Latest trade puts a Mitsu badge on a Dodge pickup

[BMWDave]

Switch-hitters: Latest trade puts a Mitsubishi badge on a Dodge pickup
BOB GRITZINGER
Published Date: 9/5/05
2006 MITSUBISHI RAIDER LS
ON SALE: Late September
BASE PRICE: $19,900 (est.)
POWERTRAIN: 3.7-liter, 210-hp, 235-lb-ft V6; rwd, six-speed manual
CURB WEIGHT: 4317 pounds
0 TO 60 MPH: 9.5 seconds (est.)
FUEL MILEAGE (EPA COMBINED): 19 mpg

Mitsubishi and Chrysler have made a science out of swapping their stuff, with the Japanese company typically on the selling end. For proof, one need look no further than the Mitsubishi Montero sport/utility vehicle (Dodge Raider), Mighty Max pickup (Dodge Ram 50), Eclipse sports coupe (Plymouth Laser/Eagle Talon/Chrysler Sebring/Dodge Stratus) and 3000GT sports car (Dodge Stealth), among others.

But now, with Chrysler resurgent and Mitsubishi on the ropes, the German-American company?s Dodge division is providing Mitsubishi with a ready-made product for the hot midsize pickup market in the States.

Enter the 2006 Mitsubishi Raider, which goes on sale in late September. Based on the Dodge Dakota pickup, the Raider gets a significantly restyled body and interior while retaining all of the Dakota?s underpinnings.

Foremost among those Dakota parts is an optional 4.7-liter, 230-hp, 290-lb-ft V8 engine, which allows Mitsubishi to tout its Raider as the only midsize import truck to offer a V8. It?s a fine point, but hey, they will take the little victories at Mitsubishi these days.


The base engine, a 3.7-liter, 210-hp, 235-lb-ft V6, offers buyers the option of a six-speed manual gearbox or a four-speed automatic. A five-speed automatic is paired with the V8. Towing capacity for the V8 model is 6500 pounds.

With all the basic hardware in place?and with a mandate to make changes without adding complexity and production costs?Mitsubishi?s only way to distinguish its truck from the underlying Dakota came in the styling studio.

Design chief Dave O?Connell kept the Dakota?s roof, rear doors and windshield, but added wider fenders to bulk up the appearance, body-side trim to visually lift the body, and a taller bumper with a slimmer grille opening to set the Raider apart from Dakota and other trucks. O?Connell is particularly proud of Raider?s taillights, which use a single light source and reflectors to emulate more complex LED lights.

Inside the highly stylized cockpit offers a more car-like environment than many trucks, providing space for passengers and gear as it tries to fulfill the Mitsubishi mantra: ?Every-thing a truck buyer might need, with everything a car buyer might want.?

Raider comes in three trim levels: base LS, DuroCross and XLS, in extended-cab and double-cab configurations. All trim lines and engines are available in either two- or four-wheel drive.

[giant_mtb]

<_<  

[Raghavan]

<_<

???

[Speed_Racer]

Ugh...that's kinda ugly.

[Secret Chimp]

It looks like a cyborg Care Bear that got transformed into a truck by that evil bicycle girl.

Care Bears, TOW!

[cawimmer430]

It does look pretty "plain" for a new car. I can see that they tried to give it a "massive" appearance but it just looks so plane and...well..."Japanese".

[ifcar]

Looking Japanese may have been all they were trying for, the Dodge Dakota that they took all the basics from looks like anything but:

[giant_mtb]

The Dakota is much better than the Raider...Maybe if it had a different - and better looking - lower front fascia, I might feel differently.

[Raghavan]

It looks like a pig's snout from the front. :blink:

[BMWDave]

I like its styling, its fresher and nicer than the Dakota, IMO.

[Raghavan]

I like its styling, its fresher and nicer than the Dakota, IMO.

It would've looked nicer if they had made the headlights a bit larger and had moved them down and had made the lower plastic bumper smalle.r

[Champ]

the front end looks too tall to me