Power Wheels Magazine A Notch Above
Let’s get one thing straight: Pickup trucks are designed to be workhorses. Whether they are powered by a diesel engine, hybrid or electric motor, pickup trucks are meant to be workhorses. The common midsize 4-door crew cab pickup trucks that you see being driven around on our roads are designed to transport 5 people in relative comfort and carry around 1,000 kilograms of stuff in the short cargo bed. Some are equipped with just the bare essentials to effectively and efficiently go from one place to another, while others are fitted with features and amenities formerly reserved for high-end luxury cars.
Our 255-kilometer drive from Quezon City to Baguio City started with loading our luggage into the back seat since the cargo bed didn’t have a cover.
… And just like that, we were ready to go off into a driving adventure with the Mazda BT-50 3.0L AT 4×2!
Among the diesel-powered pickup trucks that we’ve reviewed thus far, the 2025 Mazda BT-50 3.0L AT 4×2 is probably the sportiest one that we’ve driven. We had the privilege of driving the BT-50 around 255 kilometers from Quezon City up to Baguio City to take a short vacation at the Baguio Country Club, drive 260 kilometers back, add another 220 kilometers to attend the Mazda Fan Festa 2025 at the Clark International Speedway in Pampanga and attend the 2nd General Assembly of the UST Mechanical Engineers Alumni Association inside the UST Campus in España, Manila. And we did it all with just one full tank of diesel fuel.
After less than 2 hours of spirited driving, we stopped at the Petron station on the northbound side along the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEX) in Victoria, Tarlac to stretch our legs…
… and grab some snacks at the Jollibee outlet there.
Sporty Mazda DNA
We can only guess that Mazda infused some sportiness into the BT-50, which is similar to the sporty DNA that they infuse into their sports cars, sports sedans and sport utility vehicles. Of course, the 3.0-liter intercooled turbocharged inline-4 diesel engine of our BT-50 4×2 with double overhead camshafts (DOHC) and 4-valves per cylinder (16V), and its 6-speed automatic transmission with manual mode played a crucial role in providing the sporty driving feel that we experienced on the tollways, and on the zigzags and mountain roads going up to Baguio City. With 187 horses on tap, our blue workhorse strode along the expressways and passed slower, more cumbersome vehicles with great ease.
3.0-liter inline-4 intercooled turbo diesel engine with DOHC and 16V churn out 187 hp and 450 Nm of torque for a sporty and spritely drive.
Going up steep inclines around Baguio City is a cinch with 450 Newton-meters of torque assisted by an electronic Hill Launch Assist (HLA) that keeps the BT-50 steady and prevents it from creeping backwards when going uphill. Similarly, Hill Descent Control (HDC) helps tackle steep downhill portions around Baguio City’s narrow streets. The front independent double wishbone suspension with stabilizer bars and rear rigid axle with leaf springs provide a ride that’s a bit stiff and choppy, especially when the BT-50 is loaded with just two front row occupants. But ultimately, the ride becomes sporty and exciting especially when tackling curves, which is uncommon for a tall pickup truck with 9 inches of ground clearance.
Meaty 255/65R17 Bridgestone Dueler H/T tires wrapped around 17-inch 10-spoke black alloy wheels provide the traction neeeded to put all the power and torque to the ground while providing great handling uncommon among tall pickup trucks.
Clean, Sporty Look
Our BT-50 4×2 got a genuine unsolicited praise from one of the country club’s frontline personnel when he said, “Wow, sir. Your pickup truck has a nice, clean look.” We concur that our Sailing Blue Metallic Mazda test truck is devoid of add-on accessories and styling doo-dahs that most pickup trucks nowadays are equipped with. Our BT-50’s front and rear fenders are shaped with enough curves and bulges not to need black plastic fender flares. The roof didn’t have a rack nor did the bed come with a roll bar. The black 17-inch wheels complemented the black trim, black grill, and body-colored bumpers, side mirrors, and door handles. It does look clean just seeing black and blue all around the truck.
