Best Bakkie 2022 Top Three: Mahindra Karoo, Mazda BT-50 & Mitsubishi Triton
Like any beauty pageant, there comes a time to cut it down to the queen and her princesses. So let’s get down to that top three.
Big scalps first
Some may be surprised to see the Hilux and the Ranger missing. The Ranger is easy – they have already shown us the new one. And the Hilux won the last, lockdown Best Bakkie and our rules prevent us from the reigning champion from being considered a second year on the trot. We included it for reference.
Next to go is the GWM. A grand effort, it has two problems. Too much on one side and too little on the other. It can drive itself, but who needs that in a bakkie? Never mind those almost indelible systems interfere so badly that they ruin the ride. And then there’s the too little bit. P series lacks severely in two of the most important bakkie parameters of them all. Payload and towing ability. Which flies right in the face of its ‘more’ promise…
The next one was perhaps the most difficult Best Bakkie choice of the lot. It came down to the Nissan losing out in the end. Almost by a short straw, but not quite. We found the Navara had a few more negatives than on the bakkie it had to beat to go through. Simple as that. Which leads us to the 2022 Best Bakkie top three. As always, we will attack them alphabetically. As it happens, by the second and third letters of their makers’ names…
And then there wAS THE TOP three
The Mahinda being here may surprise some people. But to be honest, it’s a shining example of what a bakkie really should be. So considering our motto this year is what is a bakkie, you really shouldn’t be surprised. Pik Up not only delivers brilliantly on what a bakkie is supposed to do – which is first and foremost work, but it does so most impressively too. And then it matches most of the gadgets, gizmos and goodies the rest offer. At half the price! So yes, laugh if you want to, but this Indian bakkie fools nobody. It is first and foremost a bakkie!
Next up, the Mazda. Importantly, it’s the only really new bakkie in this lot. New chassis, new body, new engine. The lot. It’s another bakkie that has no pretensions. Except perhaps for its maker’s refusal to admit that it actually is a darn good bakkie. Even if Mazda thinks it’s something else completely! The BT-50 also scored consistently well against its rivals here when rated against them in price versus fuel economy, load and towing ability, output, and performance. And then we liked it a lot too. A worthy Best Bakkie finalist indeed.
Last of all the Mitsubishi. Now Triton is a previous Best Bakkie winner and as we mentioned above, an old winner will not do it again. Bit still, it delivers mightily on all aspects just as well as it did new, a few years down the line. It’s still our bakkie test performance champion and continues to be an incredible bakkie bargain. Enough to beat both the Hilux and the Ranger into the top three, as we believe it really deserves to be here. Maybe Mitsubishi lags in dealer representation countrywide, but every other aspect of the Triton has us convinced. It’s still a five star attraction.
Meet Best Bakkie 2022 tomorrow
So there we have it. Which of the top three; Mahindra Pik Up Karoo, Mazda BT-50 and Mitsubishi Triton will be Best Bakkie 2022. Come back tomorrow to find out!
Best Bakkie 2022 Index Introduction Ford Ranger 2.0bT DC 4x4 Stormtrak GWM P Series 2.0TD DC LT 4x4 Mahindra Pik Up 2.2 CRDe DC 4x4 Mazda BT-50 1.9TD DC Active A Mitsubishi Triton 2.4DI-D DC 4x4 Nissan Navara 2.5DDTi DC PRO-2X Toyota Hilux 2.8GD-6 DC 4x4 Legend RS A Best Bakkie 2022 Top 3 Best Bakkie 2022 Winner