BT-50’s big Northland adventure

Mazda’s new ute takes a big drive to the beach. Actually, lots of beaches.

The BT-50 looks over the entrance to Hokianga Harbour.

 Mazda BT-50 Limited

Price: $60,990

Powertrain and economy: 3.0-litre turbo-diesel four-cylinder, 140kW/450Nm, 6-speed automatic, 4WD, combined economy 8.1L/100km (as tested), CO2 208g/km.

Vital statistics: 5280mm long, 1870mm wide, 1790mm high, 3125mm wheelbase, 18-inch alloy wheels.

We like: Much improved ute design; driving manners almost SUV-like; impressive fuel economy; appealing price.

We don’t like: Some safety technologies are a bit intrusive; some electronic interfaces difficult to operate.

HERE’S a question that is almost impossible to answer: Which Northland beach is the most attractive?

Is it Mangawhai Heads, Langs Beach, or Waipu Cove? Sandy Bay or Ocean Beach near Whangarei? Is it one of those lovely beaches along what is dubbed the ‘Million Dollar View Road’?

Or maybe Coopers Beach or Taipa facing Doubtless Bay? Tokerau Beach or circular Maitai Bay on the Karikari Peninsula? Spirits Bay with its stunning sand right at the top? Ahipara Beach down the other side? Or maybe all the little coves along historic Hokianga Harbour?

It’s an extremely difficult choice. There are dozens of beaches and 10 major harbours along the region with the longest coastline – it stretches a massive 3200km – and at times it seems that each one is even more lovely than the one before.

I know all of this from having just toured quite a number of them in Mazda’s latest BT-50 ute.

Hokianga history. Hidden between a primary school and a bowling club at Kohukohu is a part-buried stone arch, the remnant of New Zealand’s oldest bridge, built in the 1840s using Sydney sandstone that was ship's ballast.and seen in this photo (below) taken in the 1860s.

Our Northland circuit was aboard the top BT-50, a 4x4 Limited, which at $60,990 achieves price advantage over almost all the competition, including the Isuzu D-Max equivalent, the X-Terrain. How’s that for re-setting retail thinking?

Mention also has to be made of the BT-50’s warranty. The ute’s new vehicle factory warranty covers five years or 150,000km, and Mazda NZ also offers a $250 fixed-cost servicing programme as well as on-call roadside assist, also for five years. That’s appealing. 

Our plan for the beach-hopping journey through our northern-most region was to keep off State Highway 1 as much as possible, instead tracking up the east coast all the way to Cape Reinga, and then back down the west coast to Northland’s southern border halfway down the Kaipara Harbour – and visit as many beaches as we could along the way.

That’s a lot of beaches …. and a lot of winding secondary road to get to them. But this was the very environment that underlined the improvements achieved with the new BT-50. At the Limited level it is very much a road-oriented ute, with its 18-inch Bridgestone Dueller 265/60 tyres combining with new electric power steering to offer nice driving balance.

Of course the fact the ute continues with the live rear axle with leaf springs setup that is common on one-tonne utes, meant things often became quite juddery when negotiating some badly corrugated unsealed beach access roads. But the BT-50 handling it all, and the ability to move into 4WD High at speeds of up to 100kmh gave additional handling security.

A carving of enigmatic Kupe guards the entrance to the new cultural centre at Opononi.

And engine grunt? The 3.0-litre four cylinder turbo diesel aboard the ute is all Isuzu, a manufacturer that prides itself for making solid truck engines. For this iteration the engine, which was aboard the previous D-Max, has undergone various internal improvements that have added 10kW of power and 20Nm of torque.

The engine now offers 140kW of power and 450Nm of torque, with that torque available from 1600rpm to 2600rpm, which is right in the revolutions zone that the BT-50 operated virtually all the time. So it worked well, with hardly any stresses on the six-speed automatic transmission. As a result, we completed our Northland journey with an average fuel consumption figure of 8.1 L/100km, which was almost right on the button of the claimed 8.0 L/100km for 4x4 models.

A feature of this new ute is that it carries more than 20 passive and active safety technologies as part of what is called Advanced Driver Assist System. It’s very comprehensive, and ranges from automatic emergency braking to cruise control with stop/go, traffic sign recognition and blind spot monitoring, hill descent control to trailer sway control.

