2022 Mazda BT-50: 50 Days with a BT-50 – Comfort

Lloyd reckons you cannot beat the comfort of the BT-50.

Dual-cab utes offer a gateway to unexplored towns and locations all over Australia.

Traditionally, across the board, comfort levels have been basic to say the least, but, the new Mazda BT-50 may have set the benchmark for the field. It is packed with tech making any journey enjoyable, but does it do enough to entice owners looking for a sophisticated yet action-ready alternative?

Let’s take a look.

Lloyd is here to give his verdict. He's been cruising around in the BT-50 Thunder for the last 50 days. This model comes with all the bells and whistles to make it an excellent choice for any office-oriented dual-cab ute buyer.

🚀 Hello from the future! You can continue reading this story, or you can visit our latest BT-50 Range Review linked below.

REVIEW CONTINUES...

207

Click any photo in this article to see the full gallery

Starting with the interior, this model is all leather. It is a classy feel as soon as you step inside. Sophisticated and smart, and more SUV than workhorse ute.

Lloyd thinks this could be the most comfortable car he has been in. He has stepped up from a 100 Series LandCruiser and, while the BT-50 cannot compete for interior space, it crushes the LandCruiser for refinement.

The old 100 Series is seriously dated and while a faux sheepskin cover may imitate the feeling of a heated seat, the real thing was high on the list of comforts that got a regular run. After getting out of the surf, Lloyd says there is now nothing better than a warm seat straight after.

Not only are the seats heated, they are extremely comfortable, and they look great too. They wrap and hold you with generous support in all the right places. Adjustability is good with eight-way electronic adjustment for the driver.

207

Adding to that upmarket feel is a well-presented dash layout, according to Lloyd. The dash uses some beautiful trim work with a lovely soft-touch feel in all the important areas. It is a distinct difference from the competition, who generally use more hard plastics and materials in common areas.

Headlining the entertainment system is a 9.0-inch display mounted in the centre of the dash. It is connected to an eight-speaker sound system and offers AM/FM radio, DAB+ digital radio, and Bluetooth connectivity.

It also has inbuilt navigation for those low-service areas off the beaten track. The most impressive part is that it also has wireless Apple Carplay, offering fingertip control to your phone's key functions. Android Auto is also offered with a cable input.

For Lloyd, this was a highlight for comfort when he benchmarked it against his own daily driver and other utes owned by mates. The Mazda connectivity was pretty good, he says, and his own stereo upgrade is no match for the standard Mazda BT-50 Thunder offering.

207

Click any photo in this article to see the full gallery

He also liked the instant access to key features offered by the voice recognition in the car which works with and without the phone.

Lloyd doesn't have kids, but I can appreciate the fact that in the second row of the BT-50 Thunder, kids will be well catered for with easy to locate ISO FIX points in the back located on either side of the rear seat. There is also a USB port in the back that allows iPads or iPhones to stay charged, keeping young ones happy and relaxed.

Perhaps gimmicky, but potentially useful on a super sunny and hot day where you want the interior of the car cooled before you get in it, you can start this car directly from the key fob in your pocket.

It might seem a small thing, but it means you can start and 'pre-condition' the car well before you put the kids in their seats, so the air-conditioning has already cooled the vehicle before they have a tantrum.

207

Lloyd seemed impressed with the BT-50 Thunder’s comforts. While easily able to conquer the ageing 100 Series LandCruiser in this regard, the BT-50 is also at the pointy end of the field when it comes to comparisons with its peers.

It is a long way from basic, and with the levels of comfort onboard almost akin to a passenger car, you can chew up the kilometres without having to pay for it later.

The full series