2022 Mazda BT-50 SP with ARB/Old Man Emu suspension review (inc. 0-100)

CarExpert

Have you ever wondered what the 2022 Mazda BT-50 feels like with aftermarket suspension? Paul Maric drives the new SP variant fitted with the optional ARB/Old Man Emu suspension setup to see if it's any good!  Hardness tester results: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/121Auf6HGvaBqRToYcuAz94alin7Sw55SpOPECBDlnKE  More Mazda content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/mazda More Mazda BT-50 content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/mazda/bt-50  Skip Ahead: Intro: 00:00 Exterior 0:53 Interior 4:18 Infotainment 5:40 Safety Tech 7:09 Practicality 8:05 On the Road 11:32 0-100km/h 12:43 Off the Road 16:14 Verdict 20:31  We review every new car on the market, bust car myths, cover the latest car tech and answer your burning questions.  Whether you need new car advice, purchase validation or simply love learning more about new cars and technology, we are your car experts.  Subscribe to Car Expert: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7DvMhvy3H7ntEgn9n3xQcQ?sub_confirmation=1  You'll find us dropping new video content three times a week. If you'd like to ask a question about one of our videos, simply leave us a comment. If you'd like to give us any feedback on our content, feel free to email us, or alternatively, hit us up on social media.  Finally, we want this channel to grow with your support and feedback. If there's anything you don't like or would like to see us change, we'd love to hear from you!  Follow us on social media to see what we're up to and to ask any questions!  CarExpert: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarExpertAus Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/CarExpertAus Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carexpert.com.au  Paul Maric: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaulMaric Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/PaulMaric Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/PaulMaric  #mazda #bt50 #review

Transcript

00:00 G'day, I'm Paul. Mazda is using the pent-up demand for dual cab units to come up with new models

00:06 And this is the latest it is the new top specification

00:10 Well, it sits beneath the Thunder which is the top spec, but it's kind of like an off-road focus version

00:14 This is called the BT50SP and it's got some special accessories fitted to it, which I'll run through later on

00:20 This is priced at a little over

00:22 $65,000

00:25 But if that's too expensive the entire range kicks off at just under 40 grand. This competes with things like the Ford Ranger

00:31 The Toyota Hilux and the Isuzu D-Max which is what it's based off. Today

00:36 We're going to do a detailed review of this car

00:38 So if you do want to skip ahead to other parts of the review

00:40 You can use the time codes on the screen or if you're on YouTube scroll down and use the chapters below

00:45 And if you want to help us grow

00:46 Please subscribe to our channel and press the bell icon as well because that'll tell you every single time we review these top spec models

00:54 Righto, let's talk exterior

00:55 So you've got seven colors to pick from and they're all free of charge, which is great news

01:00 So Mazda shares a platform for the BT50 with the new Isuzu D-Max

01:04 They moved away from their relationship

01:06 They had with Ford and as a result of that this looks fairly similar to the D-Max but has its own Mazda design theory

01:13 Actually quite like the SP in terms of what they've done with the dark highlights

01:17 So you've got that big black grille here really moves away from that stylized

01:22 Chrome setup that they have on other BT50 variants big Mazda logo up the top there and then plenty of space in there for cooling

01:30 Over on the side here you have a set of full LED headlights and this section which is normally chrome in the BT50 has been blacked

01:37 Out as well down the bottom here. You have an indicator and also like a

01:40 Running light that's always on and a fog light down there, too

01:44 Around the side here. We have a set of 18 inch alloy wheels the black design here continues

01:50 So it's all sort of blacked out on the wheel there got a decent set of highway terrain tires here

01:55 Now lurking behind here is an interesting

01:59 Suspension setup. So this is an aftermarket setup. You can get as part of an accessory pack for the BT50

02:06 I'll run through this in a bit more detail later on but you can see it looks a whole lot more sophisticated than the standard

02:12 Suspension setup. This one also has the optional snorkel that is fitted as a factory accessory now up the top here

02:18 This is a gloss black setup. It's kind of similar to the D-MAX X-train

02:21 And that's what the SP mimics both in terms of price and also in terms of the design as well

02:26 So this is Mazda's version of that top spec Isuzu. Up the top here

02:30 You've got an indicator built into that wing mirror more of that black highlight up there, too. Side steps down here

02:36 I have mentioned previously in our other ute reviews that I would like to see something bulkier on the side there

02:42 You've got black door handles. You've got a black sailplane here as well with BT50

02:48 emblazoned on that. More of that wheel arch protection and then come around to the back. Now around the back here

