Mitsubishi Triton GSR 2020 Review

The Mitsubishi Triton GSR is the latest version of the 4x4 dual-cab ute that just keeps on keeping on.

While the Ford Ranger and the Toyota HiLux snare most of the headlines, the Triton drives along in their lengthy media shadow picking up enough sales to occupy the number three spot on the rostrum.

Priced at $51,890 plus on-road costs, the Mitsubishi Triton GSR is a new dress-up model that slots into the very top of the range, taking over from the GLS Premium.

Compare that pricing for a second and you’ll understand a big part of the Triton’s appeal. The GSR undercuts the Ranger Wildtrak and XLT and comes out lineball with the third-tier XLS.

It’s the same story when it comes to HiLux. The GSR undercuts the Rugged X, Rogue, Rugged and the popular SR5.

For the money requested, the GSR comes with the standard Triton mechanical package; 133kW/430Nm 2.4-litre turbo-diesel engine mated with a six-speed auto, part-time 4x4 system, low range and a locking rear diff.

GSR also offers18-inch black alloy wheels and a blacked-out grille, headlight garnishes, door mirrors, door handles, side steps and skid plate. It also gets leather-trimmed seats, steering wheel and handbrake, heated front seats and electrically adjustable driver’s seat. It looks pretty good inside and out.

Three tonneau packs are available for GSR. Those include a soft tonneau cover pack ($2699 fitted), hard tonneau cover ($4699 fitted) or the roll-top tonneau ($4999 fitted) that our GSR came with (make sure they teach you how to open it – I struggled). Each pack also includes a black sports bar, tailgate assist, under-rail tubliner and floor mats.

The comfort equipment list includes self-levelling LED headlights, cruise control, dual-zone climate control, 7.0-inch touchscreen (note, no volume dials), Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connection, six-speaker audio, digital radio, four USB inputs, one HDMI input and keyless entry and start. A full-size tyre is slung under the rear floor.

The Triton is protected by a five-year/100,000km factory warranty. A capped price servicing program is broken up into 15,000km/12-month intervals, with the first three costing $299 each.

The Mitsubishi Triton GSR’s safety story is one of its most compelling aspects. It gets autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian detection, lane departure and blind spot warning (with lane change assist), rear cross traffic alert, a mis-acceleration system that helps avoid low-speed collisions and a Multi-Around Monitor – a bunch of cameras you can activate from a button on the steering wheel.

But like all Tritons, the GLS misses out on adaptive cruise control (which is often packaged with AEB). It also continues on with rear drum brakes, rather than the discs several rivals have now upgraded to.

The Triton gets seven airbags, stability and traction control, hill start and descent assist, trailer stability assist, an electrochromatic mirror, front and rear parking sensors and, for little ones, two ISOFIX anchorages and two top-tethers. The GSR garners a five-star ANCAP safety rating courtesy of 2015 crash testing.

The Mitsubishi Triton GSR comes with the top-spec Super Select II 4x4 system. So it gets 2H, 4H, 4H with the centre differential locked and 4L with the centre diff locked.

You can also select gravel, mud/snow, sand or rock off-road modes via the off-road mode button. Engine output, transmission settings and traction control are adjusted to suit the specific conditions. And don’t forget you can also lock the rear diff of the GSR so it is quite the off-road weapon.

The GSR has 31-degree approach, 23-degree break-over and 25-degree departure angles. The ground clearance is 220mm, while water clearance is a bit low at 500mm.

The Mitsubishi Triton rolls on a ladder frame with double wishbones up front and leaf springs at the rear. It has a 901kg maximum payload and 3100kg braked towing capacity. That’s down a bit on its key rivals, which manage up to 3500kg.

The bed of the Triton measures up at 1520mm long x 1470mm wide x 475mm high x 1085mm wide between wheel-arches. That means it can’t fit an 1165x1165mm Aussie pallet.

The Triton’s all aluminium 16-valve DOHC four-cylinder turbo-diesel is smaller in terms of capacity than much of its opposition and can’t match many of them for output. But it’s in the ballpark and its 8.6L/100km claimed fuel consumption is competitive too.

Drive the Mitsubishi Triton GSR and you can understand an important reason for all that buyer interest. It simply feels more refined than its cut-pricing might suggest.

OK, there are some give-aways, like the lack of a digital speedo in the instrument panel, vanity mirrors in the sun visors and the air distributor in the roof instead of rear air-con vents. The rock-hard dashboard isn’t salubrious either, but that is a ‘feature’ pretty common among utes.

There are also upsides you don’t necessarily expect in a ute. The steering column adjusts for reach as well as rake, the flappy paddles on the steering column are actually long enough to operate when the wheel is turned, the front seats are quite supportive and comfortable, and the instruments come from the 21st Century – there’s even a full-size tacho, unlike the Ranger.

But it’s the driving where the Triton most surprises. Look at the engine outputs and the claimed kerb weight (1999kg) and it’s easy to expect limp performance. But it just isn’t so.

The Triton is lively in its response to the throttle and avoids being excessively noisy or rough running. It’s darned impressive, even managing to get close to its claimed fuel consumption average at 9.1L/100km.

But note, we did not test it with a big load onboard or with a van on the back.

In our last dual-cab 4x4 ute shootout in 2019, the Triton finished eighth out of 10 as a tower and sixth out of 10 as a load carrier. Not that great really. You can check out all the details here.

The Triton’s chassis is nothing too sophisticated but it behaves well on bitumen or dirt. Unladen there’s some liveliness from the rear-end, but you can settle that down a bit on gravel by shifting to 4x4.

Super Select II and all its doo-dads make for an impressive combo when going seriously off-road.

Back in suburbia the Triton feels pretty big and a bit clumsy. The steering is slow but at least it’s not too heavy. All those cameras and sensors help avoid problems getting in and out of tight spaces such as shopping centre carparks.

Sitting up high the Triton provides the driver with a great viewing platform. It’s not so good in the rear seat, which is accessed by a small door and where it’s knees-up and quite tight with little toe room under the front seat.

Storage is quite good for cups and other stuff around the cabin, but the bench doesn’t flip up as it does in a lot of rivals. The seat-back does fold down though, revealing the tyre changing equipment.

It’s easy to see why plenty of people opt for the Mitsubishi Triton. It’s the money! Even this flagship GSR is bloody cheap by comparison with its rivals and it doesn’t miss out on many essentials or bells and whistles.

Easy to like, effective if not class-leading at its job, protected by a long warranty and affordable – did I mention that already? – the Triton GSR deserves to be on any dual-cab 4x4 ute buyer’s consideration list.

How much does the 2020 Mitsubishi Triton GSR cost?
Price: $51,890 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Engine: 2.4-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel
Output: 133kW/430Nm
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Fuel: 8.6L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 225g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP 2018)