[arjithin]

My 2013 Camry was bought in 2018 with primarily focussing on reliability and ease of reselling. A car was needed for me to settle down faster and there was a no safer choice than a Toyota. This car had 110k km on the odometer and was a single owner car. It served me well and I drove for 30k km in 2 years and all I spent on that car was 2 oil changes (100$ each) and petrol !. It took me to a lot of places. It was comfortable to be in; we as a family had done 2500 km in 2 days twice without any fatigue.



But it had its own share of problems. I am a tall person and my knees/thighs were hitting the steering in any possible seating position. Getting in & out was difficult for me. My wife found it very difficult to judge where the 4 corners of the car are, thanks to near 5m length and 1.8m width and huge overhangs. But the biggest issue for me was that it was a 2WD with just 145mm ground clearance!!. Australia is a huge country and to explore Australia, one needed a vehicle with reasonable GC and true 4WD capability (not AWD).

My needs for next vehicle

• 7 seater
• Proper 4WD with factory diff locks
• Mod potential to use as a hard core offroader few years later
• Reasonably priced and value for money
• Should not cost a bomb to run and maintain
• Diesel powered
• Should be able to use a daily driver to office and on long drives
• A good driving position for a 6'2" driver
• All around view

My nice to haves

• Some new technology features
• A good music system
• Sunroof
  

Options considered:

1. Toyota Fortuner - Was never able to find a good driving position in my test drive. Always felt like sitting on the floor. Kids didnt like the car either.
2. Isuzu MUX - Too basic interior for the money, new generation was just around the corner.
3. Toyota LC Prado - overpriced for my needs
4. Ford Everest (Endeavour in India) - Ticked almost all boxes
5. Mitsubishi Pajero NX or NW - Ticked almost all the boxes except for its age.
6. Mitsubishi Pajero Sport (PS) QE (Montero Sport, Challenger, Shogun sport are other names of the same vehicle in international market) - Ticked all the boxes

Why I chose PS:

Easiest to eliminate out of three was the Pajero NX/NW due to its age. Fellow moderator Benny owns a Pajero and he gave a lot of useful tips. (Pajero was going out of production but I wasnt very worried about it given the number of Pajeros on the road now)
Between PS and Everest ,I was kind of open to both and decided where ever I find a good deal, I will pick it.

How I purchased this car:

As always, I am huge fan of 1-3 year old 20k-40k km driven used cars. So I started following ads in local internet car selling platforms and facebook market places. Also started following the top FB groups for each cars. Next 6+ months were learning about the vehicles, common issues etc from the FB group discussions. In one of the discussions, I found a gentleman planning to sell his PS who was around 80km from home; spoke to him and agreed on a price. Also helped him to negotiate better deal for his next car..so a win win for both!

So finally a 1.5 year old 28000 km driven White Pajero sport Exceed came home in June 2020. I've driven around 5000 km after purchase.

[arjithin]

I dont plan to write all the features of the car here. Attached is the brochure and this link will give more information on the car

What I really like about the car -

• I am a value for money person and this car reflects that
• 5 year 100k km warranty
• 7 airbags and 5* safety
• Adaptive cruise control - Helps a lot in slow moving highway traffic where I spend a lot of time
• Built in amplifier for a reasonably good sound output
• 360 degree view camera & side view alone - super useful while reversing or on offroad
• 8 speed automatic - highway cruising at very low rpms
• Less diesel consumption - I got 12 kmpl over last 5000km. My usage is 60% highway and 20% semi urban and 20% urban.
• 4WD capability in stock form- comes standard with center and rear diff locks , low range, multiple driving modes etc. Took the car for an offroad trip and loved it. (details below). 220mm of GC
• Small front windshield and rear privacy glass (reduced heat). Commanding view of the road ahead.
• LED headlights - a big upgrade from Camry's poor headlights
• Paddle shifts. Fun to drive
• Great online support and availability of aftermarket options
• Speed limiter function - One can set a predefined speed and car wont cross that speed.

Dislikes:

• Turbo lag. feels very lethargic at less than 1800 rpm. Some say that this is intentional as this car is offroad capable. Anyways I have fitted a throttle controller ( its called iDrive) and that seems to solve the problem by making the car feel more responsive
  
• Slight vibrations post 2500rpm - Yet to ascertain if its a generic problem with the car or specific to my own car. Reported this in last service at 30k and they did an injector relearn procedure which solved the problem for next 1500km. Its back again.
  
• The ride. I cant complain here as I knew exactly what I am going to get before purchasing; but still wish if its better. Its very boat like and I can feel most of the road imperfections inside the cabin.
  
• The autonomous emergency brakes may kick in before I start reacting and sometimes causes people inside the car to question my driving abilities . I understand the algorithm may be tuned to be on safer side, so its fine. It actually works by the way!
  
• The parking sensors sometimes go off in the middle of a 5 lane highway when no cars are around !
  
• The 3rd row and second row can be folded to make a flat loading area, but second row will be raising up instead of going down to floor. The folded second row takes up around 1.5 feet and as a result cannot make a bed inside the vehicle for those camping trips ! I am planning to build some custom plywood work to make a bed.
  
• The protruding rear wheel arches inside the cabin. This reduces the width of cargo loading bay. I was able to keep a dining table top flat on the base in a mid size kia SUV, bit not on this car.
  
  
  
• The rear seats don't move back or forth (horizontally).
• Digital radio reception is poor with a window mounted antenna.
• No way from steering to change FM saved stations.
• Upto 10 seconds of delay when switching from stored station to another in FM and digital radio
  

Time for some photos

Outside










Inside:






Third row


Some covered storage spaces


Bottle jack


Tow bar


Rear seat power points


Rear seat lights and rear AC controls


Different HU functions, supports Android auto, Apple car play and digital radio.