02:52 You've got a camera built into this section more of that black highlight there

02:57 It is a little bit disappointing though that the taillights are not full LED just incandescent globes

03:02 4x4 and BT50. Three and a half tonne braked towing capacity here with a

03:08 150 kilogram down ball weight. A step here to get into the back. They run you through the tray as well

03:14 Feel that? I like the fact that there is a little bit of hydraulic action here to stop that slamming down

03:21 You've got this manual roller cover on the tray

03:24 That moves out of the way. You are introduced to the tray here, which has dimensions of a little over

03:31 150 mil of load length just over 1500 mil of load width with a little over

03:36 1100 mil between the wheel arches and if you look a little closer

03:40 You've got hooks here as well to tie down your contents

03:43 But no power outlet which is a little bit disappointing and then with the roller cover you use this strap here

03:49 Pull it back into position and then away you go

03:53 The only downside is that manual roller cover robs you of a bit of space right up at the front of the tray. Now

03:59 What do you reckon about the BT50 design here in the SP trim? I actually think it looks pretty good

04:04 I do like the chrome highlights on a standard BT50

04:06 But this looks a little more aggressive especially with the snorkel and stuff

04:09 It just looks like it's a bit of a go-anywhere ute. So let me know in the comment section below

04:13 What do you think of the design? Do you reckon the SP is the one to go for in the BT50 range?

04:18 So we are inside the BT50. We will start off with the key

04:22 You've got the remote start function up the top there. Lock, unlock

04:26 Then a blank and then on the back you have the Mazda logo

04:30 That sits in your pocket and then once you're inside you have a push button start

04:34 So the SP you can differentiate this from other variants in the BT50 range because of the different color highlights

04:41 So you can see here it's split between the black you get this sort of

04:44 Khaki color I think it is maybe brown khaki greeny type thing with soft padded sections on the center console there

04:53 So for longer drives that will keep you nice and relaxed then on the seats as well

04:57 You can see the offset colors. I actually think it's a pretty cool looking setup and it looks fairly premium

05:02 especially in this segment where you're used to these being very much workhorses this actually feels nice and relaxing and

05:08 Also feels like it's worth the money that you're spending on it as well. What about your touch points?

05:13 So that is soft enough and then soft on the door too. How soft are they?

05:18 Well, we've tested the main surfaces in this cabin with our

05:21 Gerometer if you want to see how this car compares to other cars that we've tested before

05:25 Have a look at the link in the description. Builds quality

05:28 Slightly wonky there, but for the most part this all feels pretty good. Door slam

05:35 Sounds good. Let's talk about

05:40 Infotainment, so this shares an infotainment system with the Isuzu D-MAX

05:44 That means you have a 9-inch color touchscreen has satellite navigation built into it

05:50 You've got shortcut buttons down there, but also can just use it as a touchscreen

05:54 In addition to that you have AM/FM/DAB radio and that's all plumbed through an 8-speaker sound system. Sound system's okay

06:02 It's really not too crash hot. In terms of smartphone mirroring you have both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Android Auto is wired

06:09 I'll show you what that looks like

06:12 So there we go full screen integration not too bad in terms of responsiveness just a slight bit laggy there

06:19 Apple CarPlay now that is entirely wireless not too bad in terms of the snappiness there as well

06:27 So yeah big tick there

06:28 I love the fact that it is wireless because it means that you can just hop into the car and it's ready to roll

06:32 There is no wireless phone charging as standard

06:35 I think you can get it as an accessory

06:36 But that's probably something you need to think about because it does drain your battery a fair bit when you are using just

06:41 Wireless smartphone mirroring. There is also a screen ahead of the driver here

06:45 It's pretty basic, but it gives you your off-road controls trip computer and other critical safety functions

06:50 You know what great news as well is that Mazda has finally followed suit with Isuzu and allowed you to disable the lane

06:57 Nannies just by pushing and holding the steering wheel button here

07:01 You used to have to do that through the menus and you had to be stationary

07:04 It was just it was not very good. So I'm glad that feature is finally here as well

07:08 Now what about your safety tech? So you have autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian and cyclist detection

07:14 You have an auto dimming rear vision mirror lane departure warning and a lane keeping assistant radar cruise control

07:19 Blind spot monitor built into the wing mirror. You have rear cross traffic alert

07:24 The other cool thing as well is that this comes with a center airbag

07:28 So it's now required for a five-star safety rating which this car also has it prevents your front two

07:34 Occupants from hitting each other in a side impact. So it's good to see that it is standard here terms of parking

