Mitsubishi Triton 3.2 Di-D
Ask anyone worth his mielies, South Africa is Bakkieland. All the ouens has one. The trouble with bakkies these days, is you aren’t allowed to load the staff in the bak anymore. At least not if you want to drive legally on a freeway. The double cab fills this gap. Bak for the sheep, and a set of rear seats for the mense.
The trouble historically is that one ended up with a stupidly small bakkie and an un-car-like car. The worst of both worlds if you will. Things have changed of late with new model double cabs like the Toyota and VW having decent car like handling and performance characteristics. In the case of the VW at least, an enormous bak to boot, big enough for two euro-pallets at once. The newly facelifted Mitsubishi Triton Double Cab enters this market, and as a relative underdog needs to make quite a statement to be considered.
With Dakar credentials under its belt it is off to a running start. The “all in one” monocoque body seems rigid enough for the job. Ride and handling are reasonably car like, I would say not quite as impressive as the VW, the best in class in this department, but close enough for it not to matter. The drivetrain is quite impressive too. While I didn’t find the gearbox particularly slick, the grunt put out by the engine more than made up for it. It was happy to cock a leg and spin up a wheel or two any time you were heavy footed on a pull away. The 118kW and 343Nm not quite telling the whole story. It isn’t about to lose you too much cred at the traffic light drag. I would say it scores top of class in terms of engine feel and sheer right foot grunt. The 4x4 system was effortless to use and the availability of the standard rear diff lock and real low range a real plus for those who actually take their off-roaders off the road. Ground clearance at 205 is good, but the wading depth isn’t mentioned in any of their documentation available to me and I was unfortunately unable to get it in time to go to press. It is lauded for the four stars it received in Euro-NCAP, the first pick up to do so. It achieved this with some clever safety features like a bak designed to slip under the “safety cell” cab in a rear impact, protecting the occupants nicely. The self-same bak has a cute integrated third brake light moulded into the rear handle, and most impressively the rear glass between the bak and the cab slides down electrically!
The interior has plenty of leather with an impressively informative display unit. Much of the detail’s novelty would wear off, after a while, but it certainly was fun on the test. The cabin is unmistakably from a bakkie, but it does make a decently comfy office. It walks the tightrope between luxurious and hardwearing and practical just right in my opinion. This coupled by the unconventional, but flattering looks in my view should win it many fans.
With a decent 5yr/100,000km service plan and the 3.2 4x4 double cab coming in at R380,300 including emissions tax, it should win some more. The 2x4 petrol comes in R100k cheaper. It is just a pity that SARS considers these not to be commercial vehicles and unlike on a single cab, we remain unable to reclaim the VAT, perhaps we need to petition our friendly tax man in light of the new laws preventing passengers being transported in open cabs?