2016 Mitsubishi Pajero Sport Review
The 2016
Mitsubishi Pajero Sport has two fundamental strengths. One: It can tow massive loads -
3.1 tonnes. The softies max out at two tonnes, whereas 3.1 tonnes is seriously hardcore. And so is the
Pajero Sport’s off-road envelope.
And I know a lot of people think ‘off road’ means anything not made of bitumen or concrete - but that’s bullshit. I mean ‘proper off road’ - water up past your knees, slippery mud, or heavily broken terrain - deep ruts; rock-hopping - stuff that requires a low range gearset and a transmission you can lock up tighter than
Charlie Manson.
The 2016 Pajero Sport is designed to revel in that stuff. And the thing to realise here is:
Compromise. You simply cannot deliver that kind of rugged performance without beefing up the suspension and the driveline and the chassis, and expect there to be no negative consequences.
The casualty of that hardcore capability - is the Pajero Sport's overall refinement. So the question: Which
SUV is best? Is really all about you.
What do you want, and what do you need? If you’ve got a heavy boat, a sizeable caravan, etc, then hallelujah - because the Pajero Sport will embrace that. If you’ve made serious plans to cross the
Simpson Desert, or head up to
Cape York - Pajero Sport is perfect.
But if instead you might, vaguely, possibly talk about doing such a thing, one day, and what you really need is a big family wagon to drive around town - then the 2016 Pajero Sport is simply not the right objective choice when it comes to a family SUV.
The first thing I noticed when I picked up the Pajero Sport and drove off was: I turned the wheel and not all that much turning actually took place. At slow speeds, you need a lot of steering wheel input to get the desired ‘yawing’/turning response from the vehicle.
Mediocre bumps in the road aren’t attenuated as well in the Pajero Sport as in a well sorted softer SUV, and the transmission - which is an eight-speed auto - is comparatively harsh at times as well. Overall, the 2016 Mitsubishi Pajero Sport feels like a bit of a truck, which it is.
Subjectively, the Pajero Sport's eight-speed auto doesn’t deliver a tangibly better or smoother result than six speeds might in other vehicles - but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t deliver on the objective front - the 2016 Pajero Sport is certainly an economical machine, and those extra ratios might be a real plus there, as well as off-road and/or while heavy towing.
The Pajero Sport's rear end’s been re-jigged comprehensively as well.
Gone are the
Triton’s elliptical leaf springs and they’re replaced by coils. The axle’s held in place by two longitudinal links and a panhard rod - and it’s quite well sorted. Across all kinds of terrain the rear end remains pretty well behaved.
It really helps if you drive around all the time in
4WD ‘high’ with the centre diff unlocked - which the Pajero Sport will happily accommodate.
The Super Select II 4WD system is well thought out and easy to use - you get four modes: rear-drive in high range, four-wheel-drive in high range (centre diff unlocked) - both for on-road driving - plus four high with the centre diff locked, and four low with the centre diff locked - both for severe off-road terrain where traction is otherwise compromised
. In the range-topping ‘Exceed’ variant, and the mid-spec
GLS, you also get a rear diff lock, for even more traction-enhancing grip and forward progress.
Engine performance from the
2.4 diesel is excellent - 133 kilowatts and 430 Newton-metres - which is well inside the ballpark for a modern diesel of two-and-a-bit litres. It feels really strong in the low to middle rev range. As you’d expect.
One of the things that did really impress me was the Pajero Sport started to feel a lot more at home when you got out on the freeway, then onto some backroads, and even onto some moderate tracks - the sense of ponderous handling and poor refinement takes a back seat as you leave the city behind.