07:40 You have both front and rear parking sensors and a reverse view camera. I'll show you what that looks like

07:44 There it is there. So the quality is pretty good

07:47 The only thing I did notice is the camera is offset

07:50 So the center of your guidelines there isn't actually where the tow bar is. It's kind of a little over this way. So

07:56 Yep, I don't know why they didn't just make those guidelines center to the vision as opposed to where the camera is

08:03 But anyway, now what about your practicality and we'll start off with your connectivity

08:07 So beneath here you have one USB outlet one auxiliary port then a 12 volts outlet as well

08:15 Now it's interesting because your phone can live down there. I mentioned before there's no wireless phone charging

08:21 That seems like it would be the perfect spot for it. So phone fits in here easily as well

08:26 But in terms of your coffee cup watch this

08:29 It disappears immediately into that slot never to be seen again

08:33 And then it is hard to get out you run the risk of pulling the lid off as you do

08:38 So you've got to be super careful with that also slightly different to the D-max

08:42 You don't have any cup holders in front of the air vents

08:45 So really only have a couple of slots there to store your coffee in terms of bottles

08:50 They fit nicely into there and because it is such a deep slot your bottle won't disappear too far

08:56 It's inside the door as well. Try a big bottle too

08:59 No bingo there

09:02 But fits inside the door, which is good news other storage

09:07 So just near the drivers now, you've got a little storage nook for coins and bits and pieces set a console here reasonably sized

09:13 two sets of glove boxes, so one down here, which is

09:16 entirely consumed by the

09:19 Manual you have another one just here, which is slightly more spacious. And finally you have a sunglasses holder up the top

09:27 Moving on to comfort features. So you have dual zone automatic climate control up the front here quite like these buttons

09:34 They're kind of they feel like they're metallic. They're probably plastic, but they look very nice and classy

09:38 You've also got heated seats for the front row in terms of seat adjustment

09:43 You have electric adjustment for the driver's seat you go forwards backwards the backrest can go forwards backwards

09:48 You can lift the base of the seat. You also have a lumbar

09:51 Adjustment how comfortable are the seats?

09:53 Well, this is one of the things I like about the BT 50 and the D-max seats are incredibly comfortable

09:58 If you're doing a long-distance drive

09:59 it's very nice and relaxing and they hug you in nicely and then in terms of the steering wheel has both tilts and

10:05 Reach adjustment and on our reach test all of this stuff is easy to reach while you're driving

10:10 Now second row before I hop in let me run you through some of the configuration items here

10:17 So you can pull this seat up. It's got a little clip there

10:19 So you can like that clipped up if you do want to load anything sideways through here

10:23 You've got some additional storage beneath the cargo floor there and then over on the other side

10:28 Right myself over this you've got more storage under there as well

10:33 And then finally you can get rid of this this exposes the jack over there and also you two top tether points as well

10:42 So you are pretty covered there. Here's a grab handle to get in

10:47 So I have the seat in my standard drivers position and you can see here that I have a decent amount of knee room

10:53 Toe room isn't great. But headroom is pretty good. If you are actually back here for a longer distance driver, it wouldn't be too bad

11:01 It's quite a comfortable place to be seated

11:03 Grab handle up the top that you've got a hook here for your shopping

11:07 Map pockets in the back of the seats one USB port here. It's a charging port. So 2.1 amps

11:13 You also have air vents there as well

11:15 Got a center armrest here with two cup holders

11:18 Then you've also got ISO fix points on the two outboard seats and finally our window test

11:23 Yeah, it goes all the way down and no auto up or down

11:30 We've just hit the road in the BT 50

11:35 Now this is powered by the same engine that's in the D-MAX

11:38 So it's a 3 liter turbocharged 4-cylinder diesel engine makes 140 kilowatts of power and 450 newton meters of torque

11:46 We actually recently drove the 1.9 liter version of this you can click up here to watch that review

11:51 This just feels chalk and cheese in comparison while the torque outputs are kind of similar

11:56 This once you get stuck into it really sort of pushes you in the back and in my mind

12:01 I think there's actually more torque in this than is actually on paper because it is pretty quick once you

12:07 Sort of nail the throttle off the line with a bit of boost built up

12:10 That's all made it to a six speed automatic transmission behind the wheel

12:13 Like I said before it just really gives you a nice punch in the back

12:16 It feels very confidence inspiring and I think if you did strap this to a chassis dyno

12:21 This would really be reading more closer to that 500 newton meter mark

12:25 It does feel a lot more sprightly than the numbers suggest. So how does that fare in terms of fuel economy?

