Mitsubishi Triton vs MG MGS5 EV

What's the difference?

Apart from its distracting driver attention monitor, we can't see any major flaws that would detract from this vehicle’s comfort, practicality and performance when serving as either a utilitarian 4x4 workhorse or back-to-basics 4x4 dual cab for adventures off the beaten track.

Benchmark is a big word. But I’ve been testing cars long enough to know when and where to use it, and if my motoring instincts are correct the MG S5 EV could be the new benchmark for budget small electric SUVs.

Still we’ve only driven one grade - the Essence with the bigger 62kWh battery. We need to get the other grades into the garage to test them too, but on first impressions the MG S5 is outstanding for price, practicality, styling, ownership, and the way it drives.

Our test vehicle rides on a compact 3130mm wheelbase and is 1865mm wide and 1795mm tall, which combined with a 12.4-metre turning circle makes it agile and easy to manoeuvre both on and off-road.

Speaking of which, its all-terrain credentials include 228mm of ground clearance, a useful 30.4 degrees approach angle (without bull-bar) and 23.4 degrees ramp breakover angle, with the departure angle dependent on the type of tray fitted. These numbers would be more than adequate for accessing rugged worksites.

Its front suspension is double-wishbone with coil-springs, paired with a robust leaf-spring live rear axle. Brakes are front discs and rear drums and it has electric power-assistance for the rack and pinion steering.

Looks are subjective of course but we reckon it has a robust and purposeful appearance in cab-chassis form, particularly with the accessories fitted to our example.

Chrome is all but extinct in its predominantly grey interior. However, hard surfaces on the centre console and door-pulls have a synthetic carbon-fibre finish, which adds a touch of style to a low-maintenance cabin that won’t get trashed by spilled coffee or muddy boots.

You also won’t find fancy features like digital instruments (it has analogue speedo/tacho) or an electronic handbrake (this one’s the good old manual lever). Plus there’s physical dials for audio volume/tuning and ‘piano key’ buttons for the cabin’s climate control, which ensures no distracting touchscreen prompts when driving.

The MG S5 EV is a completely new car. Unlike the ZS EV which was a combustion car that was later turned into an EV, the S5 EV was designed from the start and built as an electric vehicle and that’s super important for everything from space to how it drives.

The S5 EV is a bigger car than the ZS EV. It’s 153mm longer and 40mm wider and it shares the same underpinnings as the excellent MG4 hatch.

The S5 EV looks a bit like the MG4 but an SUV version and I think the styling is a massive improvement over the ZS EV. This thing looks snatched with its sleeker shape and a smooth modern face, the blade-like LED running lights sitting atop the headlights and I really like the treatment to the tail-lights as well and the way the boot lid flicks up into a little integrated spoiler.

It's a far more refined, mature and prestigious look to the ZS EV. And while we're being completely subjective here I also think it's better looking and more refined than the BYD Atto 3 and Chery E5.

That same refinement and modernity is everywhere in the superb cabin from the clean dash design and door trims, to the steering wheel and floating centre console.

With a kerb weight of only 1993kg (without tray) and 3200kg GVM, our test vehicle has a 1207kg payload rating. However, after you add the combined weight of its steel tray and other accessories (417kg), the payload rating is reduced by the same amount to 790kg. Even so, that still leaves a sizeable weight capacity for up to five tradies and their tools.

It’s also rated to tow up to 3500kg of braked trailer but with its 6250kg GCM (or how much it can legally carry and tow at the same time) the payload would have to be reduced by 450kg (from 790kg to 340kg) to avoid exceeding the GCM.

In real-world use it’s unlikely that many (if any) Triton owners would need to tow 3500kg but it’s important to be across these numbers to avoid overloading, which is dangerous and illegal.

The genuine accessory galvanised steel tray is internally 1650mm long and 1780mm wide. It has a robust checker-plate floor and a tube-frame front bulkhead with sturdy wire-mesh rear window protection.

There’s also swing-up load retainers on top of the tube-frame on each side, which when paired with the matching rear tube-rack accessory provides secure carrying space for extension ladders or long lengths of timber and PVC pipe/conduit.

There’s also external rope/strap rails along each side but like all steel trays we’ve come across there’s no internal load-anchorage points.

