MITSUBISHI CANTER 75 I PRICE AS TESTED: £21,816 (ex-VAT), chassis-cab only.
Page 32
Page 34
Page 36
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
ENGINE: 3.9 litres, 134hp (100kW). GVW: 7.5 tonnes. BODY/PAYLOAD: 4.89 tonnes. FUEL CONSUMPTION (laden): 17.1mpg (16.511000km).
The Volvo-marketed Mitsubishi Canter 7.5tonner might not be a "real" truck to some macho eyes, but that doesn't stop it doing a man-sized job of work, carrying the biggest possible payload without an HGV licence. A flexible engine, light kerb weight and undemanding driving characteristics all make for an efficient urban delivery solution.
f you need to buy a truck for nonH G V operations, you face a number of distinct choices. You could take the traditional route of the small version of a "proper" truck, or you could buy one of the Japanese-badged "compacts". As befits these halcyon days of New Labour, there is of course a Third Way— the 7.5-tonne van, although since the demise of Iveco's Zeta, that route means just one thing, the Mercedes-Benz Vario, beloved of door-to-door spanner sellers but a bit specialised for general use.
Conceived to negotiate traffic congestion that makes the M25 look like the back end of Montana, the two orientals on sale in the UK are made by I suzu and Mitsubishi (neither of which, being assembled in Cheshire and Portugal respectively, are quite as oriental as they might appear).
Following an abortive attempt in 1987 by Mitsubishi's UK car importing organisation to sell the Canter, it took a ro-year sabbatical. However, 19 97 saw the announcement that the model was to reappear, this time marketed by Volvo Truck through its existing dealer network. This was felt at the time to be a surprising move, given that Volvo already had the 7.5-tonne FLC in its range, but the sales figures would seem to confirm that the two vehicles complement rather than compete with each other.
PRODUCT PROFILE
The Canter range for the UK consists of three models, the 35, 63 and 75, the designation referring to their gross weights. The 3.5 and 7.5-tonners share the same three-seat single tilt cab, while the Canter 63 targets the vehicle recovery sector with its fixed four-door, sevenseater crewcab. All are offered as chassis-cabs with no factory-built bodywork available.
All three models come with four-cylinder turbo-diesel engines. The Canter 35 has an indirect-injection unit of 2.8 litres, producing 114hp (85kW). while the two larger models use a 3.9-litre, direct-injected and chargecooled unit of 134hp (rookW). Both engines are mated to five-speed gearboxes (the one fitted to the 3.9-litre having a non-synchromesh first gear) and drive a conventional single-reduction rear axle.
The rest of the running gear is equally conventional, with rigid leaf-sprung axles supporting a riveted ladder-frame chassis with Csection rails, the 3.5-tonner's being of lighter construction. Brakes are servo-assisted hydraulics. The Canter 35 features discs at the front while the others have drums all round. An exhaust brake and viscous coupling fan are standard on all models.
To European eyes the Canter cab is probably a bit over-styled, with its assorted dummy air vents and a transparent section of the grille that looks as though it should illuminate. The parking lights wrap around the corner of the cab and the indicator repeaters run along the door bottoms. The vehicle tested has the middle of the three wheelbase options available on the Canter 75 (3,350, 3,760 and 4,200rnm), although its chassis is non-standard in as much as the rear overhang has been reduced by 39omm.
PRODUCTIVITY
From an operator's viewpoint, the greatest advantage of this type of 7.5-tonner is the light kerb weight. If the last morsel of payload is important to you, then the Canter's body/payload allowance of 4,885kg (over half a tonne more than some of its "proper" competitors) should certainly impress.
Our test vehicle, kindly provided by Kidlington-based mineral water supplier Crystal Springs, is fitted with a 4,420mm curtain-sided body by Ken Kerr Bodybuilders from nearby Witney With an aluminium underframe and GRP roof and rear panel, the body weighs in at just 630kg to give an impressive net payload of 4,255kg. The curtains have rigid closure panels at each end, which include an easy-to-use lockable overcentre toggle at each corner. Art Ecotek roof spoiler is fitted to help with the aerodynamics.
