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Monthly Archives: October 2019

Mitsubishi have announced 2020 model year upgrades for the petrol version of the seven-seat Outlander, with the new car greener, revamped inside and with a trim option restructure.

All models still have four-wheel drive as standard, as well as seven seats and an automatic transmission, Bluetooth plus Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, an improved eight-inch touchscreen and a rear-view camera with top-spec models getting a TomTom sat-nav on top.

There has been a redesign of the climate control… controls… which in turn means the whole dashboard has been redesigned. Lumbar support has been added to the driver’s seat whilst those in the back receive more ergonomic padding.

As with other Mitsubishi models, the names of trim levels have changed. The entry level trim is now called Design and will come with 18-inch alloys, heated front seats, keyless entry and start up, electric folding and heated door mirrors, automatic headlights and wipers, cruise control, dual zone climate and privacy glass.

The Outlander Exceed is the top-speccer, and it adds leather upholstery, electric driver’s seat adjustment, a 360º camera, the built-in TomTom sat-nav, LED headlamps, a heated steering wheel, a power tailgate, rear USB ports, plus safety tech in the form of Blind Spot Warning with Rear Cross Traffic Alert.

Now in showrooms, the range starts at £28,085 on the road, with the Exceed model available from £30,385. The Outlander’s first year VED is also down by £325 thanks to its lower emissions.

Mitsubishi have announced special offers, available on both the L200 Challenger and the Shogun Sport Commercial.

For a limited time, prices on these two models have been slashed, with CV pricing starting at £23,499 for the L200 Challenger and £26,344 for the Shogun Sport commercial. This means there are respective savings of £4,206 and a healthy £7,341 to be had, with both vehicles available on personal contract hire or hire purchase with interest rates of 6.9% APR.

The L200 Challenger is a high-spec variant of the Series 5 pick-up, which is offered in grey, black and white, sat on 17″ black alloys and with bespoke blacked out detailing around the exterior – such as the front grille, bumper accents, fog lamps surrounds, side steps, extended wheel arches, door mirrors and handles plus the rear bumper.

Inside there are heated front seats, black leather on all plus a seven-inch infotainment screen that’s enabled with Bluetooth, DAB radio, an integrated reversing camera and both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Plus, mechanically, it has Mitsubishi’s Super-Select 4WD system, which changes at speeds of up to 62mph, and has a payload of a tonne and can tow 3,500kg.

The Shogun Sport is a more utilitarian option, with a load bed measuring a metre wide between the rear arches and a touch shy of two-metres deep, meaning that there is room for a Euro pallet back there. Total load space comes in at 1,488 litres, plus it is an easily accessible hold, with a 605kg payload and a 3.1-tonne braked towing capacity. It also has a 4WD system with a low ‘box, different terrain settings, front and rear lockable diffs and Hill Descent Control.

Both vehicles can be purchased online, or at you local Mitsubishi dealership.

 

Volkswagen’s Amarok is a stellar pick-up truck, one with which there have been a few lavish special editions – and now there’s another on sale.

The Black Edition is available on Highline Amaroks – including the Aventura flag bearer. The 204 and 258bhp versions of the 3.0-litre V6 will be on offer under the bonnet in conjunction with the eight-speed automatic transmission.

Black Edition models add the Lights and Vision pack (which includes rain-sensing windscreen wipers) and the Discover Media Navigation system, meaning it has European map data plus the off-road information display. All Black Editions also come with front and rear parking sensors, Trailer Stabilisation and Automatic Post-Collision Braking System.

Styling additions include 20-inch Talca alloy wheels – black of course. There are also black bumpers front and rear, black sidebars, black fog light frames, a black polish trim on the grille (which itself is black), then a sports bar in black, plus a black headliner for the interior and decorative black inserts on the dashboard.

Aventura Black Editions also come with a Nappa leather interior, upgraded Ergo Comfort seats in the front and a leather multifunction steering wheel with transmission paddles. On the outside it has power folding side mirrors, the front fog lamps have a cornering feature, there’s a front underbody guard, the underbody cladding has been styled and the truck bed has a protective lining.

Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles are also offering matt paint at a discounted price of £2,420, along side Mountain Top roll covers at a fitted price of £1,665.

Pricing for the Black Edition starts at £34,835 for the 204bhp V6 powered truck before tax – meaning that civilian trucks will cost £42,885 once they’re on the road. For the more powerful version those figures will rise to £38,465 and £47,241 respectively, with the Aventura Black Edition topping the scales with price tags reading £40,995 and £50,277.

It may not even have entered production yet, but Bollinger Motors have revealed that it plans to make four-door versions of it’s B1 and B2 electric vehicles – as well as the initial two-door ones that are set to begin belated production next year.

The all-electric company revealed the B1 a while back, as a real-life Meccano 4×4, before shortly after revealing the B2 pick-up version.

They have also revealed that the powertrain will now have 614bhp and a range of 200-miles from a 120kWh battery, as opposed to the 520bhp supposed before.

Designed to be as practical and spacious as possible, the interiors can be readjusted and the seats bolted into a variety of positions, but the trucks are very well proportioned – for outright storage and with off-roading in mind, too.

The pick-up B2 has 15” ground clearance, 52-degree approach angle, 25-degree break over angle and the 28-degree departure angle, whilst the bed measures in at 5ft 9in long and 4ft 1in wide – or 1.75m and 1.24m respectively.

This means that with the tailgate down in the cab, the Bollinger Motors pick-up is able to transport 4’ x 8’ sheets of plywood, and if you open up the glass on the rear as you can on the B1 in order to reach the top compartment, Bollinger say you can haul 72 sheets of ½” plywood. With the powertrain hidden beneath the floors, there’s plenty of room to store just about anything with the frunk and the huge rear space.

We’re excited to see what the finished products are like, although they won’t enter production until next year – and you can expect a wait on top of that before they make it over to the shores of Britain.