12:30 So Mazda claims a combined figure of 8 liters per 100 K's if we go through here to our fuel economy reading

12:37 We're currently sitting on

12:39 9.3 so a little higher than the official claim but kind of close enough now

12:43 We don't have an official 0 to 100 time, but we've put it up against our stopwatch and this is how it went

12:49 (Car engine)

12:51 Now let's talk about the ride

13:05 So we've driven D-Max and BT-50 before and in general the ride isn't too bad

13:10 This car though has a special suspension setup and it's an aftermarket kit that was designed by ARB

13:17 And they've basically done the tuning work on it so that it suits this car specifically and it works with all the cars safety systems

13:24 So the suspension kit that fit to this increases ride height by 20 millimeters

13:28 but in addition to that it still allows all of your

13:31 self-leveling headlights all the stability control systems to work as

13:35 Intended and it means you're not going to disrupt any of those systems and they offer it in two different specifications

13:41 There's 0 to 300 kilos and 300 to 600

13:43 So depending on how much load you're typically carrying you'll pick one of those options when you do have that fitted

13:49 It's designed to make the ride comfortable

13:51 When you are within that weight band then in addition to that, it's all fully adjustable for compression and damping as well

13:58 Now it's good news for people who are using these as workutes because if you are regularly carrying a load in here

14:03 You don't have to compromise in terms of comfort

14:05 And then it also means you can customize the comfort if you do get rid of that load and you go on an extended drive

14:11 So pretty cool setup part of the changes are complete adjustment to the suspension

14:16 There's an extra leaf there in terms of the leaf springs. It's gone from three to four

14:20 So that's also helped with just leveling everything out and making it a whole lot more comfortable

14:24 I've got to tell you it is such a refreshing thing to see an aftermarket suspension setup

14:29 That doesn't completely ruin the ride means that you can attack

14:32 some of these terrible country roads where you've got all sorts of mark off the side of the road if you need to get out of

14:38 The way for somebody and it's not going to throw the car around deals really well with

14:42 Corrugations and all the stuff that you see when roads wash away

14:45 So really nice setup and I think that yes

14:48 $6,000 is a lot of money

14:49 But at the end of the day if you really want to nail that ride and have the ability to customize it for yourself

14:55 This setup actually does a really good job

14:57 Let's talk about steering feel quickly look it's an electrically assisted steering rack. It's very light. So all of your inputs are

15:06 Very sort of darty in that sense

15:08 They have as I mentioned earlier enabled you now to push and hold this button to disable the lane keeping assistant

15:16 Which is great because it was quite intrusive and just a little bit annoying to be honest

15:19 So it's good to say that there and it also doesn't really work with towing

15:22 So you're able to get that all switched off as required. Now. We don't have any drive modes so to speak

15:29 So let's just dial up the speed here pop it through our corner and see what it feels like

15:34 *Car engine revving*

15:36 Look it feels good. I mean, it's it's nothing too special this suspension isn't really designed for performance

15:41 So it's not going to hold the ride dead flat

15:44 But it does really nicely smooth it out

15:46 Especially on these choppier sections of road where we'd normally be thrown about at highway speeds. What about your visibility?

15:52 So down the front there

15:53 It's easy to see the corners of the car the wing mirrors are really big as well

15:57 And you've got that blind spot monitor built into those

15:59 Visibility out the back is good too that envelope is nice and big and then in and around the city

16:04 It's actually not too hard to park. Thanks to those front rear parking sensors and a decent quality reverse view camera

16:10 Let's do a little bit of light off-roading

16:16 We'll see if this suspension has actually helped it at all here on our little off-road course now in terms of the four-wheel drive

16:22 specifications on the BT50 it has a

16:26 140 millimeter ground clearance an approach angle of 30.4 degrees and a departure angle of 24.2 degrees now

16:33 They're the angles that you can approach and depart the car without hitting anything on your way

16:38 You also got a waiting depth of 800 millimeters plus this has the snorkel

16:42 So it's going to give you better breathing ability if you do decide to go do a little bit of waiting now

16:47 Let's talk about the rest of your four-wheel drive controls. This is just two-wheel drive high range most of the time

16:52 So that's on sealed surfaces like roads. You can then switch to four high on unsealed surfaces

16:58 There's also a low range transfer case as well

17:01 Now keep in mind

17:02 Depending on what type of surface you're on you don't want to be using some of these modes and if you don't know exactly

