MMAL ponders 'track and field' Triton

Would Aussie buyers of the Mitsubishi Triton consider a higher-performance offering, along the lines of the TRD HiLux?

A machine of that ilk exists in Britain, where it's sold as the 'Walkinshaw Performance' Special Edition Mitsubishi L200 (L200 being the badge the Triton wears there).

Unlike Australia, where the Triton is offered with a petrol four, petrol V6 and two turbodiesels, the L200 in Britain is powered by just the one engine, the 2.5-litre turbodiesel engine also available here.

For Australian consumers, even the 25 per cent power increase (from 100kW to about 125kW) delivered by the Walkinshaw upgrade may not offer a substantial gain over the 3.2-litre turbodiesel sold here, let alone the 135kW-rated 3.5-litre V6. 

On that basis, the Triton most likely to offer the best 'offroad sports truck' capability in the same mould as the TRD HiLux would be fitted with either the V6 engine, or the 3.2-litre diesel, presumably with enhanced performance.

As well as the upgraded engine, sports suspension and exhaust system, the Walkinshaw L200 comes with: 20-inch alloy wheels, leather seats, a DVD-based satnav system, premium multi-disc CD audio system, Bluetooth connectivity, stainless steel finish for the fuel filler cap, tailgate cover and door handles.

All these features could be fitted by a local after-market tuner, if that makes better business sense.

Whilst the Walkinshaw L200 is not modified from standard to anything like the extent that the TRD HiLux is, the Walkinshaw Mitsu -- or something very much like it -- would be a lower-cost alternative that might find favour with local buyers in the same demographic.

"These vehicles that Tom Walkinshaw has [prepared] were specifically for the UK market, they weren't for anywhere else," says Lenore Fletcher, Senior Manager Corporate Communications at Mitsubishi Australia (MMAL), but leaving the gate open for a future high-performance variant of the Triton, she also says: "It is something that has been thought about and discussed from time to time".

Despite the long-standing relationship between Walkinshaw and MMAL President, Rob McEniry, any high-performance variant of the Triton might just as likely be the preserve of the local Team Mitsubishi Ralliart operation, headed by Alan Heaphy.

Ralliart in Australia is a venture for which MMAL has high hopes -- and the company appears motivated to expand Ralliart's role beyond high-performance Colts and Lancers, but developments in that direction have been delayed by the recent restructure of Mitsubishi and the cessation of local manufacturing.

"We're kind of still in that planning stage," says Fletcher of the future prospects for Ralliart in Australia, preferring not to outline a timetable for the brand.

However, she acknowledges that Ralliart poses a lucrative opportunity for MMAL and described its potential as "absolutely phenomenal".

"[Ralliart's potential] is something that does have our attention."

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