I was lucky enough to get invited along to the Mitsubishi Australia launch of the all new triton.
All guests were assembled in Brisbane for a flight to Hervey Bay, plane was delayed and that was to be the story of my 2 day trip.
Once at Hervey Bay we had a surprise and that was transfers to Fraser Island were to be on light aircraft and land on the beach
![Cool 8-)](./images/smilies/icon_cool.gif)
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great flight before setting down near Eurong resort and catch our first glimpse of the new tritons.
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MMA had provided plenty of tritons to test, and quite a few variants
The range is now
GLX= GLX for the past, steel wheels tradie pack
GLS= GLX-r from the past
Exceed= luxury pack or GLS from the past, with leather seats and a few other goodies that I'll get to.
After a great lunch and introductions it was in to the first drive test, heading North (one group headed North one group headed south) we met up again at lake Mackenzie.
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so I chose the club cab, loved the clam shell doors, and there is a lot of room back there. Being a GLX this was a manual, which is now a 6 speed, with a push down away and up to select reverse.
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This is the base spec, and I was quite surprised at the functionality provided in this "base" model, and yay we have additional spots for switches
The steering wheel is adjustable to tilt and is also telescopic.
The seats, well the seats are a vast improvement over the previous model, and even though I have upgraded my ML triton to have factory leather adjustable seats (so an improvement over the standard factory ones) these are another class again, probably not as supportive as some stratos seats as have been fitted to some tritons, but at the same time more user friendly. Thigh support, some slight side bolstering and the foam is compliant. what more can I say then to sit in them yourself, sadly they don't look to be able to be retro fitted- I checked......
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loving the handles all interior ones are fold back, increasing head room, and the cabin space is more square through the pillars to increase shoulder room compared to the previous model, and dimensionally only 10mm smaller width than a ranger, smart use of cabin space
![Wink ;)](./images/smilies/icon_e_wink.gif)
The front handle is sturdy and a great addition for passenger comfort when the going gets a bit rough, but still no vanity mirror in the GLX, behind the sun shade/ visor.
The chassis has seen some improvements as has the suspension, the biggest improvement is to the ride
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They have done this by increasing the size of the factory dampeners (shocks) as well as the front stabilizer bar and increasing the length of the rear springs by 120mm, the hangers have both been moved and the wheel base remains the same.
Now the tray mounts (most of the load) are inside the suspension mounts, and additional bracing to the chassis above the bumpstop
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GLS, Exceed rear bar for comparison.
Drive impressions
Engine/ cabin noise, what an improvement, the vehicle is quiet, the build of the dash and trim pieces is now more refined, tactile to the touch, more like passenger vehicle.
The clutch was light, easy engagement of the gears, and real easy to find a comfortable seating position.
Without the lowrange gear knob on your left hand thigh and the addition of a foot rest the manual drive was very comfortable. BUT I did find that now the handle/ window up down trim was just a little too far forward and touching my right thigh
air-condition worked well in the GLX and the radio has usb input, although this base model didn't like communicating with my iphone 4s, but later models of phones (and the other radio versions, touch screen types had no worries)
The drive took us North in then inland, the torque of the engine was evident with the manual.
I played around with the different options available through the transfer, in this case it is easy select (super select standard on the GLS and Exceed) and would find the engine could drive from as low as 500rpm, would actually pull from 900rpm and really come on song at 1400rpm. That I found worked beautifully with the 6 speed manual as you were never I the wrong gear and even testing it to its limits through sand hills, trying to test/ stall the engine would see it still able to maintain momentum. I like this engine and gearbox
![Wink ;)](./images/smilies/icon_e_wink.gif)
Stop over and vehicle change
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Genuine accessories, hard lid, roof racks, alloys and in a first a genuine snorkel.
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GLS with 5 speed auto from the Pajero (NOT the 5 speed from the current model triton)
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cloth insert in the trim above the door handle, the plastics where the grab handle is and the switches is harder and seems to be molded coloured rather than the pain seen on the previous models and a huge storage pocket in the bottom of the door.
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roll bar redesign, tray is slightly smaller as the cabin is slightly bigger, but the cabin retains the distinctive "j line" providing rear seat passenger comfort of 25 degrees as well as providing cabin room on a smaller wheelbase vehicle
Like I have mentioned elsewhere it is not about how big a vehicle is, it is how you use that room and smart design methodology.
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all variants sported the chrome grill, this is the club cab GLX from the front
The vehicle sports a huge intercooler BUT the bash plate hangs down low, and for no apparent reason is very steeply angled, the part you can see through the grill is a plastic strip (deflector) around 50mm high, this is why the bash plate is lowered, remove the plastic deflector and you gain 50mm up
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GLX tub without the trims/ rear step of the GLS and Exceed, there is some nice rear departure angle available when the step is removed
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vehicle change over time
this time a GLS 5 speed auto, comes standard with led running lights and HID projector headlights
![Cool 8-)](./images/smilies/icon_cool.gif)
more to come.......