The driver and front passenger have access to a bottle holder and storage bin in each front door plus an overhead glasses holder and a large open compartment above the glovebox. The centre console offers more open storage plus two bottle/cupholders in the centre and a usefully-sized box at the back with a lid that doubles as a driver’s elbow rest.

The rear bench seat is comfortable and surprisingly spacious for tall people, given I’m 186cm and when seated behind the driver’s seat when set in my position, I have about 40mm of kneeroom and 60mm of headroom.

There’s also adequate head clearance for those seated in the slightly higher centre position, but the floor’s prominent transmission tunnel requires one boot either side and knees together between the front seat backrests.

And like all dual-cab utes short of a full-size US pick-up, rear shoulder room is squeezy for three adults, which is tolerable for short trips but a maximum of two adults would be ideal for longer drives.

Rear seat storage includes a bottle-holder and bin in each door plus pockets on each front seat backrest. The centre seat’s backrest also folds forward to serve as an armrest with dual bottle/cup-holders.

The bench seat’s base cushion is fixed, so unlike numerous rivals it can’t swing up and be stored vertically if more internal carrying space is required.

The MG S5 EV’s practicality is also outstanding and while it’s early days, it could be the new benchmark for the class. It's a spacious cabin with superb ergonomics and excellent storage.

Even as a taller person (I’m 189cm) there was plenty of elbow, shoulder and legroom for me as a driver and also to sit behind my driving position in the second row.

Storage is excellent with giant bottle holders in all the doors, stowage under the floating centre console, four cupholders and a flat space for your phone which also is a wireless charger on the Essence.

It’s such an ergonomic and practical cabin even the buttons are practical. There’s a volume dial, and physical buttons and switches for the climate control switch, not screen buttons.

And then there’s the boot, at 453 litres it’s about 10 litres bigger than the ZS EV’s cargo capacity. It's also 10L larger than the Atto 3 and a lot bigger than the Chery E5’s boot.

There are two grades in the MG S5 EV line-up. The Excite is the entry grade and the Essence is the top-of-the-range grade. Both come with a choice of two batteries - there's the smaller 49kWh battery and a bigger 62kWh battery. Now that you know this, the pricing will make more sense.

The MG S5 EV line-up starts at $40,490 with the entry grade Excite with the 49kWh battery, then steps up to $42,990 for the Essence also with the 49kWh battery. That increases to $44,990 for the Excite with the 62kWh battery and tops out at $47,990 for the Essence with this unit. All prices are drive-away.

Standard features on both the Excite and Essence include LED headlights, LED running lights and LED tail-lights, also standard are alloy wheels - 18-inch ones on the Essence and 17s on the Excite.

Both grades have proximity unlocking single-zone climate control, a 12.8 inch media display digital radio, a four-speaker stereo on the Excite and a six-speaker sound system on the Essence, while both have wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, sat nav and a 10.25-inch instrument cluster.

The Essence has a few extra items the Excite doesn’t get like rear privacy glass, a panoramic glass roof, wireless phone charging, heated front seats and a power driver’s seat.

The Triton’s 2.4-litre four-cylinder diesel engine is equipped with two turbochargers that work in sequence to boost efficiency, with the smaller one providing fast response at low rpm and the larger one optimising performance at higher rpm. The result is 150kW of power at 3500rpm and torque peaking at 470Nm between 1500-2750rpm, using AdBlue to minimise emissions.

It’s paired with a six-speed torque converter automatic that offers the choice of sequential manual shifting, which can be preferable when hauling and/or towing heavy loads, particularly in hilly terrain.

The 4x4 system is dual-range, part-time offering 2H (2WD High Range), 4H (4WD High Range) and 4L (4WD Low Range) controlled by a dial on the centre console. However, you need to step up to the GLX+ to get a rear diff-lock.

The MG S5 EV has one electric motor driving the rear wheels and it has an output of 125kW and 250Nm. That’s plenty of grunt to move this electric car quickly and instantly in a way that feels controllable and smooth. 

While front-wheel-drive cars are absolutely fine, rear-wheel drive tends to offer more engagement and feel, and that's an added bonus for the S5 EV.

Mitsubishi claims official combined average consumption of 7.7L/100km but the dash display was showing 9.9 at the completion of our 316km test, which included the usual mix of suburban, city and highway driving of which about one third of that distance was hauling its maximum payload.

