2024 Author: Eric Donovan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 21:13
The pickup segment has a niche existence in Germany. The Mazda BT-50 is no exception. For the Japanese competitor of the VW Amarok, only the commercial vehicle division remains unsuitable as a family station wagon.
By Thomas Flehmer
Last year there was a brief boost in the segment when VW entered the pickup segment with the Amarok. But the excitement has subsided again. While vehicles with the loading area are very popular in America, the use of small trucks in these countries is limited to commercial customers and real trailers.
Spartan interior
The Mazda BT-50 also ekes out its existence in the niche. The five-meter-long pickup, from the earlier cooperation with Ford still almost identical to the Ranger, joins the ranks of Mitsubishi's L200, Toyota Hilux or Nissan Navara without attracting much attention. While the Dodge Ram is an imposing appearance, the Mazda drives up rather modestly. A large cabin, a 1.75 meter long and 1.46 meter wide loading area, that was it. There is nothing to be seen here of the efforts of the commercial vehicle industry to make trucks a little more comfortable in the direction of passenger cars.
The cockpit is just as modest. Everything here is spartan, which has the advantage that all buttons and instruments are easy to use. The manual helps just as easily with the operation of the switchable all-wheel drive. That has to be because the small lever sits to the left of the gear stick and is used while driving, even though the driver wanted to shift up or down one of the five gears.
Strong engine
The gears themselves can be easily engaged and even the acceleration seems to go faster than the 12.5 seconds from zero to 100 km / h would suggest. The BT-50 really shows its strengths when it comes to the engine.
The 2.5 liter turbodiesel is extremely powerful with its maximum torque of 330 Newton meters at 1800 revolutions per minute. There is hardly any difference to the car here, at least when the 1.8 ton truck has only a little of the possible 1225 kilograms on board. But it also makes it clear that with the gross vehicle weight of just under three tons, it shouldn't have any major problems with the drive.
Trucker feelings when starting
The 105 kW / 143 PS are completely sufficient for the small commercial vehicle. The Mazda should pull up to a top speed of 158 km / h. On the highway, however, the speedometer needle hit the end of the speedometer at 180 km / h. The left lane can therefore be used without a remorse, also because the steering and chassis hardly fluctuate.
Just under ten liters then flow through the hoses over 100 kilometers when the car is moved between the specified and actual maximum speed. The engine of the pickup is surprisingly very quiet. Only when starting the car and for the first few meters do the occupants think they are sitting in a truck because the engine picks up hard and the gear lever vibrates.
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