The 360view option with front and 360 degree views. This can be switched on anytime from a button in steering wheel


The 360view option with front and left side


The reversing view


Inside the hand rest are two USB ports and one HDMI in port

How it is to drive:

This really depends on how comfortable are you in pushing the accelerator. With light touches, car feels lethargic; but once the turbo starts spooling ( around 1500-1800 rpm), this car suddenly propels like a rocket with 430NM torque. Wish the torque was a bit more linear. There is noticeable turbolag below 1800 rpm and once the engine crosses 1800 rpm, car picks up speed very fast. The best comparison is 1.3L multijet engine with fixed geometry turbo. The boost is varied based on the accelerator inputs.

The 8 speed gear box is very eager to shit to higher gears. but one can stay in the power band using paddle shifts. The shifts are generally smooth. One annoying feature is the gear box shifting to 2nd gear while stopping at a traffic lights with brake applied, this shift is without a trigger and can be perceived as a jerk.

100 kmph in 8th gear is around 1700 rom and 120kmph in 8th gear is 2000 rpm. Gearbox downshifts quickly if we press accelerator further down. Cruising at highway is a breeze and overtaking is also easy. I havent driven the car above legal speeds, so I am not very sure about the very high speed stability. There are youtube videos showing this vehicle doing insane speeds.

Braking is fine, but hard braking at high speeds cause the nose to dive down and gives the passengers a feel that a crash was just avoided. This happened couple of times in the initial weeks of our ownership when family was very used to the sharp/no roll braking of Camry. The pedal travel is also more compared to a Swift/Camry. Brake pedals vibrate when emergency braking is triggered. The long travel & nose dive makes a feel that car is slow to stop, but the tested number ( 40.27m@3.29 for 100 to 0 kmph) is better than most of its competitors ( Data available at https://performancedrive.com.au/performance-data/

NVH levels inside the car can be improved. This car can no way be called a silent car..at idle or highway speeds. Wind noise at 100 kmph is definitely there.

Steering at low speeds are fine, I dont find any issues except for the increased turning radius. But on highway speeds its a bit vague. Keeping car in a straight line in between lane markers needs more effort than Camry. The place I live gets some serious winds often; it is scary to drive this vehicle at 40-50 kmph cross winds at highway speeds.

This youtube video gives the most common performance numbers

-

Kitna deta hey (kmpl):
I got 12 kmpl over last 5000km. My usage is 60% highway and 20% semi urban and 20% urban.
Generally 80kmph drive will return 15-16kmpl, 100kmph will give 12-13kmpl and 120 kmph will be 10-11kmpl

This is the best ever i managed over an 80km drive at 80kmph

[arjithin]

Offroad experiences:
As mentioned earlier, this SUV comes with serious offroad capability right from factory. Throw in a bashplate and an all terrain tyre set, and there is a ready for expedition SUV. For serious offroading, people do a 2 inch lift, rocksliders and better front and rear bars, roof racks etc etc

Different offroad mods available


Rear diff lock. Used this only twice so far !


I have taken the vehicle only for one serious offroading event, thanks to the Covid lockdowns so far. We were around 10 SUVs, 7 of them Pajero sports. it was fun, and I was impressed with the capabilities of the vehicle with stock highway tyres and no lift.



Here is a short dashcam video compilation of some of the obstacles we did -

-

Damages at the end were luckily limited to few small scratches in an alloy wheel and rear bumper

[arjithin]

Mods completed:

iDrive Throttle controller (Installed it myself)


There are three (automatic, Economy and ultimate) and as the name suggests the controller adjusts the throttle output. I normally keep in automatic mode. -

details

.

Bashplates to protect underbody from rocks: 3mm steel ones.




*Representative images only.

Auxiliary driving lights (Installed it myself). The Exceed variant of PS comes with multiple front sensors and and as a result, majority of nudge bars cannot be fitted. I fabricated two mounts by myself and installed the lights (a very common mods across other PS owners). For time being some cheap lamps are installed, but plan to upgrade to better 7" combination beams later.



Upgraded LED fog lamp bulbs - Installed H7 LED bulbs myself

Upgraded interior bulbs to LED

Mods planned (in the order it is planned):

1. Upgrade to all terrain tyres, probably with a higher sidewall.
2. A roof rack to carry an overhead tent
3. Better suspension and a 2 inch lift

Towing: One of the major reasons people buy PS is because of its towing capability. I havent covered it here as I dont have any towing experience; but the online forums talk very positive about its towing capability. One tip I hear often is to run one gear down while towing using paddle shifters.

Servicing interval : 15000km or 12 months. Car has completed two services so far. Car is on a fixed cost servicing plan for 2 more years.

I will keep this thread updated as I do more mods and rack up more kms. Thanks a lot for reading !

Parting shot with the two cars in garage.

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[__.gxr.__]

Congratulations on your new ride! I have always been a fan of the Pajero.

I think Mitsubishi India could have ruled the SUV segment with the Pajero. Sadly, it was too late when the 2nd generation Pajero arrived and by then, most dealers had shut shop and the Fortuner had taken over the throne. I wonder if Mitsubishi India exists right now. https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/image...es/unhappy.png

[vredesbyrd]

Really nice initial ownership and that is a mighty fine looking vehicle. It does share a lot of resemblance with the Outlander, nice design family. I really hate Mitsubishi now for what they did here in India (or didn't).

[arjithin]

Originally Posted by __.gxr.__

I think Mitