Mazda BT-50 GSX 2WD double cab Ute

• Published date: 09 August 2023
• Publication title: West Coast Farming Times, The

Their response to this challenge is a new 1.9 litre turbo-diesel motor for its price leading 2WD GSX and GTX double cabs, the only body style off ered here. Can this motor with its modest engine capacity and power output, add more spring to the BT50's sales step? Things have been a bit flat footed of late

Just to refresh your memory, after all the latest BT50 has been around since early 2021. Apart from cosmetic diff erences, it is a rebadged Isuzu D-Max. The two companies signed up to a model sharing arrangement, once they parted company with their previous model share partners Ford and Holden.

Off ering a 1.9 litre turbo diesel gives the BT50 a major point of diff erence over its rivals with its low CO2 output of 205g/km.

Mazda claim it's the lowest CO2 figure of any diesel double cab ute on our market.

This means it attracts a lower government clean car fee than most of it rivals. Many of them are feeling the pain of higher fees that came into force on July 1, adding in many instances, anywhere between $5000 and $6000 to the price of some models.

When it comes to clean car fees the 1.9 litre motor saves a fair wad of your hard earned cash compared to the 3.0 litre turbo diesel in its AWD sibling. The smaller 1.9 litre power plant incurs a $1,868 fee. That's $3,767 less than the clean car fee bounty on an AWD BT50.

This new smaller motor capacity is exclusive to the price leading GSX and midspec GTX 2WD. The GSX supplied for this road test heads the BT50's value for money charge at $48,740 plus the clean car fee.

This frugal four-cylinder turbo diesel is feisty enough with 110kW of power and 350Nm of torque. The latter is about 100nm down on the larger 3.0-litre put to work in AWD BT50s. Despite less power and torque its towing capabilities are only marginally down on these models.

The Isuzu sourced 1.9-litre is widely used in BT50 and D-Max models sold in Southeast Asian markets, including Thailand where both models are...