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Private Fleet Car Review: 2016 Mitsubishi Triton GLS Manual.
Big, boofy, simple. Kinda like Lenny from “Of Mice and Men” or the Warner Bros. cartoon equivalent. That’s an easy way to think of Mitsubishi‘s revamped Triton range, especially with a manual in the GLS.
This is not damning with faint praise, however. Steinbeck’s classic novel has Lenny as one of the twentieth century’s iconic characters so to draw the parallel between the two is fair. Triton has been around for some time; the name plate goes back as far as 1978. In current guise it’s big (over five metres in length and one point seven in height), reasonably roomy but not without quirks.
It’s boofy, in that you CAN take it off road (with an advanced electronic four wheel drive system) with barely an issue (one team took the Exceed to the Simpson desert) and simple, in that you get exactly what you see and there’s no pretentiousness about it.
A Wheel Thing once sold Tritons (in a former life) and welcomed the second Triton in three weeks to the driveway after a break of a few years. Again, it came in blue, much like the aforementioned Exceed, sans hard top canopy, luggage rack on the roof and chrome nudge bar. The height and length are physically imposing, as is the fact that it weighs 1950 kilograms, dry. There’s a humungous three metre wheelbase, one of the longest you’ll find, yet a nimble track of 1520 and 1515 mm, front and rear, respectively.
When loaded up to the brim, Mitsubishi says the Triton dual cab spec will weigh 2900 kg’s; as a result, Mitsubishi has thrown in its grunty 2.4L diesel to move the best around. At 2500 revs, the donk twists out 430 metres of Mr Newton’s torques. 
Below that point there’s still plenty of pull; around town the Triton (with a six speed manual fitted, in this case) will happily do 60 kmh in fourth with just 1500 revs and do so without struggling. At 120 kmh the GLS lopes along, with a mere 2000 rpm on the tacho with sixth engaged.
It’s economical too; drinking from a 75 litre tank, Mitsubishi quotes 7.2L used for every 100 kilometres covered. That’s a combined cycle usage, too. As a result, one could comfortably drive from Sydney to Melbourne (around 880 km) on a single tank and have diesel to spare.
Driven normally, the GLS is left in two wheel drive (as displayed by a simple icon in the dash between speed and tachometer). There’s a sense of wave like oomph up to 3000 revs before running out of said oomph as maximum power of 133 kilowatts is delivered at 3500 revs. Redline starts at 4000. The six speed manual is surprisingly in its untruck-like smoothness. There’s a good weight to the mechanism, a true sense of refinement in its movement but doesn’t always slot home correctly and does not like being hurried. The clutch is also similarly well weighted, with a pickup point that is natural in the progression of the pedal.
Externally, the Triton retains a design issue that hasn’t changed since the current look was unveiled in 2007. Yes, it’s tall. Yes, it has big doors that open wide. Yes, you still have to duck your head when you get in. If you want metallic paint, you’ll need to shell out another $550 as well.
The main changes to the 2016 range are cosmetic yet do add a sense of modernity; chrome now adorns the front grille, LED driving lights inside the restyled head light cluster, a crease in the front and rear flanks to join the two together visually and a restyled bumper set (front and rear) finish off the behemoth.The test car also came with a fabric tonneau cover, tub liner and chrome bar behind the cabin.
Internally it’s been refreshed with an updated dash layout, simple in its presentation yet exceedingly readable as a result, a centre console mounted four wheel drive selector knob (high and low range with diff lock) that lights up the aforementioned icon in the main dash display and sitting atop a monochrome multi information screen, a simple to read and use aircon control set and a 6.1 inch touchscreen for audio and settings usage.
There’s also a digital tuner, one that is not as sensitive, unfortunately, as those supplied to other brands tested. The cabin also gets Bluetooth, steering wheel mounted phone controls, USB and Auxiliary inputs.
Trim wise there’s a pretty serious problem: there’s way too much reflection from the upper dash into the windscreen, causing a blurred view forward thanks to that reflection and providing a potential safety issue. Either a non reflective coating for the inside of the ‘screen or, more effectively, a proper matt finish for the dash is needed. There’s a couple of nice touches, with a leather bound gear lever knob, chromed interior door handles, whilst safety comes with curtain airbags and a kneebag for the driver. 