If the Canter's payload is impressive, its fuel consumption of r7.impg is merely average. Given the Canter's low power rating compared with the opposition, this is not a great surprise. But while it's not designed as a motorway trunker, its performance there is far from disastrous, and on lesser roads at lower speeds it should be acceptable.
There are no excuses for avoiding routine daily maintenance checks on the Canter. Coolant, brake fluid and screen-wash levels are all visible either from outside the driver's door or from the driving seat, while engine oil level is checked by pressing a dashboard button which illuminates a red or green light.
When access to the engine is required, the cab can be tilted in a matter of seconds using a simple latch at the left rear corner. A sturdy security hook provides secondary backup against unintentional operation. One criticism, the lack of security for the chassis. mounted batteries, is sadly more of a reflection on our society than on the Japanese designers who still don't fully appreciate the concept of auto-crime. The body does a good job of hiding the fuel tank and its short filler neck, but this was more of a problem for our tester's task of checking the fuel level than it would be in daily use The large air cleaner is fitted under the right front corner of the body with an intake stack on the cab rear wall picking up from a clean area.
ON THE ROAD
It doesn't take long to realise that the Canter is a city dweller at heart. While it will reach the 70mph motorway limit with reasonable ease, it's going just about flat out at 3,000rpm. In theory an extra gear would help here, but in practice there's probably not enough power in reserve to pull any more gearing. It will happily cruise at that speed on the flat, but falls back to the low sixties on the "h" of hill.
Having dropped back, though, it settles down and will maintain that speed for a surprisingly long time. Motorways are the Canter's worst environment and show that it could do with io or zo more horses on the payroll, but given that the power is what it is, the gearing is just about right overall.
Around town and on country A-roads, however, the Canter's engine proves to be impressively flexible. The torque curve is not quite flat but from its 37oNm peak at 1,Goorpm, it is still above 33oNm at the 3,000rpm red line. It's a strange sensation to lose nearly half the available revs and still have maximum torque available. Although the dog-leg change down into the constant-mesh first gear on the move would be a bit of a challenge for a novice 7.5tonne driver, the engine's flexibility means that it's hard to imagine a situation where he would need to. From a standstill it's a bit of a challenge to engage first gear, which will protest loudly if you take it by surprise.
The ride on motorway-type surfaces is generally good, although there is some float on low frequency bumps. On the typically potholed surfaces encountered around town, the ride is unexceptional in either direction. Out in the country, on twistier roads, the Canter handles well enough for novice drivers to be safe, although there is some untidy body roll if roundabouts are taken too fast, for example.
Steering is surprisingly direct for its type, and avoids being over-assisted.
On the test track, the Canter's drum brakes seemed easy to lock, although the figures were acceptable, but in a couple of hard real-life applications they did the business with no drama. Engine braking is strong, even without the exhaust brake, which is easy to use: simply engage the left column stalk and lift off the accelerator pedal. Although not the most powerful in the business, it's standard and it's quiet. The parking brake is of the umbrella type mounted under the dash; it's a long stretch away and has a long travel, but it certainly does its job.
CAB COMFORT
Entry to the cab is by way of a door which doesn't open quite as far as you might expect, and a single step with a good non-slip tread. Despite the relatively small dimensions of the cab, there is adequate space behind the tilt-andreach adjustable steering column, even for sturdy CM testers!
The suspension seat has a fairly thin base in the interests of headroom, but it has adequate padding and a well shaped backrest, and is adjustable for the driver's weight.
A double passenger seat is fitted; the backrest of the centre portion splits to form a useful table and document storage area. All three seats have height-adjustable head restraints with three-point seat-belts on the outers.
The plunging side windows give good visibility but the top edge of the windscreen is a bit low for taller drivers. The windscreen wipers have space for an extra inch of blade at each end, which would be useful. The three-point mounted Japanese-style mirrors are low and easily visible but could use a little extra width. UK vehicles have add-on heated mirrors, and the test vehicle also sported useful circular blind-spot mirrors fitted by the operator.
The airy cab interior is fully trimmed, the seats having cheerful blue-grey cloth facings; the remaining mouldings are mostly light grey. Storage space for small items is excellent, although anything as big as a holdall has to go on the floor. There are two drop-down gloveboxes in front of the passenger, a pair of pop-out cupholders, a usefully sized cassette storage box, bins in the centre console and pockets in each door. That's good, because wheel-changing kit takes up most of the space behind the seats.
