LDV T60 vs Mazda BT-50

What's the difference?

The Max Plus brings a lot of welcome upgrades to the T60 range, particularly in its previously non-existent active safety suite, but it’s not all good news. There are still a few areas where this ageing ute could use a lot of polish.

Still, there’s something to be said for how refreshingly straightforward much of it is, and for the most part its specs and features are up to the task of competing with many more expensive alternatives.

The Mazda BT-50 was already a decent ute with a lot to like about it, but this third-generation variant doesn’t feel as cohesive a package as it does in Isuzu D-Max form. 

However, it’s still comfortable, capable and, with a few styling tweaks, Mazda has managed to up the BT-50’s prestige factor without overdoing it. 

For me though, it’s the D-Max’s rough charm – underneath the BT-50’s metal – that is this Mazda ute’s most appealing quality.

The T60 Max Plus takes the visage of a factory-kitted version of the existing T60 Plus. The most notable difference this time around is the unique gloss black grille design which features a new spot to hide the front radar array for the safety suite, alongside new gloss wheel designs and that huge sports bar fitting atop the tray.

To my eye at least the T60 looks a fair bit more rugged and industrial than most of its rivals, which with every iteration are looking more like passenger vehicles than work-ready utes. Still, there’s an aggressiveness to its contrast black trims and tall ride height which may appeal to some. For others it will be more function-over-form, with less bumper overhang than something like the SsangYong Musso and there’s something to be said for that, too, I suppose.

Inside is where this Max Plus version sets itself apart from the rest of the range with its abundance of screen real-estate, upgraded materials, and an almost EV-like centre console treatment.

It’s certainly more digital-feeling and contemporary than the rest of the T60 range, but it might lose some of the simple but rugged appeal of its interior as a result.

The screens look pretty slick, especially when you’re using phone mirroring to hide the otherwise clumsy stock software suite. It’s one thing to have nice big screens, it’s quite another to have slick, attractive, and customisable software to match.

Sadly, that’s not the case for the Max Plus, which offers one lacklustre look and feel for the dash cluster, paired with an array of confusing menus on the multimedia screen.

Ever since the last phase of development, this ute has maintained an understated, urban-friendly appearance.

And, as the top-shelf variant, the SP seems better suited to stylish outings with the family than it is to driving through the scrub.

The SP package boils down to 18-inch black alloy wheels and Gloss Black everything: sail plane sports bar, side steps, fender flares, roof rails, exterior mirrors, door and tailgate handles.

Other variant-specific standard gear includes a roller tonneau cover (manual operation), and black and terracotta Maztex (faux leather) interior trim, which adds another layer of premium feel to this cabin.

In terms of dimensions, the BT-50 is 5280mm long (with a 3125mm wheelbase), it is 2160mm wide (mirrors out), 1810mm high and it has a listed kerb weight of 2176kg. 

There are some benefits of the new interior design, and there are some disappointments too. These begin with the seating position, which is still miles off the ground in its lowest setting. This might give you a commanding view of the road, which has benefits, but it also makes you feel like you’re sitting on the T60 rather than in it.

The steering wheel is also only pitch adjustable rather than also offering telescopic adjustment, and even then its range of movement is extremely limited. For me, at 182cm tall, this meant the wheel blocked the top of the digital instruments, and I also felt like I was far too close to the roof. It’s an awkward seating position to say the least.

However, the new cabin layout has quite a bit of storage to play with. There are functional bottle holders and pockets in the doors, a decent glove box, and the new centre console offers a huge tray underneath with a removable dual cup holder insert, which also has two little cutaways for storing your keys. This area also hides some USB ports and a 12-volt outlet, for a nice cable-free interior if need be. The armrest console box offers even more space, and the wireless phone charger perched atop the console area is a welcome touch.

Less impressive is the strip of touch-based controls for the climate which sits underneath the multimedia screen. At least it has some controls which don’t require a screen sub-menu to navigate, but it simply doesn’t compare to having actual buttons and dials.

The most puzzling part of this equation is the lack of physical controls of any kind for the headlights, and no way for the passenger to adjust volume without needing to go one or two sub-menus deep. Inconvenient at best, potentially dangerously distracting at worst.

