MAZDA BT-50

WHEN this generation Mazda BT-50 arrived in late 2011, it was a rebadged twin of the thennew Ford Ranger. There were a couple of minor technical changes – steering-rack ratio and suspension damper calibration – but otherwise the two were mechanically identical. From 2016 on however, with Mazda not adopting the mechanical enhancements made to the Ranger in that year, the BT-50 fell behind the Ranger in a number of ways, notably engine refinement and flexibility, and offroad where the BT-50 is a mid-tier performer, although a good one at that.

On the other side of the ledger, you can make an argument for the BT-50 staying with the proven, longterm reliability of hydraulic power steering and not adopting electric power steering, as did the Ranger.

Despite the similarities the BT-50 has only enjoyed a fraction of the Ranger’s sales, so is not as common on the used market. But if you can find one, it offers the same basic attributes of the Ranger, namely a big cabin and excellent load and tow performance thanks largely to the big and ‘grunty’ 3.2-litre five-cylinder diesel.

A new generation BT-50, sharing a platform with the upcoming Isuzu D-MAX, is expected late this year.