Overlooking a sea of avocados in northern Northland.

Some of it is a bit intrusive. For example the traffic sign recognition system audibly lets you know every time you have moved in or out of every speed zone and also complains whenever you are just a few kays above the speed limit. Same with the lane departure warning system, which also tugs on the steering wheel whenever it judges the ute is starting to wander.

If can become a little tiresome. Still, from the safety perspective it is far better to have such features aboard than not. And they have all contributed to the BT-50 being recognised as among the safest utes on the New Zealand roads, carrying a five-star ANCAP crash safety rating.

As we tracked north and visited to some lovely beaches and historic harbours, we eventually got past Mangonui and its famous fish ‘n chip shop (which has just been renamed Mangonui Fush Shop, for heaven’s sake), and stopped for the night at Taipa.

Maitai Bay at the top of the Karikari Peninsula

Now here was a magnificent beach. White sand, gentle surf, views out across Doubtless Bay, and a new bridge across the river of a design reflective of a sea-going double hulled waka, all to acknowledge that Taipa was one of the first – if not the first – landing places by Kupe, the great Polynesian explorer and navigator who discovered and named Aotearoa more than 63 generations ago.

There’s also a monument alongside the bridge’s western abutment that is a combination of a Pou Whenua marking Kupe’s landing, and a memorial that commemorates locals who died during the two world wars.

Beauty, tranquility, history … it was all there at Taipa. We agreed these factors could combine to make it Northland’s most attractive beach.

But then a couple of days later we arrived in the historic Hokianga Harbour, and our thoughts began to unravel. Because there at the little settlement of Opononi was a brand-new visitor attraction called Manea: Footprints of Kupe, an impressive multi-sensory journey of guided storytelling that tells the tale of the voyage and life of our country’s original coloniser – who, claim local iwi, landed first at Hokianga and based himself there for 40 years before journeying back to Hawaiki.

Pohutukawas are a feature of Northland's beaches. They provide great shelter.

It’s interesting to note that there was some local opposition to the creation of Footprints of Kupe because of fears it would ruin the relaxed vibe that is such a feature of the Hokianga. But the facility, opened late last year, is brilliant. And even better news is that Te Hua o Te Kawariki, the charitable trust that operates the facility, represents the harbour’s four marae, and all profits are returned to these marae for community projects.

As we used our BT-50 to wander around the Hokianga and visit its series of villages such as Kohukohu, Rawene and Horeke, it became increasingly obvious that the harbour is a massive cradle of history – Maori and European – and that the Footprints of Kupe simply adds to that.

So we decided that even though Hokianga isn’t a beach per se, it is part of the regional coastline and its combination of beauty, community and history makes it Northland’s most attractive beach.

And as for the new Mazda BT-50? Well, I’d say its combination of design, performance, comfort and safety specification puts it right up there as one of New Zealand’s best utes and clearly my view is widely shared.

Whereas last year a total of 1812 BT-50s were sold, in the opening two months of this year 466 have been registered. If that rate continue, this line could end the year with close to 3000 sales.

Characterful speed signage outside The Marlin hotel at Whangaroa.

Mazda3 SkyActiv X: Lighter shade of hybrid

Combining beneficial petrol and diesel engine design elements and adding a degree of hybridisation lift this Mazda3 hatch.

Price: $51,995
Powertrain and economy: 2.0-litre four cylinder SkyActiv-X mild-hybrid petrol engine, 132kW/224Nm. Six-speed automatic transmission with Sport mode. Front-wheel drive. Combined fuel consumption 5.5 L/100km, CO2 127 grams/km.
Vital statistics: Length 4460mm, height 1435mm, width 1795mm, wheelbase 2725mm. Luggage space 295 litres. Wheels 18-inch black alloys, 215/45 R18 tyres.
We like:  Revolutionary new engine combines spark and compression ignition; mild hybrid helps things along; beautiful interior, excellent levels of specification.
We don’t like:  Those A-pillars; it’s early days yet, but CO2 emissions will still be too high.

THERE’S surely little doubt the Government will accept what is recommended in the Climate Change Commission’s interim report on how New Zealand can reduce its net carbon emissions to nil by 2050.

Realising this goal means that, amongst other things, it will adopt the recommendation to ban the importation of all fossil-fuelled light vehicles after 2032.

