On your marks, get set and the Mitsubishi Triton is ready to go in the Asia Cross Country Rally

Even for a works team, completing a rally isn’t a given. As one of the most gruelling forms of motorsports, a rally is truly as much a test of man as well as machine in demanding conditions from start to finish. Hence, Mitsubishi Motors Corporation announced that the Mitsubishi RalliArt Team has successfully completed a performance and testing test of the Mitsubishi Triton Rally Car in preparation of the Asia Cross Country Rally in November 2022.

Testing was carried out on an off-road test track in Thailand last month. It simulated various routes and loads that the Triton will likely endure in the real competition to gauge the performance and durability of the suspension and engine. The test course itself was a complete simulation of an actual rally environment with flat roads requiring high speeds, rough roads and small, winding roads that passed through forests and mountains.

“The Mitsubishi Triton has a solid suspension system with excellent driving performance. We have decided to reduce the weight of the car as much as possible but still maintain strength and durability to be able to support the tuning of a rally racing car as much as possible. Having driven over 800 kilometers of this rally car over the course of two days has shown excellent performance over the course of the tough test with the result in accordance with what we have set,” said Hiroshi Masuoka, Team Director of Mitsubishi RalliArt.

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Touted as one of the most extreme cross-country rallies, the Asia Cross Country Rally run for around a week from 21 – 26 November 2022, covering approximately 1,700 km along the complex nature trails of Southeast Asia.

It’ll flag off in Buriram Province, located in the north-eastern region of Thailand, before crossing over into Cambodia and crossing the chequered flag at the world heritage site of Angkor Wat.

Mitsubishi pulled out all the stops with the Triton Rally Car. The machine will compete in the T1 (cross-country race car) class. According to the International Automobile Federation (FIA) rulebook, that’s a race car built on a production version of the Mitsubishi Triton pick-up truck and retains the front and rear doors as well as the stock cab.

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Weight was ditched as much as possible while the frame was reinforced for safety. Handling was given a boost courtesy of a Cusco suspension system, who also delivered the front and rear differentials for maximum grip.

Yokohama came onboard with their Geolander M/T G003 mud tyres, affixed to the lightweight alloy wheels.

Speaking of a boost, the 2.4-litre MIVEC turbo diesel engine was honed by none other than the expert hands at tuning legends HKS. A lot of focus was placed on a usable powerband.

Once the engine package was completed, the bay was given a good seal for the Triton to be able to wade through water; something unavoidable during the course of the rally. Of course, there’s a snorkel to feed air into the engine.

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While the distance of this year’s rally comes in a little short as compared to the usual 2,000 or so kilometres, participants will know better than to take things easy and underestimate the conditions.

We’ll see if Mitsubishi’s endurance preparation pays off come November.