SA Road Tests

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This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. I drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under real-world South African conditions. Many of the vehicles driven are world cars as well, so what you read here possibly applies to the models you get where you live.

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We review the 2008 Mazda BT-50 Drifter 3,0 AT

Think boating, skiing, camping or just hanging out in the wild

Original posting: June 17, 2008

I can hear you now: “Ignorant dolt. The “Drifter” name was dropped when Mazda pickups became BT-50s!”  True, but versions fitted with Mazda’s new 3.0-litre, 16 valve, four-cylinder common rail diesel have readopted the “Drifter” name so proudly splashed across the flanks of the 4x2 high rider double cab we tested recently.

Billed as a lifestyle vehicle with all the zoom-zoom philosophy that forms the core of this manufacturer’s current offerings, this Drifter is aimed at adventurous younger families with places to go and things to do whenever leisure time permits. Think boating, skiing, camping or just hanging out in the wild. With its 4x4-like ground clearance and diff locking capability when needed, this machine will take you most of the places a full offroader will go, but without the price penalty one pays for four-wheel drive or the attendant higher fuel consumption.

Fitted with a variable geometry turbocharger and a new, larger intercooler, the engine puts out 115 kW at 3 200 rpm and 380Nm of torque at 1 800 rpm. In five-speed AT form, (four plus overdrive) acceleration is acceptable for a diesel, with 100 km/h coming up in 14,9 seconds then topping out at 175 km/h.  Cruising at 120 km/h, the rev counter shows 2 300 rpm which is still well within the torque curve, so there is sufficient urge left for further acceleration should the need arise.

Inside, the front seats are big, firm and comfortable, the steering wheel is adjustable for height, a six-disc CD player with MP3 capability provides tunes-on-the-go and a variety of storage options and drinks holders adds to family comfort. Just one caveat: if your family includes full-sized adults or leggy teens, take them with you on your deciding final test drive. This tester found the back doors a bit too narrow for easy access, while rear seat legroom was limited. This is a penalty common to all vehicles built on chassis’ – there is no “downward” space to put feet, as there is in a conventional car- or SUV design.

Double wishbone suspension in front and leaf springs at the rear are tough and reliable, although the system has been refined to provide a smoother, more comfortable ride. This includes larger shock absorbers with 32 mm shaft diameter front and rear, plus longer rear springs tuned for comfort. It’s still a pickup truck though; so don’t expect totally car-like handling on dirt, especially when driven empty.

Safety kit includes two in front- plus side curtain airbags, ABS with electronic brake force distribution (EBD) and pretensioners for the front seatbelts that now have height adjustment as well.

While inheriting the ventilated front disc and leading/trailing rear drum brake layout of the previous model's brake system, improvements include better “feel” of brake pedal operation while fully maintaining effectiveness. For instance, the caps for the wheel cylinders were changed to high-efficiency parts employing a tight rubber construction, which increases the rigidity of the caps.

This suppresses unwanted play in the brake pedal and imparts a solid feel throughout its stroke, particularly when first starting to depress it. The lever ratio is also reduced, improving brake stroke by roughly 10 percent over the system on the previous B Series.

Aerodynamically and despite the larger size of the new body, the BT-50 achieves a low drag coefficient that improves fuel economy and acceleration when passing at highway speeds, while also reducing wind noise. A new chin spoiler integrated into the front bumper improves front/rear lift balance and the grip of the front tyres for better tracking ability at highway speeds, improved straight-line stability, and a reduction in the amount of lateral pull felt when passing large vehicles. In addition, redesigned front pillars and door mirrors contribute to improved aerodynamic efficiency.

The numbers courtesy of Car magazine:

Engine: 2953 cc, four-cylinder turbodiesel
Power: 115 kW at 3 200 pm
Torque: 380 Nm at 1 800 rpm
Performance:
0 to 100 km/h: 14,9 secs
Top speed: 175 km/h
Fuel Consumption Index: 11,3 l/100 km
CO2 gm/km: 296
Price on date of report: R303 800
Warranty: 3 years/100 000 km with 3 years’ roadside assistance
Service plan: 5 years/90 000km. Servicing is at 10 000 km intervals

Test unit from Mazda SA press fleet

What We Do

This is a one-man show, which means that every car reviewed is given my personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.

Every test car goes through real world driving; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads or goat tracks as well. As a result, my test cars do occasionally get dirty. It's all part of the reviewing process.

I do my best to include relevant information like real life fuel economy or a close mathematical calculation, boot size or luggage space, whether the space is both usable and accessible, whether life-sized people can use the back seat (where that applies), basic specs of the vehicle and performance figures if they are published. In the case of clearly identified launch reports, fuel figures are of necessity the laboratory numbers provided with the release material.

If ever I place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with a very similar vehicle already, so you will be able to find what you want in another report under the same manufacturer's heading in the menu on the left.

Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. There are no advertisers and no “editorial policy” rules. I add bylines to acknowledge sponsored launch functions and the manufacturers or dealerships that provide the test vehicles.  And, as quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so you can see I do actually exist.

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