Again, some rivals get an edge here. The Musso’s multimedia suite looks comparatively old, but has heaps of physical buttons, while the GWM Ute Cannon splits the difference, maintaining buttons but gaining confusing menus. Both are better to use than the T60.

The back seat came as a surprise, as it offers pretty decent legroom for a full-sized adult, something quite rare in this ute segment. It also offers pockets on the backs of both front seats, dual adjustable air vents and a USB port on the back of the centre console, two small bottle holders in the doors, and a further two in a centre drop-down armrest. Underneath the seats there’s access points to small storage areas below.

The tray area seems reasonably well appointed with a pre-applied spray-in tub liner and four tie-down points at the extremes of the bed. The tub dimensions come in at 1485mm long, 1131mm wide (between the arches), and 530mm tall for the standard version. The Mega Tub variant extends the length to 1800mm. Payload for the tray is 840kg for the manual, 830kg for the auto, and 800kg for the Mega Tub.

Interestingly, despite its new coil-sprung rear, the T60 Max Plus maintains its 3000kg braked towing capacity, which isn’t the 3500kg industry standard, but is pretty close.

These specs mean the standard tray version is slightly larger than the Ssangyong Musso with a slightly higher payload, although it can tow 500kg less. It has a lower payload and a smaller tray than the GWM Ute, although it can tow about the same amount.

There’s a nice blend of form and functionality in the SP cabin and it all feels comfortably familiar because, even though Mazda has firmly stamped its own style on the interior, it still feels like a D-Max X-Terrain cabin.

There’s an abundance of red-stitched faux leather and synthetic suede in black and terracotta, which works well in this space, as well as chrome-look edging (around the multimedia screen the vents, the shifter etc), and plenty of durable plastic. 

Controls are easy to locate and operate, and the multimedia screen is simple enough to use but the 9.0-inch screen still tends to catch and reflect glare, which can be distracting.

There are ample storage spaces in the cabin, including cupholders in the centre console, bottle holders in the doors, as well as all the usual spaces in which to place your wallet, keys etc. 

There’s a 12-volt socket and a USB port up front. 

The front seats are comfortable and heated. The rear seats are suitably comfortable (for a ute), with room enough for three adults, though perhaps it’s best if at least one of them is a jockey. 

Both seat-backs have a map pocket and there is a fold-out shopping-bag hook on the back of the front passenger seat.

Back-seat passengers have two cupholders in the fold-down centre arm-rest, directional air events, and a USB socket in the back of the centre console.

The back row has two ISOFIX anchor points and two top-tether points.

The tray is 1571mm long at floor height, 1530mm wide (1120mm between the wheel-arches), and 490mm deep. Its load height from the ground is 833mm. The SP’s tray has two tie-down points and a manually-operated roller tonneau cover, which also has to be manually locked.

Our test vehicle, the Mazda BT-50 SP 4x4 dual-cab ute, sits atop the current BT-50 line-up.

It has a manufacturer’s list price of $71,500 (a $2810 price increase over the previous SP, correct at time of writing), but our test vehicle had a raft of accessories onboard including slimline weather shields ($303), premium bull bar - hoops ($4340), Lightforce LED dual row lightbar ($761), tub lighting ($431), side steps - dual cab ($974), electric brake controller and breakaway ($864) for a total of $7673 – plus Red Earth Metallic paint ($695), pushing the test vehicle’s price to $79,868 (excluding on-road costs).

Standard features onboard include a 9.0-inch multimedia touchscreen with sat nav, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto (both wireless and USB), dual-zone climate control air-conditioning with rear vents, leather seats, heated front seats, leather-wrapped steering wheel and gear knob, eight-way power-adjustable driver’s seat, 18-inch alloy wheels and more.

The BT-50 SP is available in a range of exterior colours including Ice White Solid (no extra cost) or Geode White Pearl, Ingot Silver Metallic, Concrete Grey Mica, Sailing Blue Metallic, Red Earth Metallic, or True Black Mica' – all at a cost of $695 each. 

