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By
EWAN KENNEDY
2 June 2008
SsangYong has announced a new low-cost variant of its Sports Dual
Cab. Coming to Australia at just $24,990 for the 4x2 with a modern
common-rail turbo-diesel engine and five-speed manual it offers a
lot of vehicle to the cash-strapped Aussie tradie. Hence the title
of SsangYong Tradie.
To
keep costs down, the importer offers the new Tradie in any colour
you like – so long as it is white! Not necessarily a bad thing
as most working utes are soon sign written and a white starting
point is often appreciated.
The
Tradie isn’t a stripped down special as it includes air
conditioning, power windows and remote central locking. Dual front
airbags are part of the safety package. The Sports Dual Cab Tradie
has cloth trim that looks to be comfortable and hard wearing.
The
2.0-litre, four-cylinder turbo-diesel produces power of up to 104
kW at 4000 rpm. In keeping with its working aspirations maximum
torque of 310 Nm is reached at a mere 1,800 rpm.
Official
tests have the SsangYong turbo-diesel Tradie showing fuel
consumption of 8.1 litres per hundred kilometres so it’s
economical to run as well as to buy.
Payload
is 750 kg and a standard tray liner means it can do real work
without damaging things.
As
well as the 2WD described here, the new SsangYong Tradie is also
available as a 4WD. It also comes with a five-speed manual gearbox
and is priced at just $27,990.
SsangYong's
Sports Dual Cab runs much more quietly than most other utes thanks
to its coil rear-spring setup, something that’s not all that
common in this class of vehicle. It’s not the most refined of
vehicles, but is an honest worker that provides good value for
money in all variants, and in this new Tradie format further
excels in the value equation.
The
use of the word Sports by SsangYong is somewhat misleading as this
really is a pure ute not a sporting vehicle in the generally
accepted manner. However, if you go to interesting locations and
cart some camping, or other fun gear along with you, that may just
be described as sporting. We’ll leave it up to you…
© Copyright
Marque Publishing Company
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