New Mitsubishi ASX spied, marks return of GSR badge
Updated Mitsubishi ASX small SUV caught on camera in Adelaide ahead of its showroom arrival next month – and it sees the return of a famous performance badge.
Mitsubishi will revive the iconic GSR performance badge to distinguish the more powerful model due to join the revised ASX line-up in October.
The Mitsubishi ASX is due to get yet another facelift – that introduces the company’s “shield” grille – while it continues to develop a new generation model with its new joint venture partner Nissan.
To help extend the life of the hugely popular ASX for another few years Mitsubishi has given it a fresh look, a new infotainment system, and the option of a powerful 2.4-litre petrol engine for the first time.
As CarAdvice reported a fortnight ago, the 2.4-litre petrol engine option will be added as a flagship to the range; the 2.0-litre petrol engine will continue to be offered on more affordable models.
What we didn’t know until now is that the high powered version of the ASX will wear the GSR badge, which was previously used on turbo all-wheel-drive Lancer sedans in the 1990s and non-turbo but performance-inspired Lancer variants since then.
The 2.4-litre four-cylinder petrol engine in the Mitsubishi ASX has approximately 125kW of power and 226Nm of torque in North America – the only other region it is sold – and will be available as a front-drive only.
That compares to 110kW of power and 197Nm of torque in the 2.0-litre petrol engine currently available in the ASX in Australia. Both engines are backed by the same continuously variable automatic transmission.
Despite being almost 10 years old, Mitsubishi the ASX has been the top seller in its class for the past two years and is on track to make it three in a row this year.
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