LDV T60 Max 2022 Review

The entry-level 2022 LDV T60 Max Pro sells from $41,042 drive-away in MY23 guise or $45,779 as the better-appointed T60 Max Luxe. An auto transmission adds $2105.

Those prices represent an increase of about 10 per cent over MY22 models. ABN holders get a circa-five-per-cent discount.

The Chinese brand has also introduced a full-electric version of the ute, dubbed the LDV eT60, but it’s an altogether different proposition at $92,990 plus on-road costs.

The 2022 LDV T60 Max update for MY23 brings some minor equipment additions across the range, including side steps and roof rails as standard as well as paddle shifters for the auto transmission.

The Pro also now gets a silver sports bar to add to its 17-inch wheels, cloth trim on the seats, single-zone ventilation and rear parking sensors.

The Luxe adds a 360-degree camera, partial leather trim (it’s a mix of real and fake leather), smart key entry, electric-adjust front seats, auto-folding exterior mirrors, auto-dimming interior mirror, rear differential lock and 19-inch alloys. There’s a full-size spare tyre, but it’s mounted on a steel rim.

The two T60 Max models look quite different courtesy of their details. Whereas the Pro has a more traditional ute look – with silver design highlights – the Luxe adds prominent wheel-arch flares and a sizeable sail plane. These elements are finished in black, as are the roof rails, side steps, wheels and front underbody protection.

The MY23 LDV T60 also now comes with a seven-year/200,000km warranty, which means it outguns most rivals.

Servicing is required every 12 months or 15,000km, although pricing details are still to be confirmed.

The 2022 LDV T60 gets a five-star ANCAP safety rating, which was achieved in 2017 – before the testing requirements were toughened.

It performed well in occupant protection, with good frontal offset and side impact scores. That comes courtesy of a crashworthy structure and six airbags.

However, the T60 falls short on active safety systems, which can help avoid a crash in the first place.

There’s no autonomous emergency braking (AEB) or blind spot warning, for example.

But it does come with a driver attention monitor and, for Luxe models, a lane departure warning system.

The 2022 LDV T60 gets a 10.25-inch infotainment system with Apple CarPlay connectivity.

The lack of Android Auto means those with an Android phone need to hook up with Bluetooth or the QDLink system.

There’s a basic six-speaker sound system with AM/FM tuning (no digital radio) and two USB ports.

The touch-screen is a decent size but can sometimes be clumsy to navigate. Adjusting the volume (which can also be done via buttons on the steering wheel) requires the press of a button to bring up a menu before adjusting the virtual slider.

There’s a 360-degree camera, although the image isn’t overly clear.

The instrument cluster has old-school dials, and while there’s a digital speedo splitting the traditional speedo and tacho, it’s a small monochrome unit.

Under the bonnet of the 2022 LDV T60 Max is a 2.0-litre four-cylinder twin-turbo diesel engine making 160kW and 500Nm. They’re thoroughly respectable numbers, especially considering the capacity of the engine.

It drives through an eight-speed auto transmission (a manual is also available) sourced from ZF. The new model gets paddle shifters on the steering wheel, although left to its own devices it does a decent job of plucking an appropriate ratio.

The engine is old-school grumbly, with a diesel clatter to let you know it’s working. The noise deepens when underway but is a constant, even on light throttle.

There’s also a torque-on-demand four-wheel drive system that provides additional traction as it’s required. It’s a handy system that means no need to switch between two- and four-wheel drive.

We tested it briefly off-road and it seemed to figure out when to engage the front wheels, although some turbo lag occasionally made it tricky to feed power on smoothly.

Dropping it into 4L – with low-range ratios – helped with throttle applications and made it easier to attack hills and slow-speed rocky areas.

When there’s a loss of traction and the system diverts drive to wheels with grip, there’s some pronounced graunching as the electronics try to sort things out.

Claimed combined-cycle fuel economy for automatic versions of the 2022 LDV T60 Max is 9.3L/100km.

That’s at least 10 per cent more than many dual-cab 4x4 rivals, albeit models that are more expensive to get into in the first place.

An equally important metric with an off-road ute is how far it will go between top-ups.

The 73-litre fuel tank should theoretically provide something like 780km of range. But that’s assuming you can meet that claimed average, which is often tricky (we weren’t behind the wheel long enough to get real-world figures).

We’d be betting something like 650km would be closer to the mark. That’s respectable, but most rivals better it.