The T60 Max range lays claim to one of the most powerful 2.0-litre four-cylinder diesel engines - a bi-turbo unit producing 160kW/500Nm with peak torque arriving from 1500rpm.

It is mated to either a six-speed manual, or an eight-speed ZF-sourced torque converter automatic transmission.

It has a 2H, 4H, and 4L selector (alongside an automatic setting for the Plus Max), and is equipped with a rear differential locker (which can only operate below 30km/h).

For those looking to venture well beyond the tarmac the T60 Max Plus has a 27-degree approach angle, a 24-degree departure angle, 220mm of ground clearance, and a 19-degree rampover angle. Wading depth is 550mm, and it has a 12.7-meter kerb-to-kerb turning circle.

The BT-50 has a 3.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine, producing 140kW at 3600rpm and 450Nm between 1600-2600rpm.

It has a six-speed automatic transmission, a part-time four-wheel drive system (with high- and low-range gearing), and a lockable rear diff.

The engine and auto generally work pretty well together, although the whole combination feels a bit underdone. The engine would benefit from more grunt and the transmission is not quite as smooth as it should be.

The official combined fuel consumption of the diesel-only Max Plus is 9.3L/100km for the manual or 8.9L/100km for the automatic.

With over 500km of testing with plenty of freeway miles, our automatic example produced an as-tested number of 9.3L/100km.

Official fuel consumption is 8.0L/100km on the combined cycle.

On this test I recorded fuel consumption of 9.1L/100km.

The BT-50 has a 76-litre fuel tank, so going by my on-test fuel-use figure you could reasonably expect a theoretical driving range of about 835km. 

Your fuel consumption will likely be higher than that, and consequently your driving range will be lower, because all we had onboard were a set of four Maxtrax in a carry bag, a vehicle-recovery kit, a tyre-puncture repair kit, a first-aid kit, an air compressor, and some tools – and my massive ego.

The T60 Max Plus has improved the formula in a few ways, but still feels a bit rudimentary in others.

The awkward seating position does provide quite a commanding view of the road, and makes it easy to gauge where the end of the bonnet is. This is useful parking in a city, but will also have benefits off the road. The 360-degree camera suite also helps with this manoeuvrability.

Interestingly the steering is quite good. This Max Plus is the only variant to score a fully electric power steering rack, as opposed to the lesser power assisted steering rack. It’s initially alarmingly light, but it also makes the T60 a breeze to steer unlike some utes in this class, and I was surprised to find it still had a sufficient amount of feel to give it confidence in the corners.

Yes, this is one of the most powerful 2.0-litre diesels, but it doesn’t feel particularly overwhelming to drive. The transmission, too, despite the brand bragging about its ZF sourcing, feels a bit transparent and rudimentary lumping through the gears with a degree of clumsiness. Still, it’s predictable and does what it says on the tin.

The same goes for the 4H and even ‘automatic’ 4x4 settings, which I found was surprisingly quick to activate if you started slipping on mud or wet tarmac.

Another less than impressive trait is the amount of sound produced. Supposedly this Pro Max version has additional sound deadening over the other variants, and yet the clatter of the diesel engine proved a constant in the cabin at freeway speeds or any time you needed to accelerate hard.

This particular version of the T60 should also feature an improved ride compared to its relations thanks to swapping the leaf sprung rear suspension out for coils, but I was surprised to find it was still quite stiff. No doubt this inherent hardness is down maintaining the same towing capacity. It makes it a bit jiggly when you drive it over the regular sort of road imperfections and corrugations. One wonders what the point of having coil spring suspension is at all if it’s going to feel more or less the same as leaf sprung alternatives.

One area that was particularly pleasing to me was the way the new active safety equipment wasn't overly invasive. There were a few moments where the lane keep tech intervened a bit too hard, but it’s pretty hands off as far as the rest of the systems go.

Overall then it does what it says on the tin, and is surprisingly easy to steer, although it doesn’t really excel at anything, which can be a hard sell in an environment where many utes are more passenger car like than ever.

On-road, the updated BT-50 is a smooth drive, and it’s refined inside – though diesel engine clatter still creeps into the cabin, especially when you accelerate hard, but that’s the Isuzu connection – and I don’t mind a bit of noise anyway.