A generous level of equipment is provided, including electric windows, a dig
ital clock, five-position remote headlamp levelling and a hand throttle. A Blaupunkt non-RDS radio/cassette unit occupies most of a oneand-half height DIN aperture. The instrument panel includes a Mitsubishi-branded tachograph and a rev counter—but without any economy band markings.
As well as the previously mentioned handbrake, other irritants are the button which has to be pressed to remove the ignition key and the indicator stalk on the right—the exhaust brake control is on the left, and frequently gets switched on and off in error.
An excellent heater has a four-speed fan with rotary distribution and temperature knobs and a recirc-ulatory control. Although the dash has an air-conditioning switch position, it isn't actually functional. Wipers have two speeds and a fixed intermittent function, while the washers have two jets mounted directly on each wiper arm.
SUMMARY
Despite a few industry sniggers at the beginning. Volvo is quietly having the last laugh. Its decision to market the Canter range seems to have paid off, with more than ,000 examples being sold so far. In the 7.5tonne sector, the Canter 75 and Volvo ELC have sold in almost equal numbers during the first four months of 1999.
Overall, and that first gear notwithstanding, we found the Canter to be an undemanding and driver-friendly vehicle, which is just what is needed by many operators in this sector. If having a scaled-down "real" truck is important to you then look elsewhere, but if you need the biggest payload that can be delivered without an LG V licence, then the Mitsubishi Canter should definitely appear on your shortlist.
After all, if it's good enough for BBC2's Ground Force to buy to transport Charlie Dimmock and her equipment, it can't be that bad, can it?
by Colin Barnett
MITSUBISHI
CANTER
SPECIFICATION
Mitsubishi Canter 75. Design GM: 7.5 tonnes. Plated GlIW: 7,5 tonnes. Importer: Volvo Truck, Wedgrock Lane, Warwick CV34 5YA.
ENGINE
Mitsubishi 4034-2AT4 charge-cooled, direct-injection turbo-diesel. CyFinders: Four, in-line.
Bore/stroke: 104x115mrn, Capacity: 6.9 litres.
Compression ratio:16.51
Maximum net power:134hp (100kW at 2,900rprn.
Maximum net torque: 370Nm (2711bft) at 1,600rpm.
TRANSMISSION
Mitsubishi M03555 five-speed gearbox, driving rear wheels through single reduction hypoid axle. Synchromesh on top four gears. Ratios: 5.38,3.028,1.70,1.00 and 07221; reverse, 5.38:1.
Anal chive :5.285:1.
Clutch Hydraulically operated single dry plate, 300mm diameter.
BRAKING SYSTEMS
Dual-circuit hydraulic system with vacuum servo assistance. Loadsensing valve on rear axle.
Brake dimensions: Front, 320x110mm; rear, 320400mm.
Parking Mechanically operated internal expansion brake on the rear axle.
Exhaust: Electro-pneumatically operated.
STEERING
Recirculating ball and nut with integral power assistance.
CHASSIS
Steel ladder frame with riveted construction; channel dimensions, 193x60x6mm.
Suspensiem Front, I-beam axle with three-leaf semi-elliptic springs; rear, rigid axle with six plus four-leaf semielliptic springs. Anti-roll bars and hydraulic shock absorbers all round. Axle design weights: Front, 2,900kg; rear, 5,200kg.
Design Mt ii,000kg (maximum braked trailer weight, 3,500kg). Wheels and tyres: 6x17.5im steel wheels with 205/75R17.5 tyres. Fuel tank:100 litres.
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
24V negative earth system, Battery: 2x12V, 8111h. Generator: 50A.
TERMS OF WARRANTY
Three years or 100,000km mechanical cover, with three years' cab corrosion protection.
DEALERS AND SERVICE POINTS
Volvo has 20 safes outlets and 50 service outlets in the UK.
All three models have fourcylinder turbo-diesel engines; the Carrier 55 a 114hp unit, with 134hp on tap for the two larger variants.
MODEL