mitsubishi L200 which have carved out a reputation of being sturdy and practical either as a workhorse or lifestyle vehicle.

The BT-50 is in a similar vein but now with new lamp clusters and a bold, shiny grille and colour-coded bumpers looks sporty and heavyweight.

Inside, it now boasts an auxiliary jack point to plug in an MP3 player while the dash is smart, clean cut and very car-like.

The ride is on the choppy side - especially when unladen - but acceleration is brisk for a vehicle of such bulk with 0 to 60mph taking around 12.5 seconds and a top speed a shade under 100mph for the 4WD models.

Fuel consumption is 31.7mpg with CO2 emissions of 244g/km. The two-wheel drive version is slightly more economical at 33.2mpg and 227g/km CO2 but the three-litre will average only 27.7mpg with emissions of 271g/km although it has much more pulling power and a claimed top speed of 105mph.

The single cab has a load bed length of 2.2metres while the length of the double cab chops that back to 1.53m.

However, the cargo area on both is wide enough to take a standard pallet - an advantage over many rivals. There are also a variety of hard tops and storage boxes which can be fitted.

Rope hooks are fitted on all models as are guide grooves for a separator to split the cargo area in two. Above the glove box is a slide out tray sturdy enough to support 10kilos.

In normal set up the 4x4 BT-50 is rear wheel drive which can compromise handling when the vehicle is running light.

Four wheel drive and low ratio gears are selected via a transfer lever next to the gearshift. It's a straightforward operation and not notchy as can be experienced on others of this type.

Moving from two to four wheel drive can be done at speeds of up to 62mph but the truck has to be stationary for low gears to be selected.

Disengaging the drive from the front axle is performed by pushing a switch on the dash - a convenient feature fitted to the Mazda and its sister pick-up the Ford Ranger which is built in the same factory in Thailand.

Off road the BT-50 is highly capable but bumpy inside. The stiff ride and firm seats do no favours.

It has good ground clearance of some eight inches, can handle 34 per cent approach angles, tow up to three tons and carry a maximum load weight of 1.18tons.

Additional features include rapid demist heated door mirrors, amber instrument lights replacing the green of the current version and a leather covered steering wheel and gearknob.

Fourteen paint jobs are now available including three two-tone combinations some of which will probably not be too popular with many a builder.

Nevertheless the new BT-50 looks much more the part than its predecessor and can be used either for work or play with a proper amount of refinement in the cab.