It’s a hard call, but the cold fact is that in order to achieve its emission reduction goals, our country has to do it.

Latest figures are for 2019. These show transport being responsible for 36.3 percent of all our emissions of long-lived gases, and that petrol and diesel-fuelled cars, SUVs and trucks were responsible for 91 percent of that.

Such emissions for that year were calculated to be 16.6 metric tonnes of CO2 equivalent (mt CO2-e).

 The Climate Change Commission’s big report says this must be reduced to 8.8 mt CO2-e by 2035 if New Zealand is to meet its 2050 target.

The only way for New Zealand to do it, says the report, is to go big on electric vehicles. It suggests the EV share of our country’s light vehicle fleet must reach 18 percent by 2025, 40 percent by 2027, 60 percent by 2028, 80 percent by 2030, and reaching the 100 percent by 2032.

That’s a big call, considering that last year less than two percent of all new vehicle registrations were EVs. In fact sales in 2020 of vehicles with any form of electrification accounted for just 9.2 percent of registrations, hybrids making up almost 80 percent of that.

Things didn’t change in the opening month of this year, either. January figures showed that registrations of 244 EVs represented just 1.7 percent of all new vehicle sales. So there’s a very long way to go, and it is obvious – as has been pointed out in the Climate Change Commission’s report – that it is going to require support and incentives from the Government.

Feebate scheme, anyone?

And here’s an interesting thing: while the report looks at everything through green-tinted glasses and is extremely EV-centric, it does offer a small dose of pragmatism. It suggests that while the national EV supply grows over the next few years, there will need to be a focus on importing more efficient internal combustion-engined vehicles, particularly hybrids.

That’s because the report’s suggested path forward assumes the average efficiency of ICE vehicles will improve by around 1 percent per year, to reach a 15 percent improvement by 2035.

Is that a big ask for the motor industry here? Not really. Greenhouse gas emissions from light vehicle exhausts have been falling in recent years anyway, with CO2 emissions down 21 percent between 2006 and 2019 (the 2020 figures are not yet available). So it’s a sitter that the emissions will continue to fall over the next few years as the manufacturers continue to continually improve their internal combustion-engined product.

An outstanding example is Mazda, which is committed to reducing CO2 emissions to 50 percent of 2010 levels by 2030 and to 90 percent by 2050. A major weapon in this strategy is the brand’s SkyActiv engine technology, which since 2012 has continually improved the efficiency of Mazda petrol and diesel engines.

So far we’ve had SkyActiv-G (petrol) and SkyActiv-D (diesel) engines, and now we’ve received first examples of SkyActiv-X, which is quite revolutionary because it combines the higher-revving performance of a petrol engine with the torque and fuel efficiency of a diesel.

The engine is hybridised, too. It features a mild hybrid system that uses a belt-driven integrated starter generator and a 20V lithium-ion battery to recycle energy recovered during deceleration and braking and use it to assist the engine.

First examples of SkyActiv-X are aboard highly-specified Takami versions of the Mazda3 hatch and its SUV sibling the CX-30.

They’re pricey at $51,995 and $54,990 which is $3200 and $4000 more expensive than the Limited versions of each model, but for the money they are chock-full of efficiency, safety and comfort technology.

So how does SkyActiv-X work? Spark Controlled Compression Ignition (SPCCI) is a new technology that compresses the fuel-air mix at a high ratio, with a very lean mix. The engine uses a spark to ignite only a small and dense amount of the mix in the cylinder, which raises both temperature and pressure so that a remaining fuel-air mix ignites under pressure like a diesel, burning faster and more completely than in conventional engines.

The result is up to 30 percent more torque than the current SkyActiv-G petrol engine, better fuel efficiency than the current SkyActiv-D, and a power increase of 10 percent.

In the case of the Mazda3 we’ve been driving, this translates to an official average consumption figure of 5.5 L/100km and CO2 emissions of 135g/km. Unusually this figure is accurate too, because it is exactly what I achieved over a lengthy journey of several hundred kilometres.

By way of comparison, the 2.0-litre SkyActiv-G Mazda3 GSX is rated at 6.2 L/1`00km, while the 2.5-litre GTX and Limited models are rated at 6.6 L/100km. It must be said however that the SkyActiv-X model runs on 95 octane petrol while the others drink 91.

