Fuso Canter FE73

Stepping in the cabin of the Fuso Canter FE73, one will perceive it to be a pleasant cabin, as it gets slightly more polished and complete layout with few modern-day essentials like music system and air conditioner. The build quality of the cabin is quite good for its segment too.

The four-spoke steering wheel of the Fuso Canter FE73 looks quite nice and has both the tilt as well as telescopic adjustments too. The rectangular influence can be seen in the instrument console, center console which accommodates 1-DIN music system and dials for air conditioner and co-passenger side which gets an open glove box and small storage compartment beside it. The cabin feels even more practical, thanks to well-bolstered seats and an ample amount of storage spaces between them. 

Sharing its entire design with the Fuso Canter FE71, the Fuso Canter FE73 looks exactly the same as the former. The only difference evident between the two trucks is the total length on offer and the wheels doing their duty on each of them. The Fuso Canter FE73 is essentially a longer version of the Fuso Canter FE71, with a longer frame and additional wheels at the back.

The Fuso Canter FE73 gets a large windscreen, which is designed in the shape of a tilted rectangle with minutely rounded edges. The edges of the front windscreen get mounts for the large rearview mirrors. These mirrors accentuate the width of the truck as they are positioned quite outwards, giving a clear view of what is there at the back.

The front apron of the Fuso Canter FE73 gets two sleek split horizontal air vents at its top, just below the windscreen. The lower portion of the windscreen has a trapezoidal grille, which has rounded edges and gets a sleek chrome bar in the middle as well as a Mitsubishi logo just below it.

The lower corners of the front apron of the Fuso Canter FE73 get halogen headlamps, which are shaped in the form of the trapezium and incorporate turn indicators just above them. The upper boundary of the headlamps extends towards the side profile in a curved manner. 

The highlighting aspect of the Fuso Canter FE73 happens to be the curved character line, which commences from the headlamps and flows through the handlebars. The side windows too are shaped in a trapezoidal manner, with the steeply upwards flowing window waistline.

The Fuso Canter FE73 gets two additional wheels as well as a longer wheelbase over the Canter FE 71. The longer frame of the Canter FE73 gives an added sense of stability and load-carrying capacity over the range starting Canter FE71. The truck features rigid laminated leaf springs at both front and rear ends, with the double-acting hydraulic telescopic shock absorbers assisting them in absorbing the shocks pretty well.

The Fuso Canter FE71 shares its smooth and refined 3.0-litre inline-four diesel engine with the smaller Canter FE71 truck, and in the same exact configuration. This means that here too, this engine is mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox, and produces a maximum power output of 125 PS and a maximum torque output of 294 Nm. 

The Fuso Canter FE73 is bestowed with few basic essentials in safety and offers a collapsible steering wheel as well as side-impact beams. However, the presence of a proper ABS would have made things even better.

The Fuso Canter FE73 tries to justify its positioning over the smaller Canter FE71 with enhancements in its rear wheels, longer chassis, and bigger fuel tank, all of which do make it a not-so-small light-duty truck.