LDV T60 Max Plus 2024 Review

The 2024 LDV T60 Max Plus tops the Chinese brand’s ute line-up for the grand sum of $50,516 drive-away for the automatic dual-cab variant driven here.

In hero ute terms, that’s a bargain, upwards of $20,000 cheaper than the Toyota HiLux GR Sport ($74,310 plus ORCs), Mazda BT-50 Thunder ($74,095 plus ORCs) and the Navara PRO-4X Warrior ($70,765 plus ORCs), not to mention $40,000 cheaper than the Ford Ranger Raptor ($90,440 plus ORCs).

A cheaper manual version of the T60 Max Plus is priced at $48,411 drive-away, or you can get the Megatub version offering a larger tray for $52,095 drive-away.

Within LDV’s ute line-up, the T60 Max Plus sits above the regular T60 Max Pro (from $41,042 drive-away) and the T60 Max Luxe (from $45,779 drive-away), while at the other end of the spectrum is the electric LDV eT60 ute, which at $92,990 drive-away sets a big price tag for an EV offering that frankly needs more work.

The 2024 LDV T60 Max Plus covers a lot of the equipment expected of a flagship ute, almost in spite of its $50K price tag.

Standard fare includes 18-inch alloy wheels with a steel spare, LED headlights/daytime running lights, side steps, a lockable tailgate, auto-folding/heated side mirrors, keyless entry/start, heated and electrically adjustable front seats, electric park brake, a heated steering wheel, synthetic leather upholstery, single-zone climate control, an auto-dimming rear-view mirror and much more.

Visually, the LDV T60 Max Plus is differentiated from other models with tinted headlights, a sailplane bar in the tray, black accenting and its larger black alloy wheels.

The LDV T60 Max Plus is backed by a seven-year/200,000km factory warranty and five years’ roadside assist (unlimited kilometres). There’s no capped-price servicing program for the ute, which is required back at the workshop every 12 months/15,000km.

It depends somewhat on whether you’re purchasing a manual or automatic version of the 2024 LDV T60 Max Plus.

The manual version gets the usual safety acronyms (ABS, ESC, etc) plus six airbags, a fatigue reminder and attention assist, tyre pressure monitoring, a 360-degree panoramic camera, reversing camera, and front and rear parking sensors.

The automatic version adds autonomous emergency braking (AEB), lane departure warning, lane keep assist and adaptive cruise control, making it a much more appealing proposition.

No versions of the LDV T60 Max Plus offer rear cross traffic alert or blind spot monitoring.

What’s more, the drive experience is beset with constants beeps and bongs from the speed limit monitoring and lane keep assist functions, so much so that we chose to turn them off each and every time we drove the vehicle.

This issue isn’t exclusive to LDV, but is rather part of a growing trend in intrusive and ultimately distracting safety tech.

The T60 still carries a five-star ANCAP safety rating based on testing conducted back in 2017. This will expire at the end of 2024.

The 2024 LDV T60 Max Plus takes a big step forward with its in-car technology, introducing two new displays which sit atop a sweeping dashboard redesign that almost cocoons the front occupants.

A 12.3-inch touch-screen display resides on the left, controlling infotainment and offering Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, Bluetooth, and AM/FM radio.

To the immediate right is a separate 12.3-inch driver’s display conveying key driving information – some of it a little superfluous, if we’re honest.

Like Tesla, the LDV’s instrument cluster projects a digital image of what’s happening in front and beside the car, including surrounding vehicles, objects and lane markings. But the system doesn’t always pick up objects and is more a distraction than any kind of help.

Moreover, the almost exclusive focus on touch-screen navigation rids the T60 of most traditional dials and switchgear. This means you spend a lot of time delving through screen sub-menus, which is ultimately distracting.

Otherwise, the T60 Max Plus offers a wireless phone charging pad, mounted atop its raised centre console, together with three USB ports (two up front and one in the rear).

Doing duty under the bonnet of the 2024 LDV T60 Max Plus is the ubiquitous 160kW/500Nm 2.0-litre four-cylinder twin-turbo diesel engine, mated to a choice of a six-speed manual or eight-speed automatic transmission.

LDV has remapped the engine in a move designed to ensure a “more linear power delivery”, but the real-world translation is mixed, as we’ll detail in the driving impressions.

There’s a part-time four-wheel drive system offering 2H, 4H and 4L low-range, supported by an automatically locking rear differential.

LDV claims a fuel consumption average of 8.9L/100km for the 2024 LDV T60 Max Plus.

We averaged 9.9L/1000km across a 1500km test which included highway driving, some load testing and inner-city commuting, which is certainly nothing to sneeze at.

With the LDV’s 73-litre fuel tank taken into account, that mileage comfortably translates to 700km or more between refills, which is quite commendable.

The 2024 LDV T60 Max Plus takes some positive strides forward in terms of on-road refinement and comfort, factors reinforced by the installation of its coil rear springs and electrically assisted power steering.

Initially, the unladen ride feels calmer and better resolved than the equivalent leaf-sprung T60 ute, while the steering is much lighter at lower speeds, helping offset its sizeable 12.7-metre turning circle and almost-5.4-metre length in tight car park scenarios (the 360-degree camera is a boon here, too).

That said, some unfinished work remains.

Closer inspection of the coil-sprung rear reveals a very cheap, rudimentary redesign and presents question marks over how well it would perform approaching payload capacity (we only had a chance to stick 400kg in the back for this test).

