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Vehicle Tests > B-ute-y Treatment: Mazda BT-50
B-ute-y Treatment: Mazda BT-50
Issue: May 2006
Words by Glenn Torrens Photos by Sarat Ekarintarakul and Mazda
Mazda's fresh-faced BT-50 ute boasts an excellent new 3.0 litre engine. But is it too little, too late?
There were only two things wrong with the old Mazda Bravo: the engines and everything else. Harsh words, sure, but let the current 'Japanese' pickups loose against each other in an automotive game of Survivor and the old Mazda Bravo (and its badge-engineered Ford cousin, the Courier) was often the first to get its flame snuffed out.
Say hello to a new challenger: the Mazda BT-50, a renamed and facelifted Bravo fitted with a heavily revised interior and a new turbodiesel engine.
The basics
Based on the decade-old previous model, the BT-50's basic dimensions - height, interior room, seating positions etc - remain as before for both the suicide-doored Freestyle and the Double-Cab variants.
Starting on the outside, the re-skin includes new pull-type door handles and an aerodynamic one-piece plastic 'nose' around new headlights. The load area sides have been raised by 60mm and the tray features slots that allow a plank-like divider to be installed to help retain cargo. The rear corners' tie-down points have been mounted closer to the floor, too, for better winching down of gear and exterior rope rails - not fitted to the cars we drove - will be available in Australia.
Inside, the dash is all-new and, as is the current vogue in new cars, is visually symmetrical around a centre tower for the HVAC controls. The instruments - three separate dials - look good but the new dash's claim to fame is a small slide-out shelf above the glovebox on the passenger's side. The handbrake remains a pull-lever under the dash. Storage is much the same as before although the door pockets can now take 500ml bottles.
Two new common-rail, intercooled turbodiesels are the big news. Dubbed MZR-CD, the direct-injection, common-rail, twin-cam, four-valve engines are 2.5 and 3.0-litre but 4WDs will come with the 3.0L so that's the one we're concerned with. Along with the low-inertia turbo and 32-bit electronic control, throttle response is improved from low engine speeds, a bugbear of some TD engine designs. Of course, the variable nozzle turbo, exhaust gas recirculation and a catalyst will help the engine meet current Euro III equivalent Aussie design rules (ADRs) too.
Both engines provide a lot more poke. From the old single-cam 2.5's 82kW, the new double-bumpstick 3.0's output is a class competitive 115kW/3200rpm and 380Nm, also at a luggy 1800rpm.
At the media launch, Mazda execs spoke of matching or exceeding arch-rival HiLux and Rodeo's onroad performance with lower fuel consumption. While it's down on HiLux's power (5kW) it's up on torque by nearly 10 percent and blitzes the Rodeo's 96kW/280Nm. Navara D40's output of 125kW/405Nm was conveniently overlooked...
Behind the new diesels is a heavily revised five-speed gearbox. The Bravo's elderly chassis has been retained but Mazda has lengthened the rear leaf springs by 120mm and - thankfully - improved the dampers. The front inner control arm bushes are also revised.
Safety has been improved with the addition of electronic brake force distribution (EBD) and side airbags. Although front airbags have been available in V6 Bravos (and equivalent Fords), bang bags will be new to Aussie-spec diesels. Height-adjustable B pillar seatbelt points will be a feature of Double-Cabs and seatbelt pre-tensioners and load limiters will add to safety on airbag-equipped models. A big red cross - no centre rear three-point seatbelt.
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Absent from this first drive was automatic transmissions and the recently-released 4.0-litre V6 (154kW at 5250 and 323Nm at 3000rpm). The V6 models are assembled in South Africa from Thai parts. and it seems likely the 'old' V6 will sell alongside the new until mid-2007 when SA comes on-line with the new model. Expect autos around the same time.
