Living with the Mazda BT-50 Thunder

2022 Mazda BT-50 Thunder long-term review

The basics

JUMP AHEAD

• Price & features
• First impressions
• Fuel use
• UP NEXT: Towing a car, of course

Welcome

• KILOMETRES THIS MONTH: 1100km
• AVERAGE FUEL USE: 9.6L/100km

Dual-cab utes have become an essential part of our work at Street Machine. They aren’t without compromises, but when your daily life involves carting people, gear and various race cars all over the countryside, nothing else fills the brief quite as neatly.

The latest dual-cab to enter our fleet is Mazda’s BT-50 Thunder, which sits at the top of the BT-50 range.

The third-generation BT-50 lobbed in late 2020 and was the first of its kind to be based upon the Isuzu D-Max; the previous model was a Ford/Mazda collab.

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While the two utes are styled quite differently, they are essentially identical twins under the skin. Pop the bonnet of the Mazda and you’ll find a 3.0-litre diesel Isuzu four-pot looking back at you, complete with Isuzu markings. No bad thing, given Isuzu’s strong reputation among Australian consumers.

Behind the engine is your choice of a six-speed manual transmission or a six-speed auto; we’ve got the latter in our test vehicle. The four-wheel drive system is selectable between high and low range, and there is a lockable rear diff out the back – an important feature for serious off-roading.

Inside, the Mazda’s dash has been restyled, but the infotainment system and main controls are pure D-Max.

Whaddya get?

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All BT-50s come loaded with safety features, including eight airbags, AEB, radar cruise control (auto only), blind spot monitoring, lane keep assist, emergency lane keeping, lane departure prevention, speed limit recognition, driver attention monitoring, rear cross traffic alert, and electronic stability control with trailer sway control.

There is also traction control, hill launch assist and hill descent control for when the going gets rough.

To create the Thunder, Mazda starts with the BT-50 GT, which means we get leather trim, heated front seats and power-adjustable driver’s seat, heated external mirrors, dual-zone climate control, LED daytime running lights, fog lights, front parking sensors and a fold-down armrest in the rear bench seat.

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Mazda then adds a stack of goodies to the GT, including 18-inch rims, sailplane-style sports bar, fender flares, integrated bash plate, side steps, hoopless steel bullbar, Lightforce dual-row LED lightbar and an electric roller tonneau cover.

The package is rounded out by a set of ‘Thunder’ decals that will have you humming AC/DC’s Thunderstruck every time you approach the car. Note that the additions add almost 200kg over the GT, reducing the allowable payload to 887kg.

All that kit adds up to $13,000 worth of value, according to Mazda.

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Speaking of money, let’s look at how the Thunder fits into the range price-wise. The auto GT upon which the Thunder is based will set you back $57,390 before on-road costs.

Sitting in between the GT and the Thunder is the sporty SP. The SP gets some similar goodies as the Thunder (including 18-inch mags, fender flares, the sailplane sports bar and a manual roller tonneau) but misses out others, including the bash plate, bullbar and lightbar. It will set you back $63,390 before on-roads.

And our Thunder? It comes in at $68,290 before on-roads.

First impressions

Inside the Thunder, the vibe leans more towards SUV than tradie-tough. While there are still some hard plastics in use, the comfy brown leather seats, stylish leather-trimmed tiller and overall design bring things up a few notches over the average ute. Note that the Thunder doesn’t score any extras on the inside; the interior is purely GT-spec.

On the road, the cabin is well insulated against road and tyre racket.

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The 9.0-inch touchscreen runs the Mazda’s native sat-nav, digital radio, reverse camera, wireless CarPlay and wired Android Auto. While I haven’t tried the factory sat-nat yet (Google Maps does a great job through Android Auto), the other features are for the most part intuitive to figure out, with few gremlins to harsh the buzz.

That said, the new Ford Ranger's 12-inch touchscreen makes the Mazda's infotainment system look somewhat old hat.

Some of my colleagues reckon the BT-50 and D-Max twins are over-enthusiastic in their safety warnings and interventions. My philosophy on these matters is to take a Zen approach and work with the car’s safety systems instead of against them.

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For example, while the Thunder’s AEB can kick in unnecessarily at times, it can be prevented by adjusting your driving style. Also, the lane assist feature can be turned off with a press of a button on the tiller if you desire. And hey, I’d much rather have these features than not.

We were keen to put the Thunder to work, but found that the electric roller tonneau was faulty when the car was first delivered and couldn’t be opened. This was speedily repaired by Mazda’s technicians.

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While the tonneau does eat into your load space somewhat, it is well worth it for the security it provides. One small quibble is that while the tonneau locks with the rest of the car when you hit the remote, the tailgate itself must be manually locked. Remote locking for the tailgate is a $392 option that we’d be ticking.

The tray features a tub liner (very necessary in our business!), LED lighting and decent tie-down points. The tonneau keeps the tray pretty well watertight, though you’d be advised to wipe any water off before opening if you’re carting things you don’t want to get wet.

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Around town, the Thunder rides perfectly comfortably and makes short work of absorbing the potholes and traffic-calming obstacles that blight my local area. Stopping and steering are a cut above the class average, in my estimation.

But don’t take my word for it – the Wheels team found that the Thunder out-braked the (previous model) Ford Ranger Raptor, Jeep Rubicon and Toyota HiLux Rugged in both wet and dry conditions in their 2021 ute mega-test.

Comparisons

Dual-cab ute comparison 2022: The daily living test

Dual-cab utes have charged in as a firm favourite for family hauling and daily duties, well beyond the old mould of tradie tasks and off-road adventures. It's time to see which are best suited to the role.

5 hours ago30

Fuel economy?

With a mix of city and country driving, we achieved an average of 9.6 litres per 100km. Not bad given my somewhat spirited driving style, I reckon.

Grunt-wise, the Mazda seems to be adequately equipped, but I’ll be able to better assess that when we stick a laden car trailer behind it in our next instalment.

• KILOMETRES THIS MONTH: 1100km
• AVERAGE FUEL USE: 9.6L/100km

UP NEXT: Towing a car, of course

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