– Article/photos by Rod Fuller –
ASX, Mitsubishi’s smallest and apart from Triton, it’s most popular SUV, is an ideally sized SUV for fleets zipping about town, or novated lease buyers with a smaller family or a couple ‘fur babies’. A 2.0lt 16V 4 cylinder petrol engine (110kW/197Nm) is standard across the range powering the front wheels only with a CVT transmission, although the base model ES is also available with a five speed manual transmission.
Driving the Exceed about town it feels unfussed, comfortable and quite pleasant. On the open road/motorway though it felt a little less at home. Primarily, when pushed the combination of engine and CVT seemed to make a lot of noise and effort for not much oomph. Don’t get me wrong, it gets there, it just takes a little longer. The CVT also has two modes ‘Normal’ and ‘Sport’, with the latter livening it up a bit. Fuel economy is listed at 7.6lt/100km combined and with a 63lt tank, gives it a theoretical range of over 800km, impressive.
A stylish small SUV, ASX presents well in all trim levels, but is yet to adopt the edgier styling of it larger siblings like Eclipse Cross and Triton, making it feel slightly dated. Inside ASX Exceed there are leather seats (heated in front) and a panoramic glass roof adding an extra feeling of space in the car. Being a SUV, it is very easy to get into and out of both the front and rear seats, with plenty of space for all occupants. There’s good leg room in the back, but you sit very upright so head room is a bit compromised and best left to the kids on longer trips. Boot space is good at 393lt (rear seats up) and 1143lt (rear seats down).
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18 inch alloy wheels feature across the range with 225/55R18 Bridgestone tyres and a temporary spare. Although, a full sized alloy wheel and spare tyre is available as an option.
Apple Car Play/Android Auto is standard across the ASX range as is DAB radio, seven inch touchscreen display, Bluetooth and a four speaker stereo. Exceed though scores two extra speakers and keyless entry and start. Two 12V and two USB are provided (in the front) as well. Climate control A/C is standard across the range, but didn’t feel befitting a ‘top of the line’ model like Exceed and surprisingly I found that you cannot close off individual air vents, which I thought quite strange.
ASX retains its five-star ANCAP rating (from 2014) and offers Forward Collision Mitigation, Blind Spot Monitoring, Rear Cross Traffic Alert and Lane Departure Warning across the range.
Value though is where ASX really shines with pricing for the range starting around $24K for the ES through to $31.5K for the Exceed, giving it much more ‘Bang for your Buck’ than some of its competitors like CX3 and Kona.