Onroad
Mazda introduced us to the new BT-50 in Thailand. Our first meeting was with Thaispec models that differ from Aussie ones with respect to suspension tune (softer for Thailand) tyre choice (same) airbag fitment (none) and interior trim (colour). We sampled the 2.5L in the 2WD models, but of greater interest is the 3.0L that will be fitted to 4WDs. As you would expect of a revised model rather than an all-new design, the BT-50 is the same... but different. Performance-wise, the new one chews the old one up and spits it out and I'll venture to say that even with soft Thai suspension, the more effective damping allows the BT-50 to steer with greater precision than before despite its old-school steering box. It's not as precise as the rack and pinion setups found in just about anything else though, with a 'where are we?' feel to the steering a few degrees either side of dead centre and a low overall ratio. It does, however, cushion the driver against cornering kickback - and with the sorry state of some of Thailand's roads matching Australia's, that's not a bad thing.
Mazda claims to have spent plenty of time reducing the BT-50's noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) with attention paid to engine mounts, door rubbers and door mirror shape and yep, you can feel and hear the difference.
Offroad
The torquey new engines promise better offroad lugging but with no major chassis or 4WD system (conventional 2H, 4H, 4L by lever) changes the BT-50's outright ability is likely to be exactly the same as the old Bravo. Of course, we won't know until we test in Australia, as the 'offroad' part of our Thai test drive was little more than a splash through a puddle. With a longer rear leaf, rear suspension travel may be a little better - Mazda's claims are of a more compliant ride - but up front, the torsion bar suspension's lack of droop travel will remain the limiting factor in the rough.
The old Bravo's intercooler position was criticised for being vulnerable, mounted low down in wombat, roo and rock zone and we've seen Bravo 'coolers cut into by the back side of its own bumper. The new one looks to be even lower, but it now has a protective mesh screen.
With the move to drive-by-wire throttle control, there's no more hand-throttle in Bravo but after prototype testing in Australia (Flinders Ranges in SA and Browns Mountain and the Snowies in NSW) towing capacity has been lifted to a very useful 3000kg.
In summary
With all-new models from Nissan and Toyota in the last year, a new-generation Mitsubishi Triton already on the boat and tough adversaries in Holden's older Rodeo and D22 Navara, the Mazda BT-50 will be up against some stiff competition when it arrives late this year. The new engines are a huge improvement and the tweaks to the chassis are worthwhile - as is the new dash and appearance - but keen pricing will be a large factor in putting BT-50 on more buyer's shopping lists.
Words by Glenn Torrens Photos by Sarat Ekarintarakul and Mazda
Mazda's fresh-faced BT-50 ute boasts an excellent new 3.0 litre engine. But is it too little, too late?
There were only two things wrong with the old Mazda Bravo: the engines and everything else. Harsh words, sure, but let the current 'Japanese' pickups loose against each other in an automotive game of Survivor and the old Mazda Bravo (and its badge-engineered Ford cousin, the Courier) was often the first to get its flame snuffed out.
Say hello to a new challenger: the Mazda BT-50, a renamed and facelifted Bravo fitted with a heavily revised interior and a new turbodiesel engine.
The basics
Based on the decade-old previous model, the BT-50's basic dimensions - height, interior room, seating positions etc - remain as before for both the suicide-doored Freestyle and the Double-Cab variants.
Starting on the outside, the re-skin includes new pull-type door handles and an aerodynamic one-piece plastic 'nose' around new headlights. The load area sides have been raised by 60mm and the tray features slots that allow a plank-like divider to be installed to help retain cargo. The rear corners' tie-down points have been mounted closer to the floor, too, for better winching down of gear and exterior rope rails - not fitted to the cars we drove - will be available in Australia.
Inside, the dash is all-new and, as is the current vogue in new cars, is visually symmetrical around a centre tower for the HVAC controls. The instruments - three separate dials - look good but the new dash's claim to fame is a small slide-out shelf above the glovebox on the passenger's side. The handbrake remains a pull-lever under the dash. Storage is much the same as before although the door pockets can now take 500ml bottles.
Two new common-rail, intercooled turbodiesels are the big news. Dubbed MZR-CD, the direct-injection, common-rail, twin-cam, four-valve engines are 2.5 and 3.0-litre but 4WDs will come with the 3.0L so that's the one we're concerned with. Along with the low-inertia turbo and 32-bit electronic control, throttle response is improved from low engine speeds, a bugbear of some TD engine designs. Of course, the variable nozzle turbo, exhaust gas recirculation and a catalyst will help the engine meet current Euro III equivalent Aussie design rules (ADRs) too.
