SsangYong Musso 2019 Tow Test

SsangYong hasn’t been the go-to brand for heavy-duty tow utes but it might get a whole bunch of new converts with the introduction of its latest dual-cab ute, the Musso.

It has been a long time since we’ve seen a top-of-the-range dual cab ute with 3500kg towing capacity for less than $40,000 on the road.

This is where the new SsangYong is an interesting option for heavy tow hauling; it’s a lot cheaper than  the popular 3500kg utes such as Ford Ranger, Holden Colorado and Volkswagen Amarok, although to step into a Mitsubishi Triton and Nissan Navara is not a huge leap.

There’s no other way of saying it though; if you want to get the same level of features in a 3500kg-rated ute, you’ll need to spend at least another $10K over the Musso Ultimate.

You might think that the Musso might be more appropriately compared with the likes of the LDV T60, Great Wall Steed or even Mahindra’s own ute, the Pik-Up. None of these have the Musso’s 3500kg towing capacity though; the best of them is the LDV with 3000kg.

Pricing and features

The Musso Ultimate as tested here has plenty of value going for it -- it's $39,990 drive away, and comes with a seven-year warranty and seven-year capped price servicing

The Musso’s powertrain is standard fare for a dual-cab ute: it has a 2.2-litre turbo-diesel four-cylinder engine producing 133kW at 4000rpm and 400Nm over 1400-2800rpm, linked to a six-speed Aisin automatic. There’s a dual-range, part-time 4x4 system and a limited-slip rear diff.

Where the Musso dismisses dual-cab ute convention is with the coil-spring (instead of typical leaf-spring) rear suspension and rear disc brakes (instead of drums fitted to most utes).

Standard equipment includes six airbags, cruise control, 20-inch alloy wheels, Bluetooth, leather seats , power windows, a reversing camera, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, front/rear park assist, HID headlights, ventilated/heated front seats, tyre pressure monitoring, daytime running lights, 8.0-inch infotainment screen, sunroof, 360-degree camera, electro-chromatic mirror, power front seats and speed-sensitive steering.

Other driver-assist safety gear includes lane departure warning, blind spot detection, lane change assist and rear cross traffic alert.

AEB (automatic emergency braking is being added to that list. While the initial batch of vehicles arriving last year missed the safety feature, fresh shipments in dealerships now have the technology. This makes the Musso the second ute after the Mercedes-Benz X-Class to make AEB standard across the range.

The Musso only has a lap seatbelt in the centre rear, which SsangYong says it's working on to replace with a lap/sash belt but can’t say when that will happen.

The seats are really comfortable and supportive for the long hauls between camping spots and despite its budget price the fit and finish is better than you expect inside the Musso. There's also plenty of room front and back, and controls and instruments are logical, simple and easy to find.

The only glitches were that the Bluetooth pairing ‘forgot’ my phone soon after pairing, only to remember it later during another ignition cycle.

Tow time

The Musso’s  owner’s manual has a towing speed restriction, saying, “Always drive your vehicle at a moderate speed (less than 80 km/h)”. However SsangYong Australia representative Andrew Ellis said, “We have no issue with towing at highway speeds”.

We towed a tandem-axle Coromal Princeton behind the Musso, and had Mac from Victoria-based WeighStation on hand to measure the actual weights of vehicle and van -- the Musso as we towed with it at 2180kg was actually 12kg under the stated kerb weight.

The Coromal weighed a total of 2933kg as towed, of which 265kg was on the towball.

The Musso coped well with the TBM, only rising 8mm at the front and dropping 35mm at the back.

The Musso’s official payload maximum is 790kg so taking this figure with 265kg towball download and 184kg of driver and passenger meant it had 341kg payload remaining.

As tested, the Musso, occupants and Coromal weighed 5297kg, leaving 683kg for payload shared between vehicle and van. If the SsangYong had been towing its maximum permitted 3500kg, it would have had 300kg payload remaining (the Gross Combined Weight rating is 5980kg).

The reversing camera doesn’t include a centre marker for lining up the towball but the screen clearly shows the towball (not all do) and there’s also a 360-degree screen alongside. Although this screen is small, it does give you a clear indication if you’re way off lining up with the trailer coupling.

Hitched up and headed off

Once settled into a 100km/h highway cruise with the six-speed auto’s torque converter locked, the tacho sat at about 1600rpm. It didn’t take  much of a rise for kick-down to occur and for revs to increase to around 2200rpm.

Except for a booming noise when under load at about 3000rpm, the engine was smooth and quiet, making for a relaxing towing vehicle on tour. It isn’t a hill-leveller with a heavy van behind (you need a Volkswagen Amarok 580 or Mercedes-Benz X350d for that) but is competitive with most of the other four-cylinder utes in the class.

Engine braking is not great and the transmission will not hold gears -- in manual mode an upshift will still occur at around 4000rpm, 500rpm short of redline.

Performance aside, the SsangYong appears to be one of the more composed tow vehicles in its class. There was no yawing or pitching, and even when provoked with a small degree of sawing at the wheel -- although steering felt a little too light and vague on centre -- there was no adverse reaction from the rig. It wriggled a little and quickly settled.

Ride quality was also good when towing, albeit on the firm side.

Fuel consumption was 18.3L/100km on test, which included a lot of stops for photography so this may settle down to a lower figure on an easy highway cruise.

Summing up

The new SsangYong Musso surprises with its stability and composure when towing. Add to that its superb value and you have a heavy-duty tow vehicle that you should add to your shopping list.

How much does the 2019 SsangYong Musso Ultimate cost?
Price: $39,990 (incl ORCs)
Engine: 2.2-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel
Output: 133kW/400Nm
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Fuel: 8.6L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 230g/km (ADR Combined)
Max (braked) towing: 3500kg
Max towball download: 350kg
Safety Rating: N/A