ON FRONT PAG E N O R T H E AST V I C TO R I A , A L P S A N D H I G H CO U N T RY
SEPTEMBER 16 - 22, 2016
> available online - www.nemedia.com.au
MAZDA BT-50: It is built to go anywhere... almost.
Mazda BT-50 offers something for everyone By DEREK OGDEN ROAD TEST
about the Mazda BT-50, it doesn’t float. With this in mind the maker’s Aussie hierarchy sensibly decided to forgo the media shakedown on impassably wet approach roads all round Birdsville. This sent yours truly rummaging through notes of an encounter earlier this year after a mid-life makeover of the popular ute to remember what it was like. It all came back to me as a thoroughly pleasant experience. With a list of variants as long as the Federal Senate poll paper, petrol and diesel powered, two or four-wheel drive,
the BT-50 comes in single cab, freestyle cab and dual cab format in three grades - XT, XTR and GT. Mazda BT-50 comes with the choice of two diesel engine engines including the MZ-CD 2.2-litre 4-cylinder motor and an MZ-CD 3.2-litre five-cylinder unit, both with either a six-speed manual or sixspeed automatic transmission. Prices start at $25,570, plus on road costs, for the 2.2-litre Single Cab/ Chassis XT 4x2 manual and round out to $53,790 for the 3.2-litre Dual Cab Utility GT 4X4. The test vehicle, the 3.2-litre Dual Cab Utility XTR 4X4 automatic, slots in at $51,700.
STYLING Mazda has come up with a less challenging shape for the revised BT-50. Key to this are a powerful front end that inherits elements of the Mazda family face and a rear that differentiates the BT-50 from other less adventurously shaped utes. The updated BT-50 rolls on newly designed wheels - XTR and GT on 17inch wheels with a two-tone gunmetal and machined alloy finish. XTR models have taken on polished tubular side steps, which unfortunately could fall foul of rocks or logs in the rough.
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A DAY at the races – Melbourne Cup, Magic Millions or Cox Plate – usually involves putting on appropriate clobber and catching a short ride, probably in a limo, to the track. That is unless it’s the Birdsville Races. The idea was to pick up Mazda BT-50 utilities at Leigh Creek and drive them up the Birdsville Track to the famous races recently. However, Mother Nature intervened by dumping an ocean of rain in the area, leaving the south-west Queensland town an island of disappointment to members of the media, me included, who were part of the plan. There’s certainly one thing to be said
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(03) 5721 5677 Call today for a test drive
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