Athlete’s muscle

Aside from the new Xpander reveal, Mitsubishi Motors Philippine Corp. (MMPC) officially introduced the Mitsubishi Strada Athlete, its newest pick-up variant.

Inquirer Motoring set out to MMPC’s factory in Greenfield, Sta. Rosa, Laguna to check out both the new Xpander and its new pickup variant Strada Athlete.

As the name implies, this powerful and resilient pickup truck sports a gorgeous new and tougher-looking aesthetic with its black dynamic shield, black front bumper garnish. A new 18-inch black alloy wheel, styling bar and side decal accents complete its whole exterior “athletic” package.

Inside, it comes with a more premium two-tone tan and black leather interior finish with orange accent stitching for its 4×4 variant. The J-line line design allows a generous interior cabin space with almost the creature comfort feel of an SUV. The driver seat even has an 8-way power seat adjust system. We particularly liked the gated shifter with the metallic diamond patterned trims and tan side pads made it even look more premium.

Mutsuhiro Oshikiri, MMPC president and CEO said, “We are very excited to introduce the Strada Athlete here in the Philippines as we strongly feel that the new design will appeal very well to pick-up enthusiasts. It’s robust and sporty design best represents the capabilities of our truck. With 40 years of truck engineering heritage, the Strada has been refined to become a well-balanced road warrior that does not only conquer rough terrains but also provides advance technology, comfort and safety to its driver and passenger.”

The Mitsubishi Strada Athlete is equipped with a 2.4-liter MIVEC Turbo Clean Diesel engine rated at 179hp and 430Nm of torque. It is mated with a six-speed automatic transmission with super select 4WD II system (on the 4×4 variant) that allows you to shift to four driving modes on the fly. For long drives, the Strada Athlete is equipped with cruise control so it would make long journeys a more pleasant one.

For the Strada Athlete, what makes it truly more refined is not only a more comfortable ride but it also has the safety features of an SUV. The engineers of Mitsubishi made sure the following safety features were in place for the customer’s peace of mind while driving in various driving and roads conditions. These would include the Forward Collision Mitigation, Blind Spot Warning with Lane Change Assist, Rear Cross Traffic Alert, Ultrasonic Misacceleration Mitigation System, Trailer Stability Assist, Hill Descent Control, Hill Start Assist, Auto High Beam, and the Reinforced Impact Safety Evolution (RISE) body (Mitsubishi’s patented safety body construction system).

The new Strada Athlete comes in 3 color options —White Diamond, Jet Black Mica and Sunflare Orange which is exclusive to the Athlete 4×4 variant. Price starts at P1.443 million for the 4×2 variant while the 4×4 is priced at P1.76 million.

Visit any of Mitsubishi’s showrooms nationwide to check out the new Strada Athlete pickup or the new Xpander or visit the Mitsubishi Strada microsite www.newstrada.mmpc.ph