Our own consumption figure, calculated from fuel bowser and tripmeter readings, came in higher again at 10.7L/100km which is on the borderline of the usual 2-3L/100km discrepancy between manufacturer claims and real-world consumption.

So, based on our own numbers, the test vehicle should have a real-world driving range of around 700km from its 75-litre tank.

The MG S5 EV’s energy consumption varies depending on the grade and battery size.

The most efficient in the range is the entry grade Excite with the 49kWh battery with MG saying on a combination of open and urban roads it should use 16.6kWh/100km (WLPT). The biggest energy user in the range is the Essence grade with the 62kWh battery with 17.1kWh/100km.

As for the range, this varies from 335km in the 49kWh Essence to 430km in the 62kWh Excite.

Large assist-handles on the A (and B) pillars, combined with the accessory side-steps on our example, make it easy to climb aboard and find a comfortable driving position.

The unladen ride is firm, as you’d expect given its 6.0-tonne-plus GCM rating, but it’s still supple enough to soak up the bumps without the harsh kidney-belting ride suffered in some cab-chassis one-tonners we’ve tested.

This is no doubt helped by the accessories fitted, which provide more than 400kg of additional sprung weight to engage the heavy-duty rear springs and improve the ride quality. That’s something to keep in mind if you often drive unladen.

The steering is firmly weighted and the brakes have good response, with the rear drums offering a terrier-like bite when the manual handbrake is applied on steep hills with a heavy load on board.

The four-cylinder 2.4-litre diesel, with its sequential turbocharging and strong outputs, provides energetic all-round performance with efficient gearing that ensures its operating within its peak torque band most of the time.

However, at highway speeds it does tend to hold top gear for too long, when the engine has dropped below 1500rpm and is clearly wanting a downshift.

To test its payload rating, we strapped 650kg on the tray which when combined with accessories and crew was right on the weight limit. The stout rear springs compressed only 25mm under this load, leaving ample bump-stop clearance that assured there was no bottoming-out on our test route.

The Triton handled this task with competence, maintaining good performance and chassis stability. It easily hauled this load up our 13 per cent gradient, 2.0km set climb at 60km/h, with the six-speed auto self-shifting down to third gear and 2500rpm which was comfortably within its peak torque band. Engine braking on the way down was also commendable.

Our only gripe is the driver distraction monitoring system which is still too reactive in certain situations, like scratching an itch below my eye even though I was looking straight ahead while doing it. Even though Mitsubishi has tried to improve this system, it needs more refinement, as it detracts from an otherwise positive driving experience.

The MG S5 EV is outstanding to drive for an electric vehicle at this affordable price point. Again, I’m going to put it out there and suggest it could be the new benchmark for the more affordable end of the small electric SUV segment. Kia's EV3 is also a winner on the road, but it's quite a bit pricier than the MG.

I was never a fan of the way the ZS EV drove, from its seating position to ride and handling. But the MG S5 EV is completely different to pilot. It’s excellent.

This car feels so composed on the road, the body control is excellent, the steering is well weighted and direct, the visibility is excellent and the pedal feel under my feet is solid, too. And all of that is combined with an electric motor that makes the perfect amount of power.

Add to all this the rear-wheel-drive component and the MG S5 EV is not just easy to drive but engaging as well.

The MG S5 EV has the maximum five-star ANCAP rating and that’s from 2025 so it is super fresh. That means it has the lot so there’s auto emergency braking (AEB), front cross-traffic alert, rear cross-traffic alert with braking, lane keeping assistance and blind spot warning, adaptive cruise control, intelligent speed limit assist and more.

There's also a driver and front passenger airbag, two side airbags, two curtain airbags and a far side airbag.

For child seats there are two ISOFIX points and three top tether anchor points.

It comes with a five-year/100,000km standard warranty, or 10 years/200,000km if serviced at Mitsubishi dealers.

Scheduled servicing is every 12 months/15,000km whichever occurs first. Pricing is capped at $6860 for 10 scheduled services up to 10 years/150,000km, or an average of $686 per service.

Mitsubishi currently has more than 200 dealers across its national network that spans metro, rural and regional areas. Mitsubishi dealerships are also service centres.

The MG S5 EV is covered by MG’s 10-year 250,000 kilometre warranty. And that includes the battery. Regular families though do about 10,000km a year or 20,000km maximum, so this warranty offers excellent coverage for them.