LCV
HEIRLOOM DIAMOND MITSUBISHI’S AGEING TRITON IS A CONUNDRUM. ON ONE HAND IT REPRESENTS EXCELLENT VALUE AND STANDS OUT FROM THE OTHER DUAL CAB UTES WHILE DELIVERING GOOD PERFORMANCE AND COMFORT, BUT ON THE OTHER HAND IT IS AN AGEING PLATFORM WITH SOME DISTINCT HANDICAPS COMPARED WITH NEWER RIVALS. WE CLIMBED ABOARD THE TRITON GSR FOR A 2000KM DRIVE AND TOW TEST AND FOUND THIS AGEING DIAMOND IS STILL A VALUED HEIRLOOM OF THE UTE MARKET.
T
he phone call from a friend came on Monday and the plaintiff voice was clearly fishing for some help. “I just bought a race car and a trailer and I have to get it from the Central Coast up here to Brisbane,” was the statement without actually asking a question. “Well you might just be in luck,” was the reply. “It just so happens that we have a new Mitsubishi Triton GSR dual cab on test this week , with a towbar and we wanted to do an extended tow test so how about we bring it up on Thursday,” we told him. The joy on the other end of the phone was palpable and clearly we had made his day. The Mitsubishi Triton is arguably the
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most unsung hero of the increasingly popular and vital dual cab ute market in Australia. Before the fast improving crop of Chinese utes lobbed, the Triton clearly represented the best value amongst the Japanese ute brigade, and even against the lower prices of the Chinese makes, the Triton is still an excellent proposition. We hooked up our friend’s new race car and trailer on Wednesday afternoon and prepped ourselves for an early departure on Thursday morning to ensure we would arrive in the Queensland capital around mid afternoon. With the load being hauled behind tipping the scales at a shade under two tonnes the Triton handled the task easily, cruising at 110km/h on the motorway and not having too much energy sapped on the
big hills of the Pacific. None of the other Japanese utes on the market represent the same value proposition that Triton delivers, not just in features, but in fit and finish and actual on road performance . Others may have an edge in some areas of performance and handling but the cost is much higher, for instance Ford’s excellent Ranger, but the Triton like for like is thousands, nay tens of thousands cheaper than the big Ford ute. The Triton GSR we were in was painted in a striking bronze colour, which seems to be. A trendy paint tone in the ute market at the moment and certainly one that makes it stand out on the road. The other aspect of the Triton is that it has a very distinctive styling compared with
its market opponents, and the GSR has a few other accoutrements to make it an even more stylish vehicle to address the ‘lifestyle’ market in the dual cab segment. These are the new family wagons, with a lot of buyers choosing a dual cab for the advantages they offer with fringe benefits tax and overall cost effectiveness. The other thing that makes the Triton a good option on this market is Mitsubishi’s well earned and deserved reputation for reliability and durability that is a safer bet than some of the Chinese alternatives while delivering similar reliability to its Japanese opponents, again at a distinct price advantage. The GSR variant is the top of the range in the Triton line up and comes with a price tag of $56,940 plus on-road costs,
which is way lower than the likes of Toyota, Isuzu, Mazda and Ford. If you compare it with like for like models from Toyota, with its SR5 at $61,930 and Ford’s Ranger Wildtrack at $67,190, you start to understand the Triton’s fiscal attraction. The test Triton GSR was not only fitted with the vital tow bar ($1308) and electric brake package ($770), as well as an underrail tub liner ( $642 ) but also the optional front bullbar with a fog lamp pack at a cost of $4611 which bumped up the astested price a fair bit. Inside the Triton GSR is a roomy and comfortable environment with well bolstered and very supportive front bucket seats finished in black leather amongst an interior that is practical and well laid out, if a little dated in places.
The rest of the interior features harder materials on the dash top and door trims that should be long wearing and able to cope with the rigours of being a work ute or the even tougher needs of coping with a herd of children as a family bus Although a little dated in places Mitsubishi has updated some aspects, adding a push-button start, dual-zone climate control, steering-wheel-mounted paddle-shifters, heated seats in the front, as well as plethora of storage options including cupholders, a central bin, and door pockets with bottle holders for the obligatory water, that comes in handy on a ling trip such as the one we had to tackle with the trailer. The driver’s seat in the GSR also gets power adjustment and the steering wheel
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