A few years back, in the midst of the Covid lockdown, LDV gave us the T60 to test. It had the most power of any ute in its  class, and was well built and slathered in spec and tech. Fast forward to 2025, and the T60 faces competition from the likes  of GWM’s Cannon Alpha, JAC’s T9 and – maybe – the Ssangyong Musso. Those first two are new to market, as is BYD’s  Shark.

So LDV responds with a fresh version of the T60, called the Max Plus. It adds new safety technologies, an all-new interior, a  revised rear suspension set-up and bold new styling that aims to appeal to ‘lifestyle’ ute buyers. It is certainly ‘plus’ tech and spec, but is that sufficient to meet these new challenges?

Dual-cab utes are the hottest ticket in town right now. Have been for ages. The overall market may be reeling under the  impact of a storm of emissions controls, but sales of our favourite workhorse show no signs of abating, the top selling  vehicles of any kind right now are dual-cab utes. Dual-cab utes are increasingly being seen as workaday vehicles by day, and  family As mentioned, Max Plus brings some new technologies – autonomous emergency braking and adaptive cruise control, twin 12.3 screens (one for infotainment, the other a digital instrument cluster) housed inside a single widescreen  frame, wireless (and wired) Apple CarPlay, and for the first time, Android Auto, both wired and wireless. Max Plus also  features a revised styling package that sets it apart from the others in the T60 range, with a new front grille, front bumper,  new side mirrors with auto folding and heating, all finished in black. It sets the tone for the Max Plus, where black is the  colour du jour, covering door handles, side trims, wheel arch claddings, and roof rails.

It has big Giti H/T tyres on gloss black aluminium alloy wheels, a strong indicator of its urban/onroad focus. Having said that, the tyres coped well in black sand down Port Waikato way.

The reskin of this top-flight T60 Max Plus brings some extra dimensions. Measuring in at 5,395mm long, the Max Plus is  30mm longer than models lower down the range. That calls for some care when doing u-turns or off-road on twisting tracks.  The Max Plus is also slightly taller, 1,819mm against 1,809mm. The width remains the same: 2,145mm with  mirrors  extended or 1,900mm with mirrors folded.

Inside, the T60 Max Plus looks pretty upmarket, highlighted by swathes of accented leather and contrast red stitching. Soft- touch materials abound, while the design and layout of the dash are fresh and contemporary.

The power-adjustable front  seats are comfortable, although they could use a little more support around the bolsters. Seat heating is standard in this  range-topper, as is a heated steering wheel.

A few quirky things: the fuel latch is set in the driver’s door. For some reason.

The Max Plus also puts a lot of key switches into its infoscreen, forcing the driver to pull over and stop to alter settings.

Storage options up front: there’s a decent central storage bin with a nicely padded lid for tired elbows, cupholders under a  sliding lid, and on the dash, a glove box like any other.

The second row is comfortably spacious, with decent room in all key areas – toe, knee, leg and head – while the intrusion of  a small transmission tunnel ‘hump’ doesn’t impact too much on the comfort of those sitting in the middle pew.

Amenities run to air vents, a single USB-A outlet, cupholders in a fold-down armrest, and door pockets that are ideal for flexible plastic bottles.

For those with children still needing to use car seats, the outboard seats feature ISOFIX child seat mounts, augmented by  two top-tether anchors on their seatbacks, which can be folded forward by pulling on a conveniently located strap.

The seat bases, too, can be folded upwards to free up some extra storage, which is handy for tradies looking to lug extra  gear or equipment to work sites.

The tub is 1485mm long, 1510mm wide (1131mm between the wheel arches) and with a tailgate opening of 1430mm. Tub  height is listed at 530mm. Payload is rated at 830kg.

The inside of the tub is finished with spray-on liner, adding some protection. The are four tie-down points but not much else back there – no lights and no additional power outlets.

The fancy sports bar/sailplane that sprouts from the back window of the cab and slants down the side of the tub looks sharp,  adding some lifestyle vibes. But it also makes the sides impractically high for those ‘sling it in the back’ trips to Bunnings.

The only way in is via the tailgate, which fortunately features a damper for lowering.

The truck’s styling certainly taps into today’s ‘lifestyle’ ute trend, a trend that shows no signs of abating, with auto makers eager to cash in on demand for true multi-purpose vehicles.

Safety? This most recent update sees autonomous emergency braking added to the Max Pro’s suite of safety assist systems  for the first time. It headlines what is, by today’s standards, a pretty bare cupboard of modern technologies including lane- keeping assist, lane- departure warning, adaptive cruise control, driver attention alert, a surround-view camera, front and rear parking sensors, tyre pressure monitoring, and six airbags.

We did not enjoy the lane departure ‘assist’ which was overly keen to wrestle with the driver when doing motorway lane changes or on-ramp merges.

Missing are modern technologies like rear cross- traffic alert and blind-spot alert, systems increasingly standard in today’s  new cars.

The Max Plus carries over the 2.0-litre bi-turbo four-cylinder diesel engine used across the range. It still makes 160kW and  500Nm, which is more power than even the Ford Ranger or VW Amarok. Note, hough, that the torque number is much more  important in most off-road work.

The engine is coupled to an eight-speed ZF automatic transmission (our favourite auto) and drives to all four wheels by   efault thanks to an ‘auto’ 4WD setting. Drive modes can also be toggled through two-wheel-drive high range, four-wheel-drive  high or four-wheel-drive low range. LDV says the ‘Auto’ setting uses “intelligent real-time torque on demand”, sending torque where it’s most needed.

Several drive modes can be selected – Eco, Normal and Sport – although they make little discernible difference to the way the T60 drives in most circumstances.

Steering assist can be switched between Standard and Sport, adding some meatiness to the feel.

For off-roaders, there’s also an on-demand rear diff-lock.

That 500Nm of torque is available from a very a useable 1500–2400rpm, meaning the T60 feels punchy from take-off and punchier still when merging into motorway traffic.

This update also brings a revised rear suspension set-up using coil springs. As a result, the Max Plus is settled and compliant on the road, even when unladen.

LDV claims towing capacities for the T60 Max Plus of 750kg unbraked or 3000kg for a braked trailer. That’s down on the  segment generally, where 3500kg is the norm for the most part. Tow-ball down weight is rated at 300kg – good news for  those wanting to hang a couple of e-bikes off a towball rack.

Conclusion
Though the T60 Max Plus is well equipped for off-roading, it’s definitely skewed toward urban use. It’s well fitted inside for  multi-purpose activity Kiwis demand: work all week, the family weekend duties, and more.

It does handle off-roading pretty well – those Giti tyres handled shifty west coast black sand admirably even without airing  down – though we did touch down a chassis rail in our riverside articulation test.

Fuel economy is good, the official figure is relatively easy to achieve on the open road and lo-4 off-roading doesn’t dent the figure too badly.

On-road, the all-coil suspension is set up for a soft ride and it’s occasionally possible to get out of synch with the shock absorbers.

It’s an intensely price- conscious market, and the T60 Max Plus is competitive. It’s priced at $55,990, which is $5000 up on  the previous flagship Lux but stacked with value, giving it a strong case to argue against its numerous rivals.

We like:
• Strong 2.0-litre bi-turbo diesel engine.
• Eight speed ZF auto.
• Improved all-coil suspension.
• Fresh bold front-end styling.
• Well-appointed cabin with great rear seat legroom.