Triton’s strong presence
The Mitsubishi Triton is “deeply impressive”, says Damien O’carroll after a week with the GLS.
The Mitsubishi Triton has been a mainstay of the Mitsubishi line up since 1978 (when it was badged L200 locally), and was until recently one of the better vehicles in the ute segment. However the arrival of the “new generation” of utes from VW, Ford and Mazda surpassed the Triton’s ride and handling, which was always its strongest point. Mitsubishi likes to claim that the new Triton is “all new,” but it actually sits on more of a refreshed version of the old chassis, as opposed to an all-new one. That said, the rest of the Triton is very much all new, and the chassis was never something that needed fixing in the last Triton anyway. What this does mean, however, is that the Triton is pretty much the same size as the vehicle it replaces, eschewing the current ute trend to grow to massive proportions. Don’t take that the wrong way – the Triton is still a large vehicle; it is just not as uncompromisingly large as the Ranger. Which is a very good thing indeed – in fact, for some people it will be the one of the Triton’s strongest selling points. Like all models of Triton, the top-spec GLS we drive here packs Mitsubishi’s new 2.4-litre all-alloy direct-injection diesel four-cylinder engine that puts out 135kw of power and 437Nm of torque and, in the GLS, is hooked up to a five-speed automatic transmission. The GLS also comes standard with trailer stability assist, hill start assist, a six-inch touchscreen with a reversing camera, LED daytime running lights, rain sensing wipers, automatic headlights, push-button start, paddle shifters and dual stage air conditioning. The Triton’s new interior is a massive improvement over the last model, and a front-runner for being one of the best in the segment, with remarkably comfortable seats and quality materials. Using broadly the same chassis as the old model means that the new Triton retains the high floor/low seat height of the older vehicle, which lends it a far more carlike seating position than other utes. The ride is very reminiscent of the Ford Ranger (i.e. excellent), but the Triton feels noticeably smaller and nimbler than the big Ford. While the engine is slightly gruff and noticeably vocal as it goes about its business, it feels massively strong and torquey, with a solid, linear delivery of power. The engine is almost certainly more noticeable simply because of how remarkably quiet the rest of the Triton is – wind noise is almost non-existent on the GLS. An impressive feat indeed. While still retaining a strong visual link to the old model, the new Triton is a far, far better looking ute that it was previously, with a strong presence on the road. The top-spec Triton GLS is a hard vehicle to go past in a segment packed with strong competitors. In fact, the only real disappointments we have with it come after driving the even more impressive Tritonbased Pajero Sport. If the Triton had the Pajero Sport’s even better interior and thoroughly excellent eight-speed automatic transmission it would be almost unbeatable. As it stands though, it will just have to make do with being deeply impressive.