To my eyes this hatchback’s performance is more akin to the 2.5-litre model than the other 2.0-litre version, and this is underlined by the power and torque figures. The SkyActiv-X model offers 132kW of power which isn’t much short of the 139kW developed by the 2.5, and while maximum torque of 224Nm is less than the 2.5-litre model’s 252Nm, it gets there at 3000rpm which is  1000rpm further down the revs range.

As a result the hatch offers a nice spread of torque at open road speeds. This is particularly the case when the Sport mode is engaged, which enhances the vehicle’s accelerator response. But when in Normal mode and cruising at normal highway cruise speeds, the SkyActiv-X model is almost diesel-like in the relaxed way it lopes along.

The M Hybrid system is interesting.

Mazda has replaced the alternator and starter motor with the integrated starter generator (ISG), which captures energy that would normally be wasted during braking. This electrified energy is stored in a lithium-ion battery and then used to power electrical systems and assist the engine under acceleration by offering an additional 5 to 6 kilowatts. The result is improved efficiency and a smoother driving experience.

The ISG also has an involvement in the hatchback’s i-Stop system, which is unusual because it is able to shut the engine down before the vehicle comes to a complete halt – in fact, the i-Stop kicks into action as soon as the vehicle’s speed gets below 20 kmh. It’s all in the interests of keeping the engine stopped longer so less fuel can be used.

Then when the Mazda3 is about to move off again, the ISG operates as a starter motor to provide a quick and very quiet restart.

Dislikes? None really. Just like the other Mazda3 models, this version continues to have very thick A-pillars that can hamper views when turning, but you get used to it. And while the jury remains out for some regarding the ‘car as art’ exterior look of the vehicle with its large rump, there’s no arguing at all about the interior – its uncluttered  design is beautiful.

At the Takami level the vehicle features a 360-degree view monitor for ease of parking and for negotiating into tight spots, and there’s also a reversing camera with dynamic guide lines that bend when you turn the steering wheel.

From the comfort perspective there is black leather seat trim – burgundy is an option – and a black cabin theme, a frameless automatic interior mirror, and even a steering wheel heater. Outside, the visual clues that this is the takami model are 18-inch black alloy wheels, larger exhaust pipes, and SkyActiv-X badging on the rear.

But overall, the visual treatment is all quite low-key – which is no doubt just how Mazda wants it, preferring instead to let the vehicle go about its work in an unobtrusive sort of way as it works to play its part in the Japanese brand achieving its environmental targets.

But will the Mazda3 SkyActiv-X M-hybrid meet the Climate Change Commission’s very tough targets?

Mazda Motor Corporation believes that most new cars will still have an internal combustion engine for many years to come, and it is using worldwide new passenger vehicle sales to underline that belief.

The corporation points out that international research forecasts that even by 2030, battery and fuel-cell EVs will account for just 10 percent of the 130 million vehicles that are expected to be built. All the rest will be ICE models – but of those, better than half will be electrified in some way.

So with that as background, it’s obvious we will have hybrids of various forms – including SkyActiv-X and its successors – for some years yet. Ironically they will need to improve too, if they are going to meet the Climate Change Commission’s green ambitions for New Zealand motoring.

‘Little Limpopo’ in Te Popo – an African adventure in deepest Taranaki

Ford’s latest Escape is an appealing touring vehicle. The ST Line X flagship is taken on safari.

TE Popo Gardens was established 45 years ago in hill country east of the central Taranaki town of Stratford.

Over the years it has been developed so it now covers 13 hectares, has a café and camping area, and offers bed and breakfast accommodation.

In recent times current owners Les and Amanda Heynie have taken it all to a new level – they have placed a series of life-sized galvanised iron sculptures of African wildlife throughout the gardens.

At the entrance you’re met by an antelope. Further along the driveway there’s a rhino quietly grazing. Close to the café a jaguar is chasing down a wildebeest. Nearby there’s a hippo in a pond. Two adult elephants with a youngster. A giraffe family. Two sparring gemsbok.

It’s all very impressive. The Heynies’ hail from South Africa, and during a visit there a couple of years ago they discovered a street vendor offering the sculptures for sale. So they purchased the lot, and had them put into a shipping container and sent to New Zealand.

