SSANGYONG MUSSO XLV ULTIMATE
THE Musso XLV Ultimate was the only one of the more affordable utes to be delivered to us with towing kit on it, and we’re most thankful for that. The Musso might fall in to the cheaper bracket but in this trim, it doesn’t miss out of anything. It’s the only ute in this test that has front seats that are both heated and ventilated, and it even has a sunroof!
What you most appreciate when you get inside the Musso is the space it offers with the widest cabin in the class and loaded with features.
Towing wise, the XLV benefits from a long 3210mm wheelbase which is only outdone by the Ranger’s 3270mm in-between the axles. The bigger point of difference being that the Musso has a coil-spring rear suspension that offers better ride and handling than most of the leaf-sprung utes.
This particular Musso was equipped with the optional heavy-duty suspension package that was locally developed in Australia in association with Ironman 4x4, so this kit should have improved the chassis for towing duties.
As we’ve found when driving the Musso with this optional suspension in the past, it does deliver a firm ride when unladen although it’s never harsh or uncomfortable. It carries the 140kg download on the tow ball with barely any noticeable sag and that composure continues out on the road and over the undulations. This is a very stable platform that proved wellsuited to towing this caravan.
Where the Musso does fall behind is in the performance of its engine. The 2.2-litre single-turbo mill makes just 133kw of power and 420Nm of torque and really felt the load of the ’van behind it. It was particularly slow heading up the steep incline and its workload was reflected in a 16.8L/100km fuel consumption.
The Musso can’t get the 144kw-441nm tune of this engine and the 8-speed transmission from the Rexton wagon soon enough and we believe that Ssangyong Australia is working to make that happen.
For its part, the Musso’s current 6-speed transmission gave nothing to complain about on this drive. Manually selecting gears is done using a toggle switch on the side of the gear shifter operated by the driver’s thumb. It’s relatively simple in its operation and easier to use than the Ford’s buttons in the same location.