Australia's favourite car should probably be worried about the new Triton

They say you should never venture 4WD-ing on your own. They’re right.

But all the promotional photos of the 2024 Mitsubishi Triton – the first all-new model in almost 20 years – showed it atop a grassy hill or charging into a muddy creek like it was an Abrams tank.

The website adds words about how it’s “built to go anywhere”, and the new chassis is “designed to withstand the toughest terrains and ensure reliable performance in any condition”.

So when I saw a powerline trail along Blue Range Road in the Brindabellas, just a little off the beaten track, I didn’t think much of going up it.

It didn’t take long before I was a passenger. The steering wheel became nothing more than something to hold on to. The accelerator could have been connected to the wheels of a paddle steamer – all pressing it did was create rooster tails of mud.

I turned the dial on the centre console to the ‘4HLc’ (locked centre diff) setting. Same situation. Engaged the rear diff lock. Still floundering hopelessly.

I’d done maybe 30 metres, and I was already in deep … mud. With no one around to help.

I was contemplating heading into the nearby forest to collect branches or rocks I could use to wedge under the wheels and restore my traction, when I remembered Captain Jack Sparrow.

If you’ve watched Pirates of the Caribbean, you’d remember when his ship’s crew had to run backwards and forwards across the deck to build up the momentum to tip the ship over and get it the right way up for exiting “the world’s end”.

So by slipping fast between Drive and Reverse, I managed to rock the Triton onto firmer ground, and to where I am today, safe and sound at my laptop.

I’ve since learnt my GLS model comes with a ‘Super Select 4WD-II’ system with seven different drive modes, including one for “mud”. That would have been handy.

This experience didn’t put me off the Triton. In fact, I think I want one.

Not that I need it. I mean, I imagine utes make excellent family cars, because you can always stow the kids in the tray and essentially enjoy a quiet date with your wife whenever you go out. (Calm down, I’m joking!)

As much as we heap abuse on their occasionally trigger-happy drivers and cast fuel-efficiency-standard-shaped stones at them, dual-cab utes aren’t going anywhere.

The Ford Ranger was Australia’s favourite car last year, and only after it had knocked the Toyota HiLux off the perch.

We’re also the third best market on earth for the Triton, after Southeast Asia and Latin America. Last year, some 16,600 new examples were registered here.

I have to say I preferred the slim headlights and taut grille of the old Triton – this new one’s face is too messy, like the back of a vacuum cleaner.

But it still didn’t fail to cause a group of high-vis tradies in Sydney to cease conversation and full-on gawk as I drove past. I may as well have been a $5 egg and bacon roll and coffee combo.

Everything inside is solidly put together, and very nicely appointed. And there’s plenty of room in the back for at least two kid’s car seats (yes, okay – they never went in the tray).

The new Triton also comes with a new 2.4-litre four-cylinder bi-turbo diesel engine. A manual is coming to some models, but for now, there’s a six-speed automatic. Payload is 1030 kg and braked towing capacity 3500 kg.

I had nothing in the back, which could be why the suspension was a bit jittery, but on uphill sections of the highway from Sydney to Canberra, I can say the Triton pulled mightily without a glimmer of sweat. It doesn’t even sound like a hundred trays of cutlery tumbling down a flight of stairs, unlike a lot of diesels.

The steering was very good too, for something with beefy tyres and a long way off the ground.

Apart from the little camera atop the wheel that watches your eyes and beeps at you to pay attention if you dare deviate from looking ahead – even the safety systems weren’t terribly annoying.

It’s not quite as refined or car-like to drive as a Ford Ranger, but the Triton is also not as expensive.

It’s gone up in price on the previous generation, but my GLS model, second only to the GSR, starts from $59,090. An equivalent Ranger Wildtrak will set you back by at least $10K more.

And you’d hardly want to get that all muddy.

2024 Mitsubishi Triton GLS

• $59,090 (plus driveaway costs)
• 2.4-litre four-cylinder bi-turbo diesel, 150 kW @ 3500 rpm / 470 Nm @ 1500 – 2750 rpm
• 6-speed automatic, part-time 4WD
• 7.7 litres per 100 km claimed fuel usage, 80-litre fuel tank
• 2170 kg (kerb weight)
• Yet to be safety tested by ANCAP

Thanks to Mitsubishi Motors Australia for providing this car for testing. Region has no commercial arrangement with Mitsubishi Motors Australia.