Mitsubishi Triton 2019 off-road review: GLS Premium

We tested the new GLS Premium trim which has replaced the Exceed as the Triton line-up’s top-shelf model. It is available only as a dual-cab 4x4 in pick-up body style with an automatic transmission and costs $51,990 – a $3000 increase over the Exceed’s price, but the GLS Premium does come packed with standard features, a heap of accessories and is currently being advertised on the Mitsubishi Australia website as $50,990 drive-away. 

Over and above the GLS’s standard gear – including chrome grille, HID headlights, LED daytime running lights, chrome exterior handles, leather steering wheel and shifter knob, six-speaker audio system, power folding door mirrors, chrome sports bar and 18-inch wheels – the Premium gets push-button start, nudge bar, leather-look door trim inserts, heated front seats, electric driver-seat adjustment, leather seats, paddle shifters, a surround-view camera system and rear diff lock.

It gets a stack of safety tech including forward collision mitigation (which incorporates AEB), lane-departure warning, blind-spot monitoring, rear-cross-traffic alert, lane-change assist, front and rear parking sensors, reversing camera, stability control, seven airbags, as well as auto headlights and wipers, and hill descent control.

Our tester had a nudge bar and substantial easy-to-use side steps.

The buzz phrase around the arrival of the new Triton line-up has overwhelmingly been ‘Dynamic Shield’: that’s the moniker given to the new model’s starship-sized front end. It’s certainly eye-catching and quite a few car journos are rather fond of it but, in my experience with it so far, the nose has drawn as many jeers as it has cheers. I didn’t mind the look of the previous-gen Triton, but I’m getting used to ‘Dynamic Shield’.

'Dynamic Shield' is the name given to the Triton's new front end.

As part of the redesign, the back end has been squared off a bit more than in previous versions.

The rest of it is the pretty standard general appearance of a contemporary ute: easy on the eyes with body scoops, flared wheel-arches, and an overall solid tough-looking presence about it.

The Triton’s ground clearance and departure angle have always been issues for this otherwise very capable off-roader.

Well, the Triton’s departure angle at 23 degrees remains pretty ordinary – it can’t be helped because so much of the tray hangs to the back of the rear axle – but Mitsubishi has gone some of the way to addressing the ute’s ground-clearance fail; it has been increased by 15mm to 220mm. However, wading depth is a less-than-fantastic 500mm.

Approach and ramp-over angles are 27.5 and 25 degrees respectively, and the Premium’s side steps have been raised 20mm higher than those on the Exceed, further helping drivers to work the angles when 4WDing.

The GLS Premium gets Mitsubishi’s Super Select II system which offers four modes: 2H (two-wheel drive, rear), 4H (4X4 but in an all-wheel drive mode, safe to use at high speed on bitumen), 4H LC (4X4/all-wheel drive with locked centre diff; off-road driving at 30km/h or so) and 4L LC (4X4/all-wheel drive with locked centre diff and crawler gears engaged; only for low-speed 4WDing (below 30km/h). It’s a solid system – with selectable off-road modes (snow/mud, gravel, sand, and rock – and works supremely well.

This Triton was never thrown off its 4WD game during test although we never truly tested its wading depth.

There are grab handles all round for when things get bumpy while 4WDing.

Put a bush-suited wheel-and-tyre combination (16-inch all terrains) on it, as well as factor in a suspension lift and this ute will be even better off-road.

The Triton’s tray is 1520mm long, 1470mm wide (1085mm between the wheel arches) and 475mm deep but keep in mind when throwing tools or camping gear in the tray that a chunk of its load space is behind the rear axle. Load height is 865mm off the ground.

The Triton has never been a hauler of huge loads and nothing has changed in that respect; payload capacity is 858kg. Maximum towing capacity is 3100kg (braked) and 750kg (unbraked). The GLS Premium has a GVM of 2900kg and a GCM of 5885kg. 

All Triton variants have had a five-star ANCAP rating since April 2015. The GLS Premium has driver and front-passenger front and side airbags, driver’s knee airbag and full-length side curtain airbags. There are two ISOFIX and two top tether child-restraint anchor points in the rear seat. 

Its suite of safety tech is impressive and includes forward collision mitigation system (incorporating AEB), lane-departure warning, blind-spot warning, lane-change assist, rear cross traffic alert (RCTA).