Overall, noise, vibration and harshness levels have been appropriately subdued. 

Steering has a consistent weight to it and one which feels right for this ute. Turning circle is a listed 12.5m, so not insubstantial, but this BT-50 never feels too cumbersome to manoeuvre along busy suburban streets or bush tracks.

There’s adequate power and torque on tap, and acceleration is crisp, as long as you’re pushing it hard because this ute is more truck-like than dynamic, but that helps to make it an even-handed, considered driving experience overall.

Front suspension is independent (double wishbones and coil springs), and a live axle and leaf springs at the rear. Ride is firm but generally well sorted, even over chopped-up back-country bitumen.

When it comes to high- and low-range 4WDing, the BT-50 did well, mostly courtesy of the Isuzu mechanicals under the metal.

The engine became noisy when pushed hard, but otherwise the BT-50 did a good job of bush tracks at speed.

It yielded a comfortable and settled drive along the gravel and dirt tracks that lead to our unofficial 4WD proving ground for this test.

The Mazda’s suspension soaked up most of the shallow ruts, potholes and bumps along the track, but the rear end skipped a little here and there as we traversed harsher lumps and ditches. 

It also once again proved quite capable at the low-range 4WDing.

The BT-50 has a listed 240mm of ground clearance, a wading depth of 800mm and approach, departure and ramp-over angles of 27 degrees, 17.9 degrees and 24.3 degrees, respectively. These are not rock-crawling off-road measurements and angles but they check out for a 4WD ute that will spend much of its time on city and suburban streets.

And, even though its power and torque figures are down on what it had when it was based on the five-cylinder Ranger, the D-Max-based BT-50 does fine.

In low-range 4WD and with the rear diff locked, the BT-50 could tackle most challenges, even a steep rocky hill, but it needed plenty of encouragement (i.e. heavy throttle).

Off-road traction control is effective, hill descent control works well, restricting downhill speed to a controlled three to four km/h, and the BT-50 has reasonable wheel travel.

Driver-assist tech (such as rough terrain mode) aimed squarely at improving the off-roading experience is a neat fit in this package. This mode operates like a boosted off-road traction control, and is claimed to kick into action at a point of less wheel-spin than a standard off-road traction control system, transferring torque to the wheels that have the most traction, sooner rather than later.

Like many modern 4WDs straight out of the showroom, the BT-50’s standard tyres – Bridgestone Dueler H/T 684 II (265/60 R18) – are fine for the blacktop and some light-duty off-roading, but you need a decent set of all-terrains. If you plan to anything tougher than those surfaces.

Otherwise, the BT-50 is impressive off-road without being exceptional. It has a tractable engine, good low-range gearing, and a well-calibrated off-road traction control system, now bolstered with rough terrain mode.

Maximum payload is listed as 924kg, Gross Vehicle Mass is 3100kg, and Gross Combined Mass is 6000kg.

For those looking to tow with their ute, the BT-50 has an unbraked towing capacity of 750kg and a braked towing capacity of 3500kg.

The BT-50 has the maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating, from testing in 2022.

Safety gear includes eight airbags (dual front, driver’s knee, front centre, front side, full-length curtain), auto emergency braking (AEB), front parking sensors, reversing camera, adaptive cruise control, blind spot monitor, attention assist, lane keep assist, emergency lane keeping, lane departure prevention and warning, and rear cross-traffic alert.

It has two ISOFIX child restraint anchor points and top tethers.

It also has off-road friendly driver-assist tech such as traction control, hill descent control, hill launch assist and a rear diff lock.

LDV continues to have a confusing array of ownership terms across its range. In the case of the T60, it’s seven years and 200,000km, with five years of roadside assist.

It is also one of the only brands on the market not offering any kind of capped-price service program, so it’s a mystery how much it will cost to run. Servicing is required once every 12 months or 15,000km.

A five-year/unlimited warranty applies to the BT-50. Roadside assist is also valid for five years.

Servicing is recommended at 12 month/15,000km intervals and capped price servicing applies for seven years/105,000km.

Service costs are estimated at $1361 for three years, and $2498 over five years.