The 2022 LDV T60 Max is getting on in life – a replacement is expected in a couple of years – and that age shows in some of the T60’s driving dynamics.

Our drive of this updated model was only brief and involved a short country road stint before some slow-speed off-road work.

The on-road component was enough to learn that while the T60 doesn’t bite dynamically, it’s also not exactly rewarding.

There’s some kickback through the steering wheel as the rack occasionally rattles over bumps. There’s also some deadness to the steering load off-centre.

The lane departure warning system loves to beep if you’re not bang in the centre of the lane – somewhat of a challenge on pothole-riddled narrow country roads – but it can easily be switched off.

By unladen dual-cab ute standards, the body settles well enough over bumps, although the suspension tune is relatively firm, so you’ll feel every ripple.

We trialled the 2022 LDV T60 Max Luxe on some rocky and occasionally muddy tracks. There was nothing particularly challenging so it tackled it all fine, but it was enough to learn how some of the systems worked.

First, some numbers. The T60 Luxe has 215mm of ground clearance, which is respectable but not class-leading. There’s a metal tray protecting the front mechanicals, including the sump.

Its rated wading depth is 550mm, which is well off the class best, but there are plenty of aftermarket options to fit a snorkel, which should allow for deeper water crossings.

The approach angle is 27 degrees and the departure angle 24.2 degrees, and there’s a ramp-over of 21.3 degrees.

The on-demand four-wheel drive system on the T60 Max means you don’t have to worry about selecting 4WD yourself. Much of the time it may only be driving the rear wheels, but it’ll work out when to bring the front wheels into play without any intervention from the driver.

Be prepared for some unusual noises, though. The traction control is super-loud when it kicks in, grinding and graunching as it tries to apportion drive to the wheels with grip.

Even then, during our brief drive it didn’t seem overly slick at searching for traction, occasionally requiring extra throttle to coax the electronics to do their job.

Like most utes, the Continental tyres are designed predominantly for road use, so will slip and slide in mud.

The twin-turbo engine has some lag that is more noticeable in an off-road scenario when you’re trying to finesse the power delivery, something that makes feeding on throttle that bit trickier.

Not much happens initially, and if you push the throttle harder calling for more it can then spool the turbos too much, leading to a quick lift from the accelerator to calm things down.

It’s not as progressive as some, but it’s something that can be partially tamed by selecting 4L, for low range. The low-range gearing provides additional control in steep or slow situations, making for easier progress.

There’s also a rear ‘on demand’ diff lock that’s designed to engage automatically at speeds below 30km/h. Most of our off-roading was below that speed, so presumably it kicked in over some of the more challenging sections. There were plenty of tight turns when it was definitely disengaged, making it easier to tuck the vehicle between trees.

The years have taken their toll on the LDV T60, which is clearly built to a price.

There’s an abundance of hard plastics and some basic finishes that lack the fizz of fresher rivals. But the basics are honest, including decent storage and an old-school manual handbrake.

A binnacle on top of the dash is handy for pens and notebooks, while the centre console provides a refuge for valuables.

Plus, there are occasional neat touches like the cup holders that slide out of each side of the dash – although how they’ll go with years of the rugged tradie touch remains to be seen.

The front seats have some red stitching on them but lack lateral support. There’s less of a sense of sitting in them and more sitting on them.

Rear seat passengers get air vents, and there’s great headroom, in part because the seat base is quite low, which means you’re closer to the floor. The long-legged could find their knees are uncomfortably high.

The load tray is unchanged with this latest update and comes with four tie-down points. But there’s now a strut on the tailgate to give it a soft-opening function. It works beautifully for lowering the tailgate, but requires more muscle to close it.

While the Pro version of the T60 Max has a payload of up to 935kg, in the Luxe it’s more modest, at just 750kg.

Maximum braked towing capacity is 3000kg.

MY23 price rises have taken some of the gloss off the showroom appeal of the 2022 LDV T60 Max – or, at least, the ability to get people to wander into the showroom ahead of better-known rivals.

But in the Luxe model it’s countered by a more aggressive aesthetic package that for some will save a trip to an aftermarket supplier.

It’s a good-looking truck, albeit one that lacks the polish, tech and safety kit of the top sellers in the market.

The addition of a seven-year warranty adds to the T60’s appeal, though, which is still there for those on a tighter budget.

MY23 LDV T60 Max Luxe auto at a glance:
Price: $47,884 (drive-away)
Available: Now
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder biturbo-diesel
Output: 160kW/500Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 9.3L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 244g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP 2017)