The 2024 Mitsubishi Triton is set to revealed in full by the end of this month, with the new workhorse then paving the way for a more powerful Pajero Sport that would finally take the fight to vehicles like the Toyota LandCruiser Prado and Ford Everest.
The talk is understandably all Triton at the moment, but the upgrades the new ute delivers will logically then be rolled out across the company’s ladder-frame, off-road-focused SUV, which means more power and more torque for the Pajero Sport.
As first reported by CarsGuide, the new Triton will stick with diesel, but is expected to introduce twin-turbocharging to increase power outputs and efficiency.
According to Mitsubishi, the brand has “newly developed the engine, suspension, interior and exterior, which has resulted in significant improvements in driving performance, comfort and safety.”
But while the brand isn’t talking Pajero Sport yet, it’s predicted that that same fleet of upgrades will roll into the SUV version, with the brand suggesting the Pajero Sport will expand its potential as a key model in the lineup.
Mitsubishi vice president and head of vehicle engineering development, Hiroshi Masuoka, told us recently that his brand wanted to “grow the Pajero Sport globally”.
“Pajero Sport has the potential to be stretched, to grow more,” he told us. “Performance, comfort, the bodywork, and the powertrain itself. We believe the Pajero Sport has that potential.”
In the current Pajero Sport, the 2.4-litre turbo-diesel engine produces a total 133kW and 430Nm, but you can expect those numbers to increase for both the Triton and its new SUV sibling.
To get there, the brand is expected to introducel twin-turbocharging, replacing the single turbo on the current engine. Nissan employs a similar strategy for its Navara, with the lower grades of that model employing a single turbocharger (producing a total 120kW and 403Nm), while the higher-grades employ twin-turbocharging, lifting outputs to 140kW and 450Nm.
If Mitsubishi employs the same tactic, then gains of at least 15kW-20kW of power and more than 20Nm of torque would be on the table, meaning a new Triton and Pajero Sport should produce around 150kW and 480Nm (although 500Nm would surely be the target).
The boost, and the expected upgrades in technology, safety and refinement, would see the Mitsubishi Pajero Sport essentially level up, rising to take on vehicles like the LandCruiser Prado and the Ford Ranger-based Everest.
And you can rest assured that Mitsubishi in Japan has its eye on Australia, identifying out market as a “core business region”, and promising to prioritise us as an area to grow sales volume and market share.
“(We will) concentrate management resources into these core business regions, and aim to grow sales volume, market share and revenue,” the company said in an investment presentation, before going on to promise “consecutive model rollouts” for our market.
The new Triton will be revealed later this month, and is expected to be on sale before the end of 2023. The new Pajero Sport would then likely follow in 2025.
Keyword: Off-road SUV power wars! How 2024 Mitsubishi Pajero Sport will level up to take on the Toyota LandCruiser Prado and Ford Everest