Mazda BT-50 2021 review: XT Single Cab Chassis GVM test

Our previous BT-50 XT review was published before Mazda Australia announced pricing for the single-cab and extra-cab (Freestyle Cab in Mazda speak). We know you mightn’t be looking at exactly this spec of BT-50 XT - the automatic 4x4 single cab-chassis - so we’ve got a pricing list for the single-cab and extra-cab models below. 

Standard equipment for the XT comprises: 17-inch alloy wheels (no steel wheels here!), LED headlights but halogen daytime running lights, power-adjustable mirrors, body coloured door handles and mirror caps, body colour bumpers and a questionable rear step bumper - it really is a useless addition. 

The BT-50 XT wears 17-inch alloy wheels.

Other standard gear includes a 4.2-inch driver display with digital speedometer, black cloth interior trim, carpet flooring (not vinyl), and all XT models have a 7.0-inch multimedia touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay, wired Android Auto, and digital radio. There’s manual air-conditioning, power windows, rain sensing automatic wipers, and a polyurethane steering wheel with tilt and reach/telescopic adjust.

Inside is a 7.0-inch multimedia touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

A reversing camera is standard on cab-chassis models, but they miss out on parking sensors.

Tray choice is a matter of preference, but the 2550mm Standard Steel Tray fitted to our test vehicle was a $5100 (fitted) added cost. Meaning the price of our 4x4 auto XT Cab Chassis single cab was, as tested, $49,150 before on-road costs. Yikes.

The tray fitted to our test vehicle costs an extra $5100.

Other accessories available include bull bar and nudge bar options, mud flaps, tray liner mats, body protection, a snorkel, side steps, and - of course - floor mats. 

Colour options include the Ice White Solid you see here, which will be the most popular of all the no-cost paint options for the BT-50. There’s also Red Volcano mica, Concrete Grey mica, Gunblue mica, Rock Grey mica, Ingot Silver metallic and True Black mica. 

“Take your muddy boots off before you get in!” Expect to hear that on the worksite, because the BT-50 gets carpet flooring across the range. Maybe hold back on the retorts about your boss being too tight to get rubber mats. And wear clean socks.

But actual carpet isn’t the only plush inclusion in the single-cab BT-50 ute - you also get soft padding around the transmission area so you don’t bump your knees, and there’s soft finish material on the dashboard topper and the door armrests, but the centre console lid/armrest annoyingly misses out. Anyone with hairy arms can expect a static fest because of it, too. 

The Single and Freestyle Cab models only have two seats.

The steering wheel badge is shiny and can glint in your eyes if it’s sunny, and the wheel itself is an Isuzu unit, is plastic rather than leather (come on, Mazda), but at least it has reach and rake adjustment. Both the Single Cab and Freestyle Cab models have two seats in this generation (no four-seater layout in the extra cab anymore), and they’re comfy fabric-covered spots with manual adjustment, including pump action height adjust for shorter drivers.

It’s a nice looking cabin, though, and the dashboard is distinct from the D-Max donor vehicle because of a revised design. However, it does miss out on the clever pop-out cupholders at the edges of the dash, which is a shame. And the centre cup holders are too large for smaller drinks - they’re more designed for bottles, or the largest Maccas coffee. There are additional bottle holders in the doors as well as storage trenches, plus there’s a double glovebox, but no dash-top storage caddy like you get in the Isuzu. 

The BT-50 has a nice cabin, which is distinct from the D-Max.

There is only one USB port, and the 7.0-inch touchscreen is hooked up two just two speakers in both single- and extra-cab models. The screen looks a little tiny given it sits in the same bezel housing as the 9.0-inch screen in the upper models, but it has the same tech: Android Auto (via USB) and both wireless and USB-connect Apple CarPlay, and Bluetooth if you prefer to connect that way. There’s no built-in GPS sat nav, no volume/tuning knobs, and the screen takes some learning. The lag time when you get into the ute before smartphone mirroring works properly is frustratingly slow, too.

The 4.2-inch screen with digital speedometer for the driver is also where you can access the safety systems, to change the parameters or turn them off - which you might want to do, as they can be overbearing. 

The driver gets a 4.2-inch screen with digital speedometer. 

One of the key achievements for the new-generation BT-50 is its stellar safety technology equipment list. And stellar is a good word for it, because it nabbed a 2020 ANCAP five-star crash test safety rating - the same score as the D-Max it’s based on.

The cab-chassis range all come with a standard-fit reversing camera, but more impressively there is auto emergency braking (AEB) that works at speeds over 10km/h, a low speed mis-acceleration mitigation system to prevent low-speed bumps, and the AEB has pedestrian detection and cyclist detection (all speeds) as well as a forward collision warning light, too. 

There’s a lane departure warning system with active lane keeping assistance (between 60km/h and 130km/h), plus a Turn Assist function that can prevent you turning in front of oncoming traffic if considered unsafe by the ute’s camera system (between 5km/h and 18km/h). 

Also standard is blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alert, and automatic versions have adaptive cruise control. There are auto high-beam lights with auto on/off headlights and auto windscreen wipers standard, plus speed sign recognition and driver fatigue monitoring. 

There are eight airbags, including front-centre coverage for side impact head clash prevention, as well as driver's knee, dual front (head), front side (thorax) and full-length curtain airbags.

You might think there are people out there who would only ever need a ute like this as a work vehicle - but head a few hours inland from any coastal part of Australia and you’ll see that these sorts of utes are still very prevalent for those who have small acreages to full-time farmers and tradies.

And more and more of those sorts of customers are trading in their old, tired Falcon and Commodore utes in search of something as comfortable and capable. They might get the capability over-indexed with utes like these, but none are as comfy as the old sedan-based workhorse utes.

The BT-50 is not comfortable without a load. Then again, I haven’t driven a single-cab cab-chassis ute that’s made me think: “Yeah, this is a perfectly acceptable level of comfort.”

So it’s no surprise that, when unladen, the ride is quite punishing. It’s not really very comfortable at all – I mean I know that it’s to be expected, but I would’ve expected a little better to be honest. It felt sharper over the same roads that I drove the single cab D-Max SX on, with the rear bucking the cab over sharp bumps and hard edges. Not to the point of being like a HiLux single-cab, but it still can give you a kidney punch every now and then over big lumps and bumps.

The BT-50 is not comfortable without a load.

But the steering is good - easy to judge and fine around town - and on the open road, if it’s smooth, the drive isn’t overly fatiguing. 

The engine is much more audible when loaded, but without a load it is pretty hushed considering it’s work focus. 

The six-speed auto transmission can be a little eager to shift gears at higher speeds when it could easily make do with just the torque available to it. Clearly that’s a play for better fuel economy, and while there’s nothing wrong with it and it doesn’t detract too much from the drive experience, sometimes it doesn’t seem necessary.