Oddly, the headlight switch doesn’t offer an “Auto” option. Not a glaring oversight but it does detract, somewhat, from the safety aspect of driving.
The seats are comfortable, cloth wrapped and manual in adjustment, with enough finger room to easily slot home the seatbelt. A minor point but there are some big cars around that make this a somewhat difficult operation. With 860 mm of rear leg room, back seat passengers shouldn’t feel cramped either, along with 970 mm of head room (once you’ve ducked your head to get in…).
On the road, the big ute handles pretty well, archaic leaf sprung rear suspension not withstanding. On some road surfaces it skipped about at the rear but, to be fair, it’s been driven unladen. The steering is on target enough to have a driver pretty well connected with the direction the GLS is going, with no noticeable rack shake either. Its offroad prowess is nothing to sneeze at either; with a proper and dedicated transfer case, it’s readily eats up gravel and mud surfaces as easily as it does tarmac. The rubber is from Toyo, in a 245/55 size, wrapping a stylish set of 17 inch diameter alloys.
The final ratio gearing and that effortless delivery of torque make it an ideal highway cruiser, but being aimed mainly at suburban usage, the torque also offers right foot controlled flexibility in the mid gear range as well.
The Wrap.
Quite simply, the Mitsubishi Triton is a car/truck/oversized ute I’d more than happily own. A grunty diesel, a decently appointed cabin which is roomy enough for the family, a very good manual gearbox (the auto is five speed only…) and liveable ride quality combine to give it enough to win the heart. The range starts from the high $30’s (figure around $38K driveaway for the four door cab ute). The vehicle tested was: $40990 plus tub liner, tonneau, metallic paint and HaymanReese towing kit, taking the GLS to just over $45K.
There’s also Mitsubishi’s warranty, (five years or one hundred thousand kilometres), roadside assist and capped price servicing for four years or sixty thousand kilometres (whichever comes first) to consider as well. For all details, go here: Mitsubishi Triton range.
It’s big, boofy and simple. That isn’t a bad thing. Neither was Lenny.
Those Fuel Consumption Figures…
I don’t know what you look at first when you think about buying a new car and comb through all the stats in a car review to see what it’s like. For me, the fuel economy figures would have to be just about top of the list, jostling for space with details like the size of the boot and the number of doors and seats. However, have you ever noticed that when you actually purchase your new car, you never seem to get the same fuel economy figures that the sticker on the windscreen says?
Sometimes, the reason why you’re not quite wringing the same economy out of your little car is obvious: you may like to accelerate and go fast, you may do heaps of towing, or you may do heaps more stopping and starting and idling than the average driver. However, even if you’re a light-footed driver who does the average commute, you still might not match the figures in the review or brochure. So what on earth is going on? Are you a worse driver than you think you are? How do they get those fuel consumption figures anyway?
You might imagine that the way the official boffins get the figures is to take the test vehicle and actually drive it around a test track for 100 km at open road speeds, at urban speeds with a few stops to mimic traffic lights and a mixture of both. That would give a fair impression of what the fuel economy stats actually are in real life conditions, you would think.
However, this is what they don’t do. During the testing process in most parts of the world, the testing gets done in a lab under controlled conditions. It’s like the experiments we did in science class at school, where there’s only one variable to be tested and everything else is exactly the same. This does mean that the fuel economy stats aren’t going to be skewed by things like a headwind during the testing process so you can compare car with car, but it’s still a bit disappointing for the average driver.
During the test in the lab, the vehicle gets put on a dynamometer or a rolling road for about 20 minutes. The temperature is somewhere between 20°C and 30°C, and the cars being tested have been nicely run in and are tested from a cold start. During the test for urban figures, the car “drives” for 4 km with a maximum speed of 50 km/h, a few stops and a fair bit of idling, for an average speed of 19 km/h. For the open road speed, the car covers 7 km, gets up to a maximum of 120 km/h and averages 63 km/h. Each test gets repeated a few times – about four times, according to one source. To get the combined figure, they get the average of the two figures weighted by the distance covered in each test. OK, this is a fairly simplified description of the procedure, and if you want to know all the details and all the maths, you can read it at https://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/F2012C00282/Html/Volume_4
The regulations state that “Only the equipment necessary for the operation of the vehicle during the test shall be in use.” They also state that the air con needs to be switched off and the heating should be at “normal” (like you do when driving around when the thermometer hits 27°C?). The widest tyres should be used. The lights and indicators should be off. The slope of the road should be no more than 2%, the top wind speed should be 3 m/s on average (that’s about 11 km/h) and the track should be dry. Tyre pressure should be whatever’s specified by the manufacturers (and you can bet that they’ll put it on the harder side during testing to get more frugal figures). Need we add that there’s probably only going to be one person in the car (unless they get a robot to do it somehow) and the boot will be empty?