17:07 What I mean by that click up here to watch a video we shot before on four-wheel drive controls where I run through that with

17:12 Some examples you also have a rear diff lock and hill descent control the rear diff lock only works in low range

17:18 So don't bother clicking that unless you are in low range. So let's give this a shot

17:22 So we have a minor change here to our logs instead of just driving up it now, especially now when it's dry

17:27 I'm resting the car

17:29 Actually better put it in four-wheel drive first

17:30 I'm resting the car on a little ledge of the logs here now the advantage of that is

17:35 When it does come to a rest the car is going to have to figure out for itself

17:38 How it gets up here in terms of traction controls

17:42 There it is just

17:44 There so rest the car and I will now just get onto the throttle

17:49 All I've got is four high on and we'll see what it does

17:52 Here we go, we got up there so that was good

17:57 No dramas there at all and nice and smooth as well

18:00 Normally the D-max and the VT50 are a little bouncy on the way up there

18:04 But this suspension just has smoothed that out nicely pop out hill descent control on

18:18 Little quick for my liking. Yeah, it's cut

18:21 Way too quick. It's just plowing down here. And I think if this was all exposed

18:26 It's not too exposed at the moment. We might sort of whack some stuff on the way down

18:30 So yeah, hill descent control could be just a little smoother and slower on the way down there

18:34 Next up we've got our seesaw in the offset mogul

18:39 So I'll throw the car up on its side here angle of about 25 degrees

18:45 Wipers come on

18:47 Now the offset mogul

18:48 This will be a good test to see how this copes with having a wheel entirely off the ground and how the traction control

18:54 Works with at all what we'll do actually I'll put this in two-wheel drive

18:58 just for our first run through here just to see how it goes and

19:02 Whether it is able to sort itself out on its own. We've got a wheel off the ground there

19:08 It's actually not doing a bad job traction control is biting

19:15 There

19:17 We go got us through that's actually pretty impressive I think last time we came through here it really struggled there

19:24 So I don't know if that's because our suspension is giving us a bit more wheel articulation, but it just cruise through there

19:29 So let's give that one more try this time. I'll leave it in four-wheel drive high range

19:33 This time around we're in four-wheel drive

19:36 High range, let's see how it copes with that same scenario now with that wheel off the ground

19:43 There it is there. It's off the ground roll into the throttle

19:47 It's not too bad I can feel it sending torque to the front axle to get us through there

19:54 So yeah look pretty impressed with that

19:56 This feels to me and look I am obviously using my memory

20:00 But this feels to me like it performs better off-road than the last D-Max and BT-50 that we drove

20:07 And I am genuinely wondering whether it is the articulation that's helping us there

20:11 So I'm gonna put an overlay on the screen right now for you to see the articulation difference between a standard

20:17 D-Max / BT-50 and this version here with the aftermarket suspension

20:21 So the BT-50 SP I tell you what I like what Mazda has done with this in terms of all the blackout stuff

20:37 I think it takes away from the the chrominess of the other BT-50 range and it kind of gives it a bit more of an

20:42 Aggressive look the interior looks nice and high-end as well, but I think what really sells it for me is the suspension

20:48 I really wasn't expecting the aftermarket stuff to be so good. It seemed to help it off-road

20:53 I don't have no sort of real science behind that

20:55 But it just felt a lot more capable off-road than a standard BT-50 does with its standard suspension

21:01 So road better as well, and it just felt far more confidence inspiring so yes, it is six grand

21:06 It's a fair bit of money, but at the end of the day

21:08 I think it's money well spent and if it's this that you're gonna be spending a lot of time in behind the wheel you may

21:14 As well just go for the decent suspension setup. So what about the downsides?

21:18 Look, there really aren't too many downsides. The infotainment system is good, but it's just a little bit clumsy

21:24 Sometimes we'd love to see wireless phone charging can't get that as an accessory if you need to but look outside of that

21:30 I think it's a really competent vehicle. It's one of the few vehicles that you can actually get at the moment

21:34 There aren't huge huge waiting lists, so let me know what you reckon in the comments section below

21:38 Did you buy one of these and did you get that optional suspension setup? Let me know what it's like longer-term

21:43 Let me know what it's like to adjust it because it sounds great that it's adjustable

21:46 But I don't know how much of a pain in the ass that is so let me know in the comments section below if you enjoyed

21:50 This video please make sure you share it with your mates

21:52 And if you haven't done so already subscribe to our channel press the bell icon, but until next time take it easy

Category

Transcript

Recommended