Sponsored by Mitsubishi Motors New Zealand
Deep in the bush a new evolution of beast stirs. Big, bold and purposeful, it follows in the wheel tracks of its ancestors, intent on taking Beast Mode to an all-new level, going deeper into the wilds and further into the concrete jungle than ever before. It is The King of the Beasts. It is the all-new Mitsubishi Triton.
Utes are the backbone of New Zealand, not just a vital tool for the farmers and tradies the length and breadth of the country, but they are also an essential component of the Kiwi lifestyle, where we like to play as hard as we work.
So who better to put this new King of the Beasts through its paces than the heroes who keep those backbone Kiwis entertained after a long day’s work?
No one, of course, so Jason Hoyte, Mike Minogue and Chris “Keyzie” Key, hosts of Radio Hauraki’s The Big Show, were unleashed in a Beast at Auckland Off Road Adventure’s 4x4 park located in Woodhill Forest, hitting the off-road tracks with a wealth of 4x4 experience and driving behind them.
Well, not really, as none of them had done much off-roading before. This would be interesting…
It was decided that Hoyte would be the driver for the day, simply based on the fact that it would be the funniest because he had the least off-road experience (that is, absolutely none) and is on record stating he doesn’t see the point of it anyway.
However, following a briefing from staff at Auckland Off Road Adventure, the lack of interest soon turned to trepidation.
“When we started off and he was telling us we were going he was talking about the wheels coming off the ground, massive drops, water holes and stuff like that. I was freaking out,” says Hoyte.
“But actually, it was quite amazing to drive and I'm not saying that to blow smoke and sunshine. It was actually smooth-as,” he says in his best radio voice. “It was like just sort of gently bobbing on an ocean, really. It was amazing.”
“I was amazed at how quickly you went from being terrified and wanting to have a durry. To not being terrified… and still wanting to have a durry,” Keyzie chimes in. “But you couldn't have it any better, right? You have all this stuff laid out for you. You're absolutely terrified…”
Hoyte confirms this with a subdued “yes”, before adding “and then you get in it and go, shit this makes it easy!”
“And then he actually gets overconfident…”
And that is the beauty of the Beasts that is the Mitsubishi Triton – it makes the intimidating seem easy off-road with its sophisticated Super Select 4WD system, extremely clever terrain modes and an underlying package of rugged, no-nonsense engineering.
But the Triton also represents the latest evolution of ute technology, something that was driven home to Mike Minogue during their off-road adventures.
“I think you're probably like me,” Minogue says to Hoyte. “I don't have a passion for cars either – my car's worth around five grand to 10 grand – so when you get in a brand-new vehicle that costs five to 10 times as much, you’re like, ‘Oh right, I get it. I see where the money goes’, because you look at that terrain and you go “okay, you’re really gonna feel this now,” and it just makes it easy. It was just amazing.”
But being impressive off-road is all fine and well, but that shine can come off quickly if you are uncomfortable while doing it. Fortunately, The Beast has that covered off as well by not only being able to make off-roading look easy, but also feel downright luxurious.
Traditionally the rear seat of a double cab ute is not the best place to be, so it made sense that a heavily hung-over Keyzie go back there for the off-road adventure.
“To be honest, because I'm quite tall, the back seats are always dodgy,” he says. “You usually feel the bumps more, but I was surprised at how little I actually felt them.
“Having sat in the back of my dad's truck my entire life the seats were terrible. But these were excellent. Seriously, I thought I was going to get a bit nauseous…”
“That [the comfort] is actually what I found most surprising,” Hoyte adds. “Especially in the terrain we were in, but it was really comfortable. The whole thing was comfortable. The whole experience was comfortable!”
Minogue adds “I'd say the same thing. I didn't notice being uncomfortable. At no time was I thinking I might get my teeth broken here…”
“And the way we were operating it: we either put it in low or high depending on the terrain and then just gun it the whole way. Adjust it to the terrain and then gun it!” Keyzie says.
“Yeah, because no matter how fast you think you can go you can always go faster*” adds Minogue. [*Disclaimer: this is not actually true in any way].
“Actually, one thing I thought on a number of occasions was that the undercarriage of the ute was going to hit the middle part on the inside and it just never did. It was impressive,” says Keyzie.
“And it was the good driving too,” adds Hoyte, which elicited what was possibly sarcastic agreement from the other two.
Keyzie then brings up Hoyte’s initial disinterest in off-roading, reminding him that when they started this, he said you didn’t see the appeal of four-wheel driving. “Do you see the appeal now?”
“No,” says Hoyte. “I was just happy to survive, Keyzie.”
The King of Beasts may change everything, but apparently not Jason Hoyte’s enthusiasm for off-roading, it seems.
Learn more about the all-new Mitsubishi Triton at mmnz.co.nz