ADVICE – HOW MUCH CAN I TOW WITH THE NEW MAZDA BT-50
Credits via PracticalMotoring.com.au
Mazda has revealed all of the official specs on its new model, so we can calculate its equivalent tow figures too.
All this is explained in our All You Need to Know About Towing article, but using the Mazda BT-50 XTR dual-cab 4×4 automatic as an example (all weights in kg):
2021 Mazda BT-50 XTR dual-cab 4×4
Tare 2030
You 75
Passenger 75
Cargo 250
Total weight of the vehicle 2430
Caravan
Caravan tare weight 2000
Additional gear 500
Estimated total trailer weight 2500
Required towball mass 250
Car spec
GCM 5950
GVM 3100
Max tow weight (braked) 3500
Max towball mass 350
To explain:
The Mazda BT-50 XTR 4×4 weighs 2030kg. With you and a passenger in it plus 250kg of gear, that’s 2430kg.
The caravan and its gear come in with a total weight of 2500kg.
The gross combined mass (GCM) of the two is 4930kg, a healthy 1020kg less than the maximum 5950kg GCM for the Mazda.
Next, we need to look at the max tow weight. For the new BT-50 XTR, that’s 3500kg (braked). Again, we’re within limits at 2500kg for your loaded trailer.
So we have a factory 5950kg GCM and a 2500kg trailer. To find the maximum you can carry in the Mazda BT-50, we take 2500kg away from the GCM of 5950kg, leaving 3450kg. The weight of the BT-50 XTR with you, a passenger, and 250kg of gear is 2430kg. So there’s an additional 1020kg payload left for gear.…
However, the gross vehicle mass (GVM) is 3100kg, so you can’t have 3450kg, that’s 350kg too much. That leaves 670kg for payload. Except we need to think about the towball mass…
The towball mass is tricky. That doesn’t count as part of the GCM as the towball mass is already accounted for as part of the trailer. However, the towball mass does count towards the towcar’s GVM. So, if we add 250kg to the towcar’s mass we get 3100kg+250kg = 3350kg. This is obviously more than the 3100kg GVM ( 250kg more).
This means you must take 250kg from that 670kg payload. That leaves 420kg, or approximately 170kg more than the planned 250kg planned.
To recap:
You can safely tow 2500kg with the Mazda BT-50 XTR, and with a driver and passenger who both weigh 75kg, you still have a total 420kg of payload left in the BT-50 XTR to load up gear… or people and gear.
However, all the above are approximate and you need to double-check all figures once you’ve decided exactly what towcar and trailer you’ll get, and determine precisely your extra load. This answer is just a guide.