And now they populate Te Popo Gardens, which is about 13 km east of Stratford along winding country roads through Taranaki hinterland. It all goes to show how international the world is becoming – a South African couple working to put their country’s touch to an iconic regional garden in Aotearoa.

Motor vehicles are totally international these days too, and the Ford Escape ST Line X we used to visit the gardens is a classic example.

The first Escape, which was launched in 2001, was a joint venture between Ford and then Ford majority-owned Mazda, essentially marrying the underpinnings of the Mazda 626 sedan with a range of Ford powertrains.

 That model was sold as the Ford Escape and the Mazda Tribute in many parts of the world including New Zealand. But then the nameplate disappeared in this country - Mazda went its own way and began developing its own CX range of SUVs, while Ford concentrated on selling the larger Aussie-built Territory.

It wasn’t until 2013 that a medium-sized Ford SUV returned, but this time it was sourced from Europe and therefore carried the European name of Kuga. That name remained until 2017 when the model underwent a heavy facelift and the decision was made to revive the Escape badge.

Now a brand-new fourth-generation model is on sale, and it maintains this convention.

It also retains a few other things too, all of which underlines the international-ness of today’s motoring – it continues to be sourced from Valencia in Spain, and it is still powered by a 2.0-litre four cylinder turbocharged and direct-injected EcoBoost engine that is also made in Spain.

And that means this model continues a tradition of being one of the most powerful medium SUVs on the market. That’s particularly the case with the model we used for our visit to that New Zealand garden with the South African touch; the paint hue being called Rapid Red seemed appropriate as it certainly made good use of the 183kW of power and 387Nm of torque on tap.

This Escape is al-wheel drive and runs on big 19-inch alloys shod with 225/55 R19 tyres, and the suspension is sports tuned. The Ford offers selectable drive modes which includes Sport, and if you hit an M button on the vehicle’s rotary gearshift you are able to operate its eight-speed automatic manually by using paddle shifters.

So the latest Escape has the ability to scoot along, with excellent low-down torque thanks to its turbocharging, which in many respects belies outward appearances that, while more swept than the model it replaces, are still quite conservative. A wolf in sheep’s clothing, perhaps?

That isn’t to say the new Escape isn’t attractive, because it is. It is longer, wider and 83mm lower than the previous model, and that helps make it one of the best-looking medium SUVs on offer. Actually it looks very much like an enlarged Focus hatch, which makes sense as both vehicles are built off the same platform.

The interior is well-designed and quite Focus-like, too. That makes it significantly different to the Escape it replaces, with the major features including that rotary shifter instead of a traditional gearshift, and at the ST-Line X level a 12-inch full LCD instrument cluster.

Escape also features some design elements that I really like because they give a point of difference between the Ford and most other choices in the burgeoning medium SUVs segment.

For example, I really liked the little rubber arms that pop out of the doors whenever they are opened, which helps protect paintwork in places such as supermarket carparks. I also appreciated a sliding rear seat that can be moved back and forward to provide a choice of more cargo room or more rear leg room.

Another example of good industrial design is a tonneau cover that is attached to the rear glass so it moves out of the way when the rear hatch is lifted up.

The new Escape carries a very high level of convenience and safety specification too, particularly at the ST-Line X level which carries a retail price of $55,990. Just about every state-of-the-art safety, security and driver assistance item is aboard this SUV, which helps give it a five-star Ancap safety rating.

But there are some downsides with this latest Ford.

One is that, like the Escape it replaces, its fuel economy is quite high. The vehicle is rated to run on 95 octane petrol, and while its official combined fuel economy is 8.6 L/100km in actual practice it is higher than that.

Another slight downside is that despite the sportier intent of the ST-Line X version of the Escape, it’s not really a sporty SUV. Not really.

That begs an obvious question as to whether family-oriented medium-sized SUVs are meant to be sporty anyway. No they are not, just as these days such vehicles aren’t designed to be off-road capable. I mean, there’s no way I’d want to take this Escape, with its 18-inch low profile tyres and 178mm ground clearance, across too much rough ground.

But what the new Escape is, is a spacious and comfortable SUV full of convenience and safety aids, all there to help provide a very good motoring experience. Just the ticket to cruise New Zealand and visit surprise attractions such as those gardens at Te Popo with all its African animal sculptures.