MITSUBISHI may be protecting quiet on the chance of its all-new Triton spawning a rival to the Ford Ranger Raptor or Toyota HiLux GR Sport, however its Asia Cross Nation Rally (AXCR) contender exhibits there’s an opportunity a ‘Ralliart’ Triton is within the pipeline… or so we hope.
Group Mitsubishi Ralliart (TMR) showcased its Triton AXCR on the unveiling of the sixth-generation ute in Bangkok, Thailand, giving the world’s media a style of what would possibly come from a extra succesful off-road mannequin.
Set to compete within the AXCR occasion from Thailand to Laos subsequent month (August 2023), the “absolutely redesigned and developed” Triton is alleged to supply sporty and steady dealing with and much more response throughout the rev vary, making it ideally suited to the occasion’s expectedly robust and muddy roads.
Three examples of the Group Mitsubishi Ralliart Triton AXCR will participate on this yr’s occasion, piloted by Thai rally driver and former winner of the occasion, Chayapon Yotha, Indonesia ace and fifth-place getter in final yr’s occasion, Rifat Sungkar, and Japanese off-road specialist Katsuhiko Tagichi who gained the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship in 1999 and 2010.
“We’re very excited to have the ability to tackle the competitors with the all-new Triton, which has been absolutely redesigned and developed considerably for each facet,” mentioned TMR director Hiroshi Masuoka.
“Triton rally automobiles have undergone over 2000km of endurance testing in Japan and Thailand with no main issues, and we’ve confirmed that they supply even higher efficiency than final yr’s mannequin in each stage, from flat grime high-speed levels to muddy low-speed levels.
“We’ll be driving with three rally automobiles, every of which is competing for the general victory, and we need to take the championship place up on the rostrum for one more consecutive victory.”
Modified inside Federation Internationale de l’Car (FIA) Group T1 restrictions (for modified cross-country automobiles), the Triton AXCR boasts a full roll cage and bumper guard, and carbon-fibre bonnet, entrance doorways and cargo mattress.
Additional weight reductions come from the elimination of pointless inside parts giving the automobile an equal kerb weight to final yr’s mannequin regardless of a rise in dimension.
In addition to widening the monitor of the Triton AXCR, TMR engineers have geared up the automobiles with rally-specific entrance and rear suspension with twin shocks and hydraulic bump stops on all 4 corners, a Cusco restricted slip differential on each axles, high-mount snorkel, Infinite four-piston brakes, light-weight Work aluminium wheels and slender off-road tyres for improved mud efficiency.
The rally model is powered by the identical 4N16-series twin-turbocharged 2.4-litre diesel unit discovered within the road-going Triton with 150kW/470Nm. It’s mated to a six-speed guide transmission and Mitsubishi’s acclaimed Tremendous Choose II 4WD system.
