New Zealand Company Vehicle

Mitsubishi Triton 2WD

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platform and with that comes all the extreme versatilit­y and space that Honda’s little car is renowned for. The $41,200 HR-V Sport X we threw up against the others here comes standard with 17-inch alloy wheels, autonomous emergency city braking, keyless entry and start, dual zone climate control, leather upholstery, rear privacy glass, a reversing camera (and Honda’s brilliant indicatora­ctivated left lane camera), rain sensing wipers, automatic LED headlights, LED daytime running lights and taillights and a panoramic sunroof. The HR-V proved to be both a highlight of the selection and possibly the biggest disappoint­ment all at the same time. Testers unanimousl­y loved the Honda’s high quality interior, commending it on its fit and finish, high-quality soft touch materials, ergonomics and comfort. The seats were also widely praised, although one tester found there wasn’t enough under-thigh support for their liking. Up the back the HR-V boasts easily the best leg room of the bunch, with all testers admitting it being surprised and deeply impressed by the Honda’s huge amounts of rear leg room, however, like the Mitsubishi, head room was restricted by the panoramic sunroof, although nowhere near as badly. Throw in the fact that the HR-V also had an impressive and usable boot and Honda’s deeply clever “Magic seats” in the rear and you have a load space that is easily the most flexible and useful of all the cars we tested. All testers agreed that the HR-V had by far and away the best interior – both in terms of quality and ergonomics – out of all the cars tested, as well as the best handling and steering. The little Honda’s ride was a more divisive, however, with some tester’s liking its firmer approach to the road, while others felt it to be a bit jiggly and overly firm for the segment. While the HR-V’S appearance, quality and handling were generally universall­y admired, all testers agreed that its engine and transmissi­on was a let-down. The 2WD HR-V is powered by Honda’s 105kw/172nm 1.8-litre four-cylinder petrol engine hooked up to a continuous­ly variable transmissi­on. While, on paper, that gives the HR-V the second most power in our line up (beaten only by the Mitsubishi), its torque figure was by far the most meagre of the lot – and that hurts the Honda. All testers lamented the lack of power down low, and in the mid-range, while the absence of any meaningful torque anywhere just meant that the poor little 1.8 just revved like crazy and made a lot of noise without any instant increase in velocity. The thing about continuous­ly variable transmissi­ons is that they can work well when there is a lot of torque to use, but that simply isn’t the case in the HR-V, meaning that it spent far too much time up high in the revs being buzzy. While the HR-V is a deeply impressive small SUV in terms of quality, ride and handling and packaging, its poor powertrain lets it down, which is a shame. Suzuki Vitara Turbo Suzuki have long presented themselves as masters of the small SUV segment, even before there really was a segment. So it should come as no surprise that big things were expected of the Vitara Turbo. When the latest Vitara was released, it was generally considered a good car in need of a better engine, and that is exactly where the Vitara Turbo comes in. The Turbo comes, as the name may suggest, with Suzuki’s new “Boosterjet” 103kw/220nm 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol turbo engine hooked up to a convention­al six-speed automatic transmissi­on, making it the only car here without a CVT. The $37,990 Vitara Turbo comes standard with 17-inch alloy wheels, suede and leather sports seats, privacy glass, a reversing camera, rain-sensing wipers, LED headlights and daytime running lights, keyless entry and start, climate control air conditioni­ng and the Suzuki’s biggest advantage over the rest – Suzuki’s ALLGRIP 4WD system. Being both the cheapest and the only one with AWD instantly gave the Vitara Turbo a big head start on the competitio­n with out testers, although its interior instantly divided them. The Suzuki’s interior featured the most visible hard plastics of the lot, with one judge describing its mix of various fabrics, plastics and textures as a “real dog’s breakfast”. While the interior was nicely laid out and ergonomica­lly sensible, the seats came under fire from most testers for being far too narrow, particular­ly between the hard bolsters on the seat cushion – none of the testers are particular­ly huge, but all complained to some degree about the bolsters jamming uncomforta­bly into their thighs. The Suzuki’s ride attracted praise from two of the testers who liked its bump absorption and compliance, while the third thought it was “average”. The Vitara Turbo’s handling also split the testers, with one loving it, while the other two considered it capable and pleasant, but with an oddly easily unsettled front end. It was, however, considered easily the best on the short gravel section of our test route, which given it was the only AWD car there is not exactly a surprise. One area where the judges were unanimous with the praise was for the brilliant little 1.4-litre turbo engine. Although having the least power of all the cars tested, the Suzuki also weighs the least and has by far the most torque (220Nm versus the Mitsubishi’s 200Nm and the Honda’s 172Nm). This makes it easily the most responsive and flexible engine here, and when combined with the slick, swift six-speed auto, makes the Vitara Turbo the most satisfying car to drive by a long shot, both in town and out on the open road. While all of the cars tested here came with touchscree­n infotainme­nt systems (all of which were rated similarly by all testers), the Suzuki was the only one top feature Apple Carplay (although no Android Auto), which seems strange by today’s standards. Summary While it did split the testers (with two loving it and one not so convinced), the Suzuki Vitara Turbo’s great little engine and transmissi­on, practicali­ty, features and bargain price gave it the edge in this comparison. Add in the fact that, despite being the cheapest, it was also the only one with AWD and the Suzuki’s victory becomes even more convincing. Second place, however, is not quite so easy. While the Honda easily had the best interior, handling and that incredibly flexible load space, the engine and transmissi­on combinatio­n let it down. If you can put up with the buzzy, underpower­ed engine then the Honda is a thoroughly fantastic package. If not, then best to turn towards Mitsubishi. While it didn’t make anyone rave with excitement, the Mitsubishi offered up a solid, competent and incredibly wellequipp­ed package in the ASX and for that reason we have to rate the Mitsubishi ASX higher than the Honda, despite the deeply impressive nature of the Honda’s package.

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