Best Dual-Cab 4x4 Ute 2022: Comfort and convenience

At first blush, the seven contenders for carsales’ Best Dual-Cab 4x4 Ute 2022 would seem to have much the same comfort and convenience features, but as you drill down you discover there are plenty of differences.

To begin with, all have dusk-sensing headlights and rain-sensing windscreen wipers, and automatic high beam is standard on all but two models – the GWM Ute Cannon-X and Toyota HiLux SR5.

Air-conditioning is par for the course, but occupants’ control over the climate control system varies.

Dual-zone climate control is enjoyed in five models – the Ford Ranger XLT 2.0, Isuzu D-MAX LS-U+, Mazda BT-50 SP, Mitsubishi Triton GSR and Nissan Navara PRO-4X – which, again, leaves the GWM Ute and Toyota HiLux as the odd ones out, with just single zone operation.

Most of our dual-cab on test have adjustable air vents in the rear of the centre console, the exception being the Mitsubishi Triton which offers ceiling vents with adjustable fan speed.

If you’ve never used heated seats they might sound like an extravagance, but jump into a cold ute in the dead of winter and you soon appreciate their worth. Among our contenders, only the GWM Ute, Isuzu D-MAX and Mazda BT-50 were equipped with heating for the front seats as standard.

The luxury of leather or leather-accented seats is offered in all-comers here bar the Ford Ranger XLT, which at this model grade has cloth trim only.

The Ranger and the Navara are also the only utes to miss out on power adjustment for the driver’s seat, while on the flipside the GWM Ute is the sole model with an electric-adjust front passenger seat too.

All have power-adjustable and heated side mirrors, and all but one (HiLux) offer power folding too.

Keyless entry and start is standard for all our contenders, with the Ford Ranger and Mazda BT-50 also offering remote engine start.

The Ford Ranger takes this level of functionality further with the FordPass smartphone app, which offers features such as identifying vehicle location and remote locking/unlocking.

The Ranger XLT also is the only vehicle among our seven contenders with a full digital dash display.

As you’d expect, power windows are standard everywhere, but only the GWM Ute offers an auto function for all windows. The Ford Ranger has this feature for both front windows, leaving the rest to simply off auto functionality for the driver only.

All the utes here are equipped with side steps, with just the GWM Ute and Mazda BT-50 having roof rails as standard.

Alloy wheels are standard across the board with a full-size matching spare alloy wheel on Ranger, BT-50, Triton and HiLux; the rest get a full-size steel spare.

All the rear seats in these utes fold in some way, but there are plenty of differences that give some a storage advantage.

The Triton’s seat cushion does not lift up for improved storage, just the full seatback drops down. The Navara and HiLux do the opposite; the rear seatback is fixed but the base of the bench seat folds up. In the case of the HiLux, the base is in a 60/40 split.

For the rest of our contenders, the seatback folds down and the base will lift up too. The GWM Ute is the best-resolved, offering a proper 60/40-split folding operation like a wagon, so you can have occupants using part of the seat while folding the other portion up as required for cargo.

The Isuzu D-MAX and Mazda BT-50 have a one-piece folding seatback, but the base is split 50/50.

Best Dual-Cab 4x4 Ute 2022 – Comfort and convenience