SA Road Tests

Welcome

This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. I drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under real-world South African conditions. Most, but not all, the vehicles driven are world cars as well, so what you read here possibly applies to the models you get where you live.

My most recent drive is on the home page. Archived reviews and opinion pieces are in the active menu down the left side. Hover your cursor over a heading or manufacturer's name and follow the drop-down.


SUV with a bin: 2017 Mitsubishi Triton 2.4Di-D 4x2 Double Cab m/t

Sporty truckie

Posted: 11 May 2017

The numbers
Price: R479 900
Engine: 2442 cc, DOHC 16-valve, four-cylinder turbodiesel
Power: 133 kW at 3500 rpm
Torque: 430 Nm at 2500 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 11.8 seconds
Maximum speed: 177 km/h
Real life fuel consumption: About 9.5 l/100 km
Tank: 75 litres
Cargo: 950 kg
Maximum towing mass (braked): 1500 kg
Ground clearance: 205 mm
Warranty: 3 years / 100 000 km
Service plan: 5 years / 90 000 km

“Cinderella’s coach,” quipped the humourist. He was referring to the J-shaped rear curve of its cab, one of few things that haven’t changed much with the new range of Tritons. Mitsubishi says that 185 items, including a reshaped bonnet, improved suspension and driving position and more sound deadening material have been added. Even the J-line has been reworked to add 20 mm more space to the cab’s interior. The bin was deepened and reinforced too. Mitsubishi now calls it a Sport Utility Truck.

The added interior space means that a six-foot back seat passenger can sit comfortably behind an equally tall driver. There is plenty of headroom, knee space is comfortable, if not quite like in a limo and foot space depends on how low the driver puts his or her seat. All the way down equals “a bit tight,” but most cars are like that.
 
Three belts and head restraints look out for safety; there’s a flip-down armrest with cup holders, a pair of map pockets behind the front seats and bottle-sized door bins. We reckon the outer head restraints should be smaller because, not being able to fold away when not in use, they interrupt the driver’s view through the back screen.

Triton’s office area has been upgraded to make it more like Mitsubishi’s Outlander and Pajero SUVs with the driver’s chair, dressed in leather (naturally), kitted out with electrical adjusters. Even the steering wheel breaks with pickup tradition in that it offers reach adjustment as well as height.

The infotainment setup has been modernised with a 5” touchscreen control panel while Bluetooth connectivity, a USB plug and CD player look after details. There is no longer an auxiliary socket but when last did you use one? Aircon is dual zone; obviously.

To begin with, the local range consists of just four offerings. Common throughout is the dual cab configuration and the 2.4-litre, four-cylinder, all-aluminium 4N15 common rail injection engine with variable geometry turbocharger. Your only choices are between 4x2 and 4x4 with six-speed manual or five-speed automatic transmissions.

Certain nice-to-haves, like rear diff lock, keyless start, auto-dipping interior rearview and folding wing mirrors are 4x4-only, while automatics offer shift paddles. Prices range from R480 000 to R560 000. The nudge- and bin bars shown in the pictures are optional extras.

Although Triton has only two airbags, other safety kit that helped it earn five ANCAP safety stars include ABS brakes with EBD and EBA, high strength steels in its passenger cage, anti-intrusion bars, active stability and traction control, reversing camera, hill start and a pair of ISOFix mountings.

Apart from suspension improvements that enhance the gentle ride, the cab’s high seating position allows better visibility over the bonnet and the steering ratio has been quickened from 4.3 turns, lock to lock, to 3.8. Your turning circle is now 11.8 metres which is pretty good for an almost 5.3-metre long pickup.

You’re waiting for the other shoe to drop, aren’t you? We were almost convinced that this SUV-with-a-bin was the new wearer of the off-asphalt comfort crown until we reached the second stage of our standard gravel road test. Part one, from Midmar to Petrusstroom, went well. The Triton laughed off that road’s washboard ripples so easily that we were ready to declare it the all-time winner.

That was until we encountered those nasty little embedded stones on the stretch from the Dargle road to Fort Nottingham. Short, sharp impacts upset the plot, rendering the car unpleasantly skittish. You have three options: stay away from this back road to Fort Nottingham, drive very slowly along there or invest in a set of specialist shocks from an off-road equipment supplier. Ironman or Old Man Emu dampers, for example, will set you back between about R8000 and R12 500, but your Triton will thank you for them.

Back in its natural habitat the Triton steers and parks easily and has no difficulty handling the cut and thrust of city- or freeway traffic. It cruises at around 2000 rpm in sixth at 120 km/h and rolls on quite strongly. You’ll find the torque band narrower than usual, cresting between 2300 and 2700 rpm, so be prepared to use the gears more often than you might be used to.

Our overall impression is that this fifth generation Triton 4x2 double cab makes a very nice city SUV-with-a-bin but we're not so sure its 4x4 sisters will lay indelible tracks across the hearts of hardcore off-road fans. Torque delivery is too peaky. But Cinderella probably wouldn’t care.

Test unit from Mitsubishi Motors SA press fleet


Save

What We Do

This is a one-man show, which means that every car reviewed is given my personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.

Every test car goes through real world driving; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.

I do my best to include relevant information like real life fuel economy or a close mathematical calculation, boot size or luggage space, whether the space is both usable and accessible, whether life-sized people can use the back seat (where that applies), basic specs of the vehicle and performance figures if they are published. In the case of clearly identified launch reports, fuel figures are of necessity the laboratory numbers provided with the release material.

If ever I place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with a very similar vehicle already, so you will be able to find what you want in another report under the same manufacturer's heading in the menu on the left.

Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. There are no advertisers and no “editorial policy” rules. I add bylines to acknowledge sponsored launch functions and the manufacturers or dealerships that provide the test vehicles.  And, as quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so you can see I do actually exist.

Comments?
Want to ask a question, comment or just tell me you completely disagree with what I say? If you want advice or have a genuine concern, I will be happy to hear from you. All I ask is that you write something in the subject line so I know which vehicle you're talking about.