Australia’s seven most popular mid-size utes torture tested in the search for carsales’ Best Dual-Cab 4x4 Ute for 2022
- Which models made the cut?
- New and upgraded players
- The judging process
- Safety
- More on 4×4 Dual-Cab Ute safety here
- Technology
- More on 4×4 Dual-Cab Ute technology here
- Comfort and convenience
- More on 4×4 Dual-Cab Ute comfort and convenience here
- On-road performance
- More on 4×4 Dual-Cab Ute on-road performance here
- Off-road performance
- More on 4×4 Dual-Cab Ute off-road performance here
- Towing and payload
- More on 4×4 Dual-Cab Ute towing and payload here
- Ownership costs
- More on 4×4 Dual-Cab Ute ownership costs here
- Read the carsales Best Dual-Cab 4×4 Ute verdict here
Australia’s top-selling vehicle has been a ute – the Toyota HiLux – for more than five years and dual-cab 4×4 utes have long been the most popular models in a category that now accounts for more than 20 per cent of all new vehicles sold in this country. Not surprisingly, there’s intense competition among the leading brands, with the Ford Ranger a major threat to the HiLux reign and a mix of long-established and newer nameplates all attracting significant followings. As such, the Nissan Navara, Mitsubishi Triton, Mazda BT-50, Isuzu D-MAX and GWM Ute are all represented here. An all-new Ranger has just hit town too, and although it’s received rave reviews and built up a very long waiting list, the Blue Oval’s new ute has not been put through the rigours of carsales’ Best Cars program. Until now. This is the ultimate test of the best dual-cab 4×4 utes on the market, so let’s see how they fare…
Welcome to carsales’ Best Dual-Cab 4×4 Ute 2022 mega-test, where we drive the seven top-selling mid-size utes available in Australia today through a comprehensive evaluation program that exposes their strengths and weaknesses – and ultimately determines a winner.
Australia may have invented the ute, but it has taken more than 80 years for the design to really fire the imagination of new-vehicle buyers.
The strict definition of an Aussie ute – a car-based, single-cab tray-back like a Falcon or Commodore ute – has passed with the end of local manufacturing, but in its place a new force has emerged: larger mid-size 4×4 dual-cabs that are built on a more rugged ladder-frame chassis.
These utes might not be car-based, or built here, but they certainly carry the essence of what the pioneering Aussie ute was intended for – a multipurpose vehicle for work and play.
Today’s 4×4 dual-cabs are perfectly capable of undertaking the work tasks of many owners, while also serving as safe family transport, off-road playthings and/or towing vehicles for longer journeys.
Which models made the cut?
The wider dual-cab ute market is a diverse lot but we’ve concentrated on the seven best-selling mid-sizers.
This excludes full-size US pick-up trucks like the Chevrolet Silverado and RAM 1500, which occupy a different segment in terms of size and pricing.
The niche Jeep Gladiator and the more agricultural Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series were also left on the bench as neither is capable of truly fulfilling the family transport role that so many dual-cabs are now asked to perform.
Our seven contenders are all fitted with a four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine (no V6 Ranger here) and an automatic transmission, and priced as close to $60,000 as test vehicle availability would allow.
The most obvious omission is the Volkswagen Amarok, because the long-lived previous model (first seen here in 2011) is no longer available for testing and the new model remains several months away.
Others that missed the cut were cheaper utes like the LDV T60, Mahindra Pik-Up and SsangYong Musso, which don’t sell in large volumes.
That left us with a very close field:
• Ford Ranger
• GWM Ute
• Isuzu D-MAX
• Mazda BT-50
• Mitsubishi Triton
• Nissan Navara
• Toyota HiLux
New and upgraded players
The big news this year is the arrival of the new-generation 2022 Ford Ranger, while last year saw the entry of the GWM Ute for the first time along with all-new versions of the Isuzu D-MAX and Mazda BT-50.
The remaining utes have been around for some years, albeit with upgrades recently, or soon to come.
The current Mitsubishi Triton, released in 2015, received a major overhaul in 2019 and has just had a mild features update. An all-new Triton should be unveiled next year.
The Nissan Navara was upgraded for the fifth time in 2021 but is also basically the same NP300 ute that first arrived here in 2015.
The evergreen Toyota HiLux, also first landing in Australia in 2015, has been upgraded several times since, including recently. Both HiLux and Navara are expected to be replaced by all-new models by 2024.
Even with the best of intentions we can’t always obtain the precise specification we want for testing.
In our group of seven, the Mitsubishi Triton GSR was fitted with an optional alloy bull bar and orange leather upholstery, while the Toyota HiLux SR5 had the optional Premium Pack, which includes leather seats (powered and heated at the front).
These options were not significant enough to make a material difference to our judging process and therefore were not included in pricing or specification inclusions.
The judging process
We took all seven utes out into the field for a week of testing, which included measuring interior and cargo box space, driving them on- and off-road, and towing a 2600kg van behind each.
We also conducted unladen acceleration tests, recorded real-world fuel consumption and loaded them up with passengers and 400kg of payload to test their laden performance.
