I have just ticked over 17,000km in the new BT-50.  Most of those k’s have been done in the daily grind of a commute to site at The Block NZ, the school run, plus some journeys on the highway, as I drive to events outside of Auckland.

During all of these trips, the new BT-50 has been a great commuter vehicle.

Quiet, comfortable, well-appointed and safe, it is a pleasure to drive.  The enhanced safety features, device connectivity and ease of handling can make you forget that this is a vehicle built to work, it actually is a ute.

Recently, I have put the BT-50 back to the work it was designed to do.  Towing a fairly large trailer loaded, with 6 metre lengths of framing timber, a smaller trailer with an equally heavy load and then loading timber for rafters onto the roof rack, allowed me the opportunity to test the BT-50 appetite for good old fashioned hard slog.  All of this while loaded with the tools I need to get the job done.  It turns out that the current BT-50 is as tough as the Mazda B1600 ute my first boss used to drive in the 1980’s.

Towing is a breeze as there is plenty of power, great suspension means that when loaded up the new BT-50 still feels nimble and the brakes give me confidence that I can always stop when I need to, no matter what load.

Some say you can’t get everything you want, well I disagree, when it comes to a work vehicle, the BT-50 might just prove them wrong. For me and my work/lifestyle this Ute has all the ticks in the box.

mazda.co.nz/cars/new-bt-50/