Both engines provide a lot more poke. From the old single-cam 2.5's 82kW, the new double-bumpstick 3.0's output is a class competitive 115kW/3200rpm and 380Nm, also at a luggy 1800rpm.
At the media launch, Mazda execs spoke of matching or exceeding arch-rival HiLux and Rodeo's onroad performance with lower fuel consumption. While it's down on HiLux's power (5kW) it's up on torque by nearly 10 percent and blitzes the Rodeo's 96kW/280Nm. Navara D40's output of 125kW/405Nm was conveniently overlooked...
Behind the new diesels is a heavily revised five-speed gearbox. The Bravo's elderly chassis has been retained but Mazda has lengthened the rear leaf springs by 120mm and - thankfully - improved the dampers. The front inner control arm bushes are also revised.
Safety has been improved with the addition of electronic brake force distribution (EBD) and side airbags. Although front airbags have been available in V6 Bravos (and equivalent Fords), bang bags will be new to Aussie-spec diesels. Height-adjustable B pillar seatbelt points will be a feature of Double-Cabs and seatbelt pre-tensioners and load limiters will add to safety on airbag-equipped models. A big red cross - no centre rear three-point seatbelt.
read on below advertisement
Absent from this first drive was automatic transmissions and the recently-released 4.0-litre V6 (154kW at 5250 and 323Nm at 3000rpm). The V6 models are assembled in South Africa from Thai parts. and it seems likely the 'old' V6 will sell alongside the new until mid-2007 when SA comes on-line with the new model. Expect autos around the same time.
Onroad
Mazda introduced us to the new BT-50 in Thailand. Our first meeting was with Thaispec models that differ from Aussie ones with respect to suspension tune (softer for Thailand) tyre choice (same) airbag fitment (none) and interior trim (colour). We sampled the 2.5L in the 2WD models, but of greater interest is the 3.0L that will be fitted to 4WDs. As you would expect of a revised model rather than an all-new design, the BT-50 is the same... but different. Performance-wise, the new one chews the old one up and spits it out and I'll venture to say that even with soft Thai suspension, the more effective damping allows the BT-50 to steer with greater precision than before despite its old-school steering box. It's not as precise as the rack and pinion setups found in just about anything else though, with a 'where are we?' feel to the steering a few degrees either side of dead centre and a low overall ratio. It does, however, cushion the driver against cornering kickback - and with the sorry state of some of Thailand's roads matching Australia's, that's not a bad thing.
Mazda claims to have spent plenty of time reducing the BT-50's noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) with attention paid to engine mounts, door rubbers and door mirror shape and yep, you can feel and hear the difference.
Offroad
The torquey new engines promise better offroad lugging but with no major chassis or 4WD system (conventional 2H, 4H, 4L by lever) changes the BT-50's outright ability is likely to be exactly the same as the old Bravo. Of course, we won't know until we test in Australia, as the 'offroad' part of our Thai test drive was little more than a splash through a puddle. With a longer rear leaf, rear suspension travel may be a little better - Mazda's claims are of a more compliant ride - but up front, the torsion bar suspension's lack of droop travel will remain the limiting factor in the rough.
The old Bravo's intercooler position was criticised for being vulnerable, mounted low down in wombat, roo and rock zone and we've seen Bravo 'coolers cut into by the back side of its own bumper. The new one looks to be even lower, but it now has a protective mesh screen.
With the move to drive-by-wire throttle control, there's no more hand-throttle in Bravo but after prototype testing in Australia (Flinders Ranges in SA and Browns Mountain and the Snowies in NSW) towing capacity has been lifted to a very useful 3000kg.
In summary
With all-new models from Nissan and Toyota in the last year, a new-generation Mitsubishi Triton already on the boat and tough adversaries in Holden's older Rodeo and D22 Navara, the Mazda BT-50 will be up against some stiff competition when it arrives late this year. The new engines are a huge improvement and the tweaks to the chassis are worthwhile - as is the new dash and appearance - but keen pricing will be a large factor in putting BT-50 on more buyer's shopping lists.