The Great Leap Forward

Meet the first ground-up redesign of Mitsubishi’s legendary Triton ute in nearly a decade

Mitsubishi sticks to pretty long model cycles in New Zealand. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, judging by the sales numbers. Customers enjoy unbelievable value for money as older models continue their run, and when a truly new version comes along it has to be a great leap forward.

That’s where the new Triton comes in. Utes aren’t updated as often as passenger cars anyway, but this is the first ground-up Triton redesign in nearly a decade.

Even if one-tonners didn’t dominate the new-vehicle landscape in NZ, this would be a huge deal; but they do, of course. Mitsubishi NZ has just clocked up 50,000 Triton sales, by the way.

Where to start? Underneath, probably, which is the bit that really counts with pickup trucks. The new Triton platform has a 130mm-longer wheelbase, which means less rear overhang and a much more coherent profile. The old one always looked a bit like the body had grown every which way over the same underpinnings, which it kind of had. This one has a much more aggressive stance.

There’s a new 150kW/470Nm twinturbo diesel right across the range: power is up by 10 per cent, torque by 7 per cent, while emissions are down by 10 per cent. And twice as many turbochargers, so that’s got to count for something. AdBlue helps it meets Euro6B exhaust legislation.

Mitsubishi was first by miles with a ute 4WD system suitable for highspeed on road use as well as off (Volkswagen and Ford have since joined in), and its Super Select II is now standard across the range; previously, it was reserved for higher-specification 4WD models.

An Active Yaw Control (AYC, shades of Evo rally cars) system helps on slippery surfaces; it’s torque vectoring with a cooler name, basically.

The 4WD models have a dizzying seven drive modes to choose from, as specific as Gravel, Sand and Rock, while all models have a manual rear differential lock.

The industrystandard 3.5-tonne tow rating remains, but Mitsubishi says stability when hauling is significantly improved thanks to the larger and stronger chassis/frame. The tray on the wellside models is longer and wider to carry a Euro-style pallet (1200mm x 800mm) and payload is over a tonne across the board.

The tray load height has been lowered by 45mm to 820mm and the deck features a low-mounted rear hook, for easier securing of loads, and a 4x2 timber attachment that allows users to divide the cargo area with a good ol’ piece of wood. That’s the Kiwi way.

One of the standout aspects of the new Triton range is a huge increase in specification across the board, including that swish new engine that powers everything from the entry 2WD cab-chassis upwards. However, our introductory drive was in the flagship VRX 4WD, because that’s the way these media drives often work.

This is an enormous step up from

the previous model in terms of driver appeal, no question. The new engine is a beauty, delivering its torque smoothly from low speed and giving this ute an effortless feel in rolling acceleration.

It also has the ability to be astonishingly economical in the right environment – for a ute, at least. During one of our test days we had to undertake a 150km round-trip on the motorway and the Triton VRX averaged 6.9l/100km. Okay, that’s easy running; but impressive for a heavy pickup truck all the same.

Stop-start helps with the fuel economy in town, although the system doesn’t work all that smoothly with the diesel engine: there’s a real shudder as it shuts down and if you jump on the throttle too soon again, it almost feels like it might stall (it doesn’t).

The fuel economy is even more impressive given the Triton sticks with a 6-speed automatic.

Mitsubishi says the new cabin is intended to have more of an SUV feel. There’s a flash new three-spoke steering wheel and tablet-style infotainment screen atop the centre console— not massive at 9in, but 2in larger than the previous model and actually, it looks right in this environment.

The overall design is still quite busy, with analogue main instruments and a massive row of toggle switches at the base on the console, but physical touch points do still feel like the right choice for a one-tonne ute; gloveson operation, for example. And there are some clever touches, like a duallevel glovebox that can hold a 1.5-litre bottle, a two-way cupholder for the VRX and even seatback pockets for the rear occupants to put tablets and phones in; USB-A and C charge ports back there, too.

The driving position is even more commanding thanks to a 20mm increase in height, and the seats themselves are much improved: wider and more supportive, taking advantage of a 50mm increase in cabin width.

Delve into the active-safety menu and there’s a list of 12 individual items. Right across the range, Triton has everything you’d expect of a modern car, with new items including Forward Collision Mitigation with Junction Assist, Front Cross Traffic Alert and Rear Automatic Emergency Braking. All wellside models have a 360-degree camera.

Adaptive cruise control is standard across the range for the first time and it works well, as long as you’re keyed into the fact that it self-cancels below 25km/h. There's also a small camera perched atop the steering wheel column for the Driver Attention Alert, which will give you a prompt if it feels you don’t have eyes-front enough. This is fast becoming the curse of new vehicles of all kinds, but the Triton’s isn’t too bad: it’s quick to correct you but the visual and audible prompts are quite subtle.

The VRX certainly looks the part, with a chunkier interpretation of the old “Dynamic Shield” frontal styling that aligns it nicely with the latest Outlander. Different models have a slightly different look: the VRX has more body-coloured trim in the honeycomb grille, the mid-range GLXR goes for black and the GLX has a simpler trapezoid design.

Often, with a great leap forward comes a great leap up in retail cost. But Mitsubishi NZ is also legendary for its extended special pricing and the VRX 4WD featured here has been launched at $10k below retail: $59,990. So the full-leather, fully kitted-up Triton VRX 4WD with Super Select is still a lot of pickup truck for the money. And now a very modern pickup truck as well.