Yes, well, we all drive on perfectly dry roads that are practically flat on windless days with nothing in the boot and with the air con off and the windows up (on a hot day?) and the mirrors folded back as sleekly as possible to minimise drag. And we don’t touch the indicators or the lights at all. Which is what the manufacturers were doing when they got the test stats so they could get them looking as attractive as possible.
Back in the real world, you’re going to have wet roads, slopes and headwinds. You’re going to use the headlights and the indicators. You’re going to have kids, the dog and the groceries loading up the car adding to the weight and thus the amount of energy needed to move the car. You’re going to have the air con on (or you’re going to open the window at lower speeds) to keep cool. You’ll put on the radio (and have the aerial up – you can bet that they’ll put it down during the tests to reduce even the teeniest bit of drag). You’ll plant the right foot occasionally to nip into a gap or to overtake. You’re going to idle more than the urban test does, and you’re going to average higher speeds on the open road than what happens in the test. So you’re not ever going to get the same fuel economy figures that the brochure or the car review tells you.
The moral? There are two of them. Number 1 is to read the fuel economy figures by all means – they’ll help you compare car with car (although common sense tells you that a little Honda Jazz is going to have better fuel economy than a monstrous big HSV ). But take them with a grain of salt. Number 2 is to make your driving as close as possible to test conditions… But use the indicators and the headlights – please!
Safe and happy driving,
Megan
Private Fleet Car Review: 2015 Toyota Aurion Sportivo.
Once upon a time, Australia was home to Holden and Ford and some assorted imported brands that made small cars. Toyota sold Corolla, Corona, Land Cruiser and that was pretty much it. Then a car called Camry came along, with a four cylinder engine. It changed shape but didn’t really grow much, even with the addition of a V6. However, time eventually caught up with the Camry and it put on weight, getting bigger and bigger. In 2007 a decision was made to separate the four cylinder Camry from the V6 and to give the bigger engined version its own name. And lo, Aurion was born.
Aurion had big but relatively unsuccessful wheels to fill, with Toyota’s previous attempt at a V6 “big” car, the Avalon, scarcely lighting the fires of desire for Aussie drivers. Aurion, clearly based on Camry, inside and out, survives to this day but the writing is on the wall for the big car, with demand for SUV style vehicles leaving the traditional Aussie big six struggling to find a toehold.
Aurion has a 3.5L V6 engine, with Toyota’s famous 200 “killer wasps” produced at six thousand two hundred rpm. Torque’s maximum twist, of 336 Nm, is at a high four thousand seven hundred. Dry, the Sportivo weighs a not indecent 1555 kg however the fuel economy quoted by Toyota tells a tale of excess: pure highway driving sees just seven litres per hundred of 91 octane go juice being consumed from the 70 litre tank, however if the Aurion is used in its natural environment that almost doubles to 13.3 litres per hundred. 
The combined cycle is quoted as being 9.3L per hundred kilometres; A Wheel Thing had the Sportivo in a mix of driving circumstances and saw a best of 9.5L/100 km.
Aurion is the last of the mainstream passenger cars that Toyota has (Camry, Corolla) to update externally, retaining the sharper edged styling compared to the smoother, more rounded and more assertive look Camry and Corolla have received, complete with “pyramid” grille styling. Compared to its big sedan compatriots, Falcon and Commodore, it’s still a more cohesive look, with front and rear not at odds with each other.
There’s the somewhat blocky, almost trapezoidal profile, reflected in the headlight and taillight designs, with the only curves to be found being the driving lights at the bottom corners of the front air dam, the exhaust tips and the five spoke, 18 inch, black painted alloys. There’s some minor plastic work with the addition of a subtle boot lid spoiler and chin spoiler at the other end.