The T60 Max Plus is still prone to the tremoring that afflicts the ride of all live-axle, dual-cab utes, so expect some busyness on the rugged country roads that are commonplace around Australia, too. But it’s definitely better than its donor and feels quite civilised in its reaction to small-amplitude bumps and larger hits alike.

From a dynamic standpoint there is the usual roll and pitch to contend with, especially in the company of more competent, polished rivals like the Ford Ranger and Volkswagen Amarok, which feel much better connected to the surface underneath.

Similarly, although the remapped engine elicits a sharper response and less lag than before, it is inconsistent and relatively unmetered through the pedal. Stepping off the gas and coasting before reapplying the accelerator provokes a sharp clunk through the driveline as power comes back on stream.

We also found situations like pulling away from a standstill on a hill quite unpredictable; the ute would either jet away or stall a moment before it knew what it wanted to do.

Some of these traits can be put down to the calibration of the ZF automatic gearbox as well, which was otherwise quite sound with its ratios and downshifts, if not a little indecisive.

On the open road, the T60’s small turbo-diesel engine belies its 2.0-litre capacity with a very relaxed, unstressed demeanour – at least in regular conveyance.

Ask a little more of the engine, including one instance when we’d loaded 400kg in the tray, and it is definitely made to work harder, evidenced by more regular gear changes and strained diesel vocals.

We’ll reserve full judgement on the T60 Max Plus’ workhorse credentials for another test. But the advice is probably the same as the regular T60: it will happily carry moderate loads on the odd occasion, offering decent stability and acceptable sag, though we’re not sure we’d want to be regularly lugging 700kg around in the tray.

Our extent of off-roading in this first taste of the 2024 LDV T60 Max Plus was limited to open fire trails, where it felt relatively in control of what was going on underneath.

On faster, looser dirt driving, the stability control system was quite invasive with its interventions, randomly braking wheels and impeding progress at times.

Without tackling anything serious, we have some doubts over the remapped engine and the sensitivity of the throttle calibration on climbs. The standard road-going Giti tyres won’t get you far on slippery surfaces either.

What we can rattle off is some of the Max Plus’ off-road specs, which include a 27-degree approach angle, 24-degree departure angle and a breakover angle of 19 degrees, plus a minimum ground clearance of 220mm, a minimum water wading depth of 550mm and hill descent control.

The 2024 LDV T60 Max Plus sits middle of the road in the T60 family for payload capacity, at 830kg in this automatic trim.

That compares with as much as 935kg for the entry T60 Pro, or as little as 750kg for the mid-range T60 Luxe.

The T60 Max boasts a 3000kg braked towing capacity (with 300kg maximum down ball weight), together with a gross combined mass (GCM) of 6050kg, taking into account its 2220kg kerb weight.

The tray offers four tie-down points and a spray-on liner inside the bed, which measures 1485mm long, 1510mm wide and 530mm deep.

Once again, the devil is in the detail though. Closer inspection of the tray reveals no rear tub lighting, no power outlets and a tailgate that is damped on the way down (so as not to slam open at the full extension of its hinges), but not assisted when lifting the tailgate.

The 2024 LDV T60 Max Plus certainly plays into its lifestyle positioning with the packaging and presentation of the interior.

Compared with older T60 models, there is a much bigger focus on design and tech, with nicer and softer materials at the contact points and, of course, the expansive dual screens that stretch across much of the dashboard.

Similarly, the spread of equipment is hard to ignore. Electrically assisted everything, heated everything; regardless of viewpoint, this has to be one of the best-appointed utes (for creature comforts) in the segment.

The front seats are relatively comfortable, and most things are within easy reach of the driver. However, with no steering wheel reach adjustment (height only) and minimal seat height adjustment, we were never able to get fully comfortable behind the wheel.

The dashboard wraps around front occupants for quite a futuristic layout, yet it is also a configuration that is full of decent storage with open cubbies and closed consoles alike, cup holders, two USB ports and the wireless phone charger integrated above. Relocating the gear selector from the centre console to the steering column (a la Mercedes-Benz) has helped allow this.

There are no complaints around space up front, with ample headroom, shoulder-room and knee-room. The rear seat space offers more of the same, complete with separate air vents and its own USB connection.

Grab rails and side steps offer relatively easy passage getting in or out of the T60 Max Plus for adults, together with a flip-down centre arm rest with cup holders.

Another boon: for child seats, there are dedicated ISOFIX attachment points behind the outboard rear seats, giving the T60 an edge over like-minded utes like the Mitsubishi Triton, Mazda BT-50 and Nissan Navara, which offer a centralised loop system that isn’t as secure.

There are some harder plastics in the rear upon closer inspection, and the electric windows do this strange thing when even after turning the car off, it is possible to make up or down adjustments. Only when you lock the car do they stop.

It depends on how you intend to use your dual-cab ute. For us, the 2024 LDV T60 Max Plus stands up as a viable runabout utility option that offers decent technology, a relatively refined driving experience and a compelling price tag.

But ultimately, you get what you pay for. As a tool of trade, there’s more peace of mind in lower-specification mainstream options (if budget is a strict prerequisite) like the Ford Ranger XLS, Toyota HiLux SR or Mitsubishi Triton GLX.

Sure, you won’t match the T60 for equipment, but you will gain something with a more thorough execution and better resale.

2024 LDV T60 Max Plus at a glance:
Price: $50,516 (drive-away)
Available: Now
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder twin-turbo diesel
Output: 160kW/500Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 8.9L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 232g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP 2017)