The Mitsubishi Triton Raider will arrive in Australian showrooms this year as the racier flagship of the popular ute range.
Mitsubishi is keeping a low profile on its new Triton flagship, releasing few details and just a single dodgy teaser that reveals a vehicle that looks little different from the Triton GSR.
“Inspired by rally-raid competition and with Australian engineering at its heart, the new Triton Raider recently tackled the legendary Flinders Ranges – including this sandstorm at Arkaroola – as part of its final pre-launch test program,” the company says in its press release.
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The Raider teaser appears to show a black sports bar similar to that of the GLX-R.
Although we can’t see the wheels in the teaser, they could be different from those of other Tritons.
As for mechanical changes, we’d expect a retuned suspension, but no additional noise over the existing 2.4-litre turbodiesel four-cylinder engine, which produces 150kW of power and 470Nm of torque.
In fact, it’s unclear how the Triton Raider will differ from the smaller Tritons.
The range of flagship utes in Australia ranges from variants such as the Mazda BT-50 Thunder, which adds extra equipment for a tougher look but has no mechanical changes, to the Ford Ranger Raptor, which offers a range of mechanical improvements including a dramatically improved chassis and a completely different engine.
As early as 2022, Mitsubishi had the Raider name locally protected, which was originally intended to be used for a special edition of the previous generation Triton.
This resulted in the short-lived Walkinshaw-adorned Xtreme, which featured revised suspension, new wheels and tires, and minor cosmetic improvements.
The Japanese brand has not mentioned any collaboration with Walkinshaw for the new Triton Raider.
Mitsubishi has used the Raider name before, although not in Australia. It was applied in the United States on a redesigned version of the Dodge Dakota from 2006 to 2009, and followed Dodge’s previous use of the name on a redesigned Mitsubishi Montero/Pajero from 1987 to 1989.
In fact, the name Raider is getting around. It was used in Australia from 1991 to 1996 by Ford in an SUV based on the Mazda B-series.
MORE: Explore the Mitsubishi Triton showroom
