2011 Mitsubishi Triton Reviews

NEW The humble ute has long been a favourite of tradies, farmers and businesspeople and continues to be. It was born into a double life in which it was expected to be a workhorse as well as a daily driver with the comfort of a passenger car. For many years it was the locally made utes from Holden and Ford that ably

When it comes to a work truck, you don't want one with the two-tone paint, leather seats, 18-inch alloys and deluxe canopy, you want something like the new Mitsubishi Triton Club Cab. Wally the worker on wheels. It's a workhorse with the advantage of fold down (flip up) rear seats when you need to take a couple more bods to a job.Club Cab is based on the Triton GLX single cab but with more room behind the seats and the trademark upward curving floor line of the longer wheelbase Tritons. You get steel dish wheels with chunky rubber, a full size spare under the load tray.TECHNOLOGYThere's selectable 4WD with low and high range by dash dial, a five-speed manual `box and Triton's impressive 2.5-litre, turbodiesel four cylinder with a whopping 131kW/400Nm output. It's a corker of an engine with more than decent acceleration and incredible pulling power while sipping an average of 8.1 litres/100km on the combined driving cycle. We achieved much better cruising on the highway at the speed limit.DESIGNSeating for four is provided by individual front buckets and the aforementioned flip-up rears which have a vertical backrest - for a short hop only.It's easy to get into the back because the front seats fold and slide out of the way. A console is provided between the front seats containing a lidded storage box and two cup holders.The handbrake is a lever pull from the console replacing the unloved under dash umbrella handle sometimes used. Plenty of storage compartments dot the cabin - in the doors and in the dash.Club Cab scores plenty of kit too for the $38,990 asking price including a surprisingly good audio system, power windows, doorlocks with remote locking/unlocking, power mirrors and air conditioning. There's even a decent trip computer and enough seat adjustment to find a comfortable driving position.PAYLOADBut the real attraction of this ute apart from its style, 4WD system and terrific engine is the long tray measuring 1805mm that's capable of taking up to 1057kg in pickup form or 1192kg in cab/chassis form. Safety is well covered with dual front air bags but stability control is optional.The heavy duty suspension is up for any task and isn't so hard as to be uncomfortable unladen. We would like to see a six-speed `box but the five provided is pretty good apart from a big jump between 4th-5th cogs. And that 5 year/130,000km warranty is hard to overlook.Mitsubishi Triton GLX Club CabPrice: $38,990Warranty: 5 year/130,000kmSafety equipment: Dual front airbags, ABS, ASC, ATC, Smart brakeCrash rating: 4 stars ANCAPEngine:  2.5L 4 cylinder intercooled-turbo diesel engineBody: Pick up and cab chassis.Dimensions: Length 5040mm, width 1750mm, height 1775mmWeight: 2750Tyres: 16” x 7” steel wheels (245/70R16 tyres