There isn’t an aspect of daily living with these utes that we haven’t put under the microscope.
What’s more, under our comprehensive Best Cars program, more than 150 data points for each ute are assessed across seven key categories.
These are: safety, technology, comfort and convenience features, on-road performance, off-road performance, payload and towing, and ownership costs.
Safety
The humble ute has moved on from the days of being a basic commercial vehicle. Private buyers are no longer prepared to miss out on car-based safety features and business fleets have increasingly stringent legal requirements to ensure their workers are safe – including when they drive a work ute.
All this has meant that light commercial utes are far more comprehensively equipped with safety measures, both in their active and passive safety features.
Even though a dual-cab ute is a far safer vehicle to be in than ever before, there are some significant and surprising distinctions between them in terms of safety.
More on 4×4 Dual-Cab Ute safety here
Technology
Long gone are the days when the only technology in a dual-cab was the AM radio and a 12-volt socket for the cigarette lighter.
Following the big shift in technology in the automotive industry generally, infotainment connectivity and audio features are as much a priority for dual-cab 4×4 utes as any other segment.
Yet given how quickly technology evolves today, some utes have kept up with the times better than others.
More on 4×4 Dual-Cab Ute technology here
Comfort and convenience
The market’s desire for a sophisticated dual-cab ute has been in place for a while now, but power windows and floor carpeting no longer define ute luxury.
There are evermore creature comforts – and practical features – being included with each ute’s generational change.
As you climb up the model walk of today’s utes you can appreciate the dizzying heights of specification they have reached.
Items like powered roll-top tray covers, heated seats and the like were not even dreamt of 10 years ago on a factory-standard ute. Now some buyers expect no less.
While some utes have all sorts of clever features to make living with them easier, others have kept a more spartan approach to comfort and convenience features.
More on 4×4 Dual-Cab Ute comfort and convenience here
On-road performance
Not so long ago, many new utes would knock the wind out of you just driving down a bumpy road (unladen). Their naturally-aspirated diesel engines were as slow as a wet weekend and cornering was only ever comfortably done with plenty of notice and caution.
But not anymore…
The dual-cab 4×4 ute has come a long way in a relatively short time, to the point where accomplished on-road performance and dynamics should be the rule, not the exception.
Responsive turbo-diesel performance is found across the board, but, as our testing reveals, there are significant distinctions between our contenders in not only acceleration but also how that performance is delivered.
Fuel consumption is an important factor in driving range when touring, and here too there are key differences.
Perhaps most importantly, every modern dual-cab handles and rides much better than it used to, but some have made significant strides – making them almost akin to a family SUV behind the wheel – while others lag behind.
More on 4×4 Dual-Cab Ute on-road performance here
Off-road performance
It’s fair to suggest that many of these 4×4 dual-cab utes will accumulate most of their kilometres trundling through the suburbs, but getting out in the bush for off-road recreation or simply negotiating a boggy worksite is an important part of their remit too.
All utes on test offer solid off-road traction, gearing, clearance and underbody protection, but there are some significant differences in how they perform when the road turns to dust.
More on 4×4 Dual-Cab Ute off-road performance here
Towing and payload
Towing ability is a vital component for the dual-cab 4×4 ute market.
Given that any ute suffers a compromise in maximum payload capacity when towing, we examine the weight thresholds to work out which vehicle has the best compromise, together with real-world stability, braking capability, engine performance and fuel consumption when towing.
Everyone assumes that dual-cab utes are built to carry literally a tonne of gear, but not many of these can match that four-figure sum.
We’ve not only loaded each ute with four occupants and 400kg of payload, but also broken down the specifications to tell you which utes can actually carry the most load, which have the tray size to take it and which make it easier to lash down and get at gear in the tray.
More on 4×4 Dual-Cab Ute towing and payload here
Ownership costs
As cost of living pressures rise, how much a ute will set you back after five years of ownership is an important consideration before signing the paperwork.
No matter how you plan to use your ute – for work, commuting or towing a caravan on family holidays – it’s important to know how much it will cost to service and what budget will be required for other routine expenses such as fuel, tyres, finance repayments, insurance and registration.
How generous is the factory warranty? What are the service intervals? Are there sweeteners such as free roadside assist?
Not least of all, what’ll the ute be worth when you’re ready to sell? Depreciation is typically the biggest cost of all when it comes to new vehicle ownership, so we’ve enlisted the valuation experts at RedBook to assess our contenders.
Indeed, we’ve crunched all the numbers and set out the key information at your fingertips.
More on 4×4 Dual-Cab Ute ownership costs here
Now let’s see which of our contenders is carsales’ Best Dual-Cab 4×4 Ute for 2022…
Best Dual-Cab 4×4 Ute 2022 contenders:
Ford Ranger XLT 2.0
GWM Ute Cannon-X
Isuzu D-MAX LS-U+
Mazda BT-50 SP
Mitsubishi Triton GSR
Nissan Navara PRO-4X
Toyota HiLux SR5
Read the carsales Best Dual-Cab 4×4 Ute verdict here
Keyword: Best Dual-Cab 4x4 Ute 2022