We drove into the Baguio Country Club around 3:00 PM after a 4-hour drive from QC, a 1-hour lunch stop, and a few minutes of crawling traffic in Baguio City.
The hotel staff who welcomed us admired the “nice, clean look” of our Sailing Blue Metallic Mazda BT-50 4×2.
While others may find the clean, uncluttered look of our BT-50 4×2 leaning a bit towards the styling of base model variants, we find it sporty and efficient. From the front, it looks more like a sport sedan or SUV than a pickup truck. The squinty LED headlights and daytime running lights (DRL) cluster, the big bold black grill, the side air vents with LED driving lights, and the large Mazda logo in the center emphasizes what the company promotes as the foundation of the KODO design philosophy that infuses soulful elegance into a beloved workhorse. The side profile nicely integrates the three-box pickup truck design that defines the engine, passenger compartment, and cargo bed distinctly, yet with a decidedly sporty, rugged feel and defined character.
The front end of our BT-50 looks more like a high-performance European sport sedan than a utilitarian pickup truck.
When you get to the back of the BT-50, you’ll see that it is indeed a sporty midsize 4-door crew cab pickup truck with a short bed that looks elegant enough to drive to an exclusive country club.
That it can carry a ton of cargo while looking sporty and elegant is an added bonus.
Exclusive Interior for a Satisfying Drive
The Japanese carmaker proudly promotes the Mazda lifestyle as “defined from the inside out” with the interior design, materials and details carefully and thoughtfully laid out to provide an in-cabin experience like no other. Our BT-50 4×2 exemplifies the Mazda lifestyle with its ergonomic design, comfort and spacious feel amplified by the terracotta and black leather/suede interior that contrasts nicely with the blue exterior. The bespoke interior was made exclusively for the Philippine market with Leganu Suede seat inserts, terracotta stitching on the black leather steering wheel and center armrest, plus terracotta leather on the door armrests. No wonder the country club bellboy loudly exclaimed that our BT-50 test unit has a “nice, clean look” with no window tint hiding that eye-catching interior.
The terracotta leather seats with black Leganu Suede seat inserts kept us comfortable throughout the entire drive to and from Baguio, and the side trips that we made afterwards.
We didn’t have passengers during our Baguio drive but we’re sure that three people will find the back seat comfortable and spacious for the long drive.
While we would like our BT-50 4×2 to have the same amenities as the top-of-line 4×4 Pangolin variant, we found that the 6-way manual-adjust driver’s seat, 4-way manual front passenger’s seat, standard cruise control, 8-inch touchscreen infotainment controls, 6-speaker sound system, single-zone manual aircon controls and analog instrument panel with 4.2-inch LCD display were all more than enough for us to enjoy the long, long drives and multiple trips we made with this Mazda. In fact, flipping the manual day & night rear view mirror harkened us back to the good ol’ days when cars required the human driver’s touch instead of an automated system doing almost everything for you.
Like the rest of the vehicle, the cockpit of the BT-50 felt sporty and ergonomic enough for a long, exciting and spirited drive.
We had an enjoyable and relaxing drive around Camp John Hay and its adjacent mountain roads….
… but traffic in the City of Pines is becoming similar to Metro Manila – it’s heavy and crawling, especially during work week afternoons.
We’re just glad that there are brand new vehicles such as the 2025 Mazda BT-50 3.0L AT 4×2 that’s sporty, satisfying and safe to drive while remaining tactile and not overly techy. After being impressed with the latest advanced driver assistance technology in most modern vehicles that we’ve test driven, it feels good to go back to the basics, and experience a sporty drive in a workhorse that makes work feel more like fun. The trick now is to convince your business partner (or your better half) that you need a sporty pickup truck to augment your lifestyle and improve business efficiency while adding excitement to your everyday drive.
After driving the BT-50 for almost 800 kilometers in just 4 days, consider us Mazda fans!
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