The local Mitsubishi Fuso dealer has been trying to get us to buy from them for over a year now. I own 3 Dodge Cummins, 2 Powerstrokes, 2 Cats, and one Duramax. I find it hard to believe that a 145 hp 4 cylinder is going to perform in a similar manner as the 6 and 8 cylinders do and offer any fuel economy. Am I missing something? One trailer is 13-14k, the other is 8k. Anybody have good luck with these trucks? Matt
There's many guys around me running the Mitsu and Isuzu/GMC deisels. Same trucks year after year. Never noticed any down time with them either. I have 2 GMC W4500's Gas
I think you would be disappointed with the power and the mileage. Below is a picture of my Mitsubishi-Fuso. Advantages: Great manueverability, replaces a pickup plus an 18' trailer, good image, can trust the employees to drive it before I trust them to tow. Comfortable, drives like a car. Great around town. Very peppy around town. Perfect for customers with tight properties. Great for toting sod, etc. Fits in many parking spots. Ice cold A/C Good offroad versus pulling a trailer. Rock solid reliable engine. Never missed a beat. Disadvantages: No power on the highway. I mean no power. Top speed is about 68 mph. No passing power. 0-60 is measured with a calendar. Any uphill at all and top speed is 45-50 mph. No joke, its a road turtle. Semi trucks eat you for breakfast on the highway, they just cruise right past you even if you are floored. Rear axle is 5.73:1. These are city trucks. Cab is cramped with more than 2 people. 3 is absolute max. Poor automatic trans, replaced mine 3 times in 40K miles. Don't get the Aisin-warner auto get the Allison. Fuel economy is 10-11 mpg diesel city or highway, loaded or unloaded. I bought mine mainly because I work out of my house and it fits in my driveway. I am seriously considering the Chevy c4500 crew cab duramax as my next truck. If you must get the Fuso get the 175 HP four cyl. It is rated at 347 lb-ft torque versus only 275 lb.-ft. for the 145 HP motor. Don't plan on towing heavy loads often- the Fuso can barely get out of its own way unloaded. Ken
Thank you Ken Thats about what I figured. A couple of concrete companies we sub with are running the 4500 crew cab and love them. I haven't been all that impressed with our 4500 (its for sale actually). It has great visibility and good power, but it just isn't big enough (weight wise). Matt
I am pretty sure the Isuzu NPR with the auto trans gets you the 175 hp diesel vs. the 145hp version with the 5 spd manual trans. You can also get an NPR and NPR HD with the GM 350 V8 and the GM Hydramatic 4L80-E auto trans. I am willing to bet that the 4 cyl diesel will net you better mileage. We have a 1 ton Chevy G-30 box truck with a 350 and 4L80-E at my full-time job and it usually gets 8-8.5 mpg in the city and about 11-12 mpg on the highway. I'm glad that I don't pay the fuel bill for that beast!
