Johannesburg - Mitsubishi has launched a special edition, range-topping Triton called the Athlete - which gets some racy styling enhancements and additional safety features, all at the same price as the existing flagship, while Mitsubishi is also offering discounts of between R70 000 and R80 000 on the rest of the double cab line-up.
But what makes it an Athlete?
The Athlete special edition might not be any faster out the starting blocks than its regular siblings, but it is set apart by numerous black and orange decals, gloss black grille and wheel arch mouldings, black powder-coated diamond-cut 17-inch alloy wheels, a sports bar and tailgate spoiler. Buyers can choose between two exterior colours: white and grey.
Inside it gets two-tone black leather seats with orange inserts, ‘Athlete’ embroidery and an upgraded instrument display.
The Athlete also comes with an improved safety package, now sporting seven airbags as side, curtain and driver’s knee airbags join the driver and passenger frontal airbags that the rest of the line-up makes do with. Isofix child seat anchors are added too.
Furthermore, Mitsubishi has increased the towing capacity to 3.1 tons.
The Athlete is only available in 4x4 auto guise, featuring the familiar 2.4-litre Mivec turbodiesel engine (rated at 133kW and 430Nm) and mated to a five-speed autobox and Mitsubishi’s Super-Select II four-wheel-drive system.
Big discounts for Triton range
At R559 995, the Athlete costs the same as the regular 4x4 auto model, although the rest of the line-up has been heavily discounted, according to Mitsubishi’s
.
The importer is advertising a discount of R70 000 for 4x2 Tritons (bringing the base price down to R409 995) and R80 000 for four-wheel-drive models, meaning you can now have a 4x4 auto for less than 480 grand.
The discounting spree also applies to some ASX and Pajero models.
