BT-50 Tech Drive Series Three

Planning a caravan holiday with your Mazda BT-50?

Check out our latest Tech Drive video series.

Australians love caravanning. At the start of 2024, over 900,000 caravans and campervans were registered in Australia, 27 percent more than five years earlier.

These figures are unsurprising given the vast natural beauty Australia offers. Family holidays, outback adventures and even driving ‘The Big Lap’ have made caravans a centrepiece in the Great Aussie Road Trip. They have become the natural companion to Australia’s local vehicle icon, the ute.

The Mazda BT-50 has long been popular with Aussie ute buyers. It’s always delivered as a workhorse and family car during the week, and adventure machine on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays.

And it’s against this backdrop that Mazda presents its latest BT-50 Tech Drive video series, which delves into caravan towing.

Join Mark from Mazda Australia and Chris from Snowy River Caravans in this easy-to-follow video series that touches on some of the essentials – and some of the tools, including Mazda Australia’s Payload Calculator – BT-50 drivers should consider before hitching up their off-road ‘van and hitting Australia’s long country roads.

See you there.

Get to know the EBCs of Electronic Brake Controllers.

Sir Isaac Newton probably never towed a caravan but he certainly knew about inertia.

In fact, Newton’s First Law of Motion is referred to as the Law of Inertia. It says that if something’s standing still it won’t move unless it’s made to move, and if something’s already moving it will keep moving unless something makes it stop or change direction.

And here’s the tricky bit: the heavier something is, the more it will resist moving, slowing, stopping or changing direction.

You don’t need to be a physicist to know how this applies to towing a caravan.

A fully equipped off-road caravan can weight more than 2,000 kilograms, which means it needs its own brakes to help it slow and stop.

With up to 450 Nm of torque from as low as 1,600 RPM, the 3.0-litre Mazda BT-50 ute is a strong and comfortable towing partner, making it an ideal choice for caravan adventures. Among the many Mazda Genuine Accessories available for the BT-50 range is an Electronic Brake Controller (EBC) and breakaway harness.

When towing a heavy trailer or caravan that’s fitted with its own braking system, an EBC lets you control the effect of these additional brakes from the BT-50’s driver’s seat. The EBC is operated by a small rotary dial that can be turned to regulate the braking force offered by the caravan or trailer, helping to ensure its brakes deliver smooth and effective stopping performance in conjunction with the towing vehicle.

Click the video to discover more.

And check out the Mazda BT-50 Payload Calculator before loading up for your next caravan adventure.

Get to know these numbers before hitching up and heading off.

The Mazda BT-50 boasts some impressive figures and one of them is its maximum towing capacity, which is 3,500 kilograms with a braked trailer.

But there are some important weight-related numbers to consider before connecting any trailer and driving away.

In this video, Mark from Mazda Australia and Chris from Snowy River Caravans refer to some of the essential weight figures that you should know before towing something heavy, like an off-road ‘van.  

In Australia, the towing capacities for the 2025 Mazda BT-50 ute range are:

• Unbraked trailer: 750 kg
• Braked trailer: 3,500 kg
• Maximum tow ball download: 350 kg

Other important towing-related weights you need to consider include:

Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM): The total permissible weight of the vehicle, including occupants, fuel and cargo. The tow ball download weight is included in the GVM figure, which means towing a heavy trailer will reduce the amount of payload available in the vehicle.

Gross Combined Mass (GCM): The total permissible combined weight of the vehicle and trailer being towed, including occupants, fuel and cargo.

Aggregate Trailer Mass (ATM): The total weight of the trailer when carrying the maximum load specified by its manufacturer. This number includes weight imposed on the towing vehicle, which is usually at the tow ball and tow bar.

For legal and safety-related reasons you should never exceed these maximum specified figures

Mazda’s Payload Calculator helps simplify towing with the BT-50 by making it easier to understand and calculate these numbers. And Mazda Genuine Accessories offers a number of towing-related items that are ideal for caravan holidays.  

Click the video below for more about some of the numbers you need to know before heading away on your next caravan adventure.

Here are some tips before hitting the road with a heavy trailer.

Driving a vehicle connected to a heavy caravan requires preparation and care.

In this instalment of Tech Drive, Mark and Chris touch on some of the equipment and pre-drive checks to get you ready for the road ahead. They include:

• Checking and setting recommended tyre pressures
• Correctly connecting the caravan to the BT-50’s Mazda Genuine Accessories tow bar
• Removing the caravan’s jockey wheel for safety
• Checking the caravan’s lights and brakes work correctly
• Equipping yourself with the right accessories for the drive

Follow Mazda’s Payload Calculator when loading your BT-50 and check out the available range of Mazda Genuine Accessories.

And always remember that driving any vehicle with a heavy trailer like a caravan requires careful driver inputs and plenty of forward planning to maintain safe distances from other road users.

Click the video below for more.