Ralliart made its triumphant return to motorsports late last year after it won the 2022 Asia Cross Country Rally (AXCR). Mitsubishi’s in-house tuning and racing division dominated the tough rally with the Strada, and it plans to defend that title this year.
Mitsubishi hasn’t even unveiled the all-new Strada just yet, but it’s already giving the new-generation truck a serious shakedown for AXCR 2023. It’s still wrapped in camo, mind you, but it’s making us all the more excited for the production model’s global debut this month.
Mitsubishi isn’t revealing the upgrades it made to the Strada rally truck, but it looks like it’s ready to take on off-road endurance race. So far, it’s been tested on muddy tracks, deep pits, and on dirt at serious speeds. Ralliart says it covered over 1,600km (total testing mileage so far) of brutal testing to see just how the new truck holds up.
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Hiroshi Masuoka, team director of Team Mitsubishi Ralliart, also hinted that the new Strada has more power under the hood. “The turbocharger has been improved to increase engine response throughout the entire rally range from low to high rpm, resulting in a powerful rally car that can handle any road conditions," said the two-time Dakar champion. Oh, and Masuoka claimed those Dakar victories with another legendary Mitsubishi, the Pajero Evolution.
Aside from that, Mitsubishi also has photos of the all-new Strada’s interior. Well, sort of.
As it’s a rally car, most of the interior has been stripped out, but there is a clear view of its dashboard and center console. We can also see its new steering wheel and a section of its instrument cluster.At the very least, we can confirm that the new Strada’s interior will look angular.
This year’s AXCR will take place in Thailand and cross into Laos for a total distance of 2,000 kilometeres. The six-day event will see the all-new Strada take on varying off-road conditions from dirt to deep mud pits. The rally kicks off on August 13, 2023, with the first stage to be held the following day, August 14, 2023.
