This week the BT-50 is feeling more like a well-worn pair of shoes and a great partner for exploring tracks around the Blue Mountains.

What are we testing? The 2018 Mazda BT-50 GT 4×4 Dual-Cab

What’s running it? Isaac Bober

Why are we testing it? To find out if the BT-50 is the best real-world dual-cab 4×4…

What it needs to do? While we’ve got the BT-50 we want to find out if it really can do it all, from the school run to the supermarket shop, to highway runs, towing and off-roading.

2018 Mazda BT-50 GT 4×4 Dual-Cab Specifications

Price From $56,990+ORC Warranty five years, unlimited kilometres Service Intervals 15,000km/12 months (capped price servicing ranges from $431-$502) Safety five-star ANCAP Engine 3.2-litre five-cylinder turbo-diesel Power 147kW at 3000rpm Torque 470Nm from 1750-2500rpm Transmission six-speed automatic (as tested) Drive 4×2; 4x4H; 4x4L Dimensions 5365mm (long) 1850mm (wide) 1821mm (high) 3220mm (wheelbase) Angles 28.2-degrees (approach) 26.4-degrees (departure) 25.0-degrees (ramp over) Ground Clearance 237mm (claimed) Wading Depth 800mm Weight 2147kg Towing 3500kg maximum braked GVM 3200kg GCM 6000kg Fuel Tank 80L Spare full-size steel underslung Thirst 10.0L/100km (claimed combined)

Week 5 – September 7, 2018

Short one this week. Much of it has been taken up with the launch of the all-new Subaru Forester but despite a number of cars at my disposal to run down to the airport in, in my still-sleepy state at 4.30am I automatically grabbed the keys to the BT-50.

See, the big Mazda is becoming my go-to machine no matter what it is that I have to do, and my kids are loving being collected in the ‘monster truck’. That’s what they’ve named it.

On the run down to the city the other morning, the BT-50 purred along with the traffic while its Apple CarPlay connectivity allowed me to catch up on podcasts. But one thing that isn’t impressing me is the BT’s headlights…the light is very weak and there’s been a few times where I’ve turned them off and back on again thinking I hadn’t turned the main beams on. The high-beams, on the other hand, complemented by the Lightforce lights are genius.

There’s a road near my place, Tablelands Road, that I’d never ever been down in all the years I’ve lived in the Blue Mountains and I’m glad I did this week because it was a great drive. Not a hard drive at all but the gravel road was rough in places…indeed, I came across some tourists who’d become stuck in their Forester after they pulled off to the side of the road.

The ground was soft and they’d become bogged. And, with no phone reception they’d been waiting for around an hour before someone, me, came along. It was a simple recovery…jammed shrubbery against the two wheels that were stuck in the soft stuff. I jumped in, fired the car up and turned off traction control; some gentle rocking and a decent amount of right foot saw the Subie grip and drive back up onto the road.

Good deed done, I continued on my way.