On the road the Sportivo puts its power down via a six speed auto, with Sports mode and paddle shifters on the steering column. It’s surprisingly quick, with a hint of rorty rasp from the front…there’s also noticeable torque steer under heavy right foot applications. Suspension was harder than anticipated, however, with a personal taste leaning towards a touch more compliance to start before sliding into a taut feel.
The steering itself feels as if there’s a variable ratio system fitted, as turns at slower speed seem to have more turn in the tiller. The shifters fitted are ergonomically placed, as expected, and do appear to change the gears quicker than leaving the ‘box to its own devices, which was smooth, slick and noticeable in braking the engine on certain downhill runs.
On flat, freeway roads, the Sportivo tracks straight and true, with a touch of road noise intruding. Undulations are despatched but there’s not a lot of gentleness in doing so, with that hard suspension.
The interior is a mix of new and not quite so. For example, there’s no heating for the leather seats and there’s the oddity of having a light on for when the aircon is NOT in dual zone mode. The seats themselves were comfortable enough and trimmed in a tasteful mix of black and mocha.
The dash has the same stitched look as Camry, albeit with a different design. Plastic were a mix of blacks, charcoal and an odd silver alloy look strip horizontally and wrapping the seven inch touchscreen and aircon controls. I can’t say it appealed to me.
Information wise, there’s an instant and average fuel usage graph in colour, not monochrome, front and centre, with jog buttons on the tiller to swing through the various folder options.
Being a good sized car (4855 mm in length, 1825 mm in total width with height at 1470 mm) and allowed for plenty of head, shoulder and leg room, plus a cavernous boot (capacity not listed on Toyota’s website).
Audio comes in the form of AM/FM/Auxiliary/USB and Bluetooth plus there’s DAB+ (Digital Audio Broadcasting +). Sensitivity for the DAB tuner is quite high, with minimal dropout in Sydney’s lower Blue Mountains and less so than Mitsubishi’s DAB system. Actual quality was good but seemed to lack definition.
The three level Aurion range (AT-X, Sportivo and Presara) starts at $30990, a decent price for a big car but with an overly thirsty engine. Details and more information on specifications are available here: Toyota Aurion range
Hyundai Aims At Japan With The New Tucson.
Forget about buying your new RAV4, CX5 or X-Trail, Hyundai have unveiled the new Tucson, the replacement for the long in the tooth ix35.
Available in four models, with three engines and transmission choices, Hyundai has set their sights and are targeting the Japanese cars so many see as first choice. 
There’s the Active with 2.0L MPI engine, the Active X (expected volume seller), with 2.0L GDI, Elite and Highlander with 1.6L turbo that out torques the 2.5L Maxx Sport CX5 and a 402Nm 2.0L diesel.
There’s a six speed manual and auto, seven speed dual clutch auto for the 1.6L and, as expected, razor sharp pricing. Rolling stock varies from 17 to 19s on the Highlander with Continental tyres.
On road the pick is the diesel, with that never ending surge of torque, however the Active X, with just over 200Nm and a slick shifting six speed auto, never seemed lacking for urge, even with four boofy blokes aboard.
Ride quality is superb, with firm yet compliant suspension around town, with many drivers drawing attention to the refinement and quietness of the cars inside, plus the high quality look and feel to the cabin and plastics.
At the dealership launch, all four were put through their paces in a city based driving environment, with plenty of curious glances from passers by.
The Elite fitted with the 1.6L and seven speed auto drew favourable reviews, as it should, with 265Nm.
There’s plenty of cargo room (488L) versus 403L for the CX5, a bigger towing limit and more power for the diesel against the RAV4’s 2.2L (1600kg v 1000kg, 402Nm v 340Nm), rain sensing wipers, dusk sensing headlights, 10 way electric adjustment for the driver’s seat, satnav and better economy (7.7L/100km v 8.3L/100km) from the Elite turbo v the X-Trail 2.5L auto ST.
You can also expect to see Android Auto and Apple Car for the Active and Active X later this year.
Hyundai anticipate vehicles being available from early to mid August.
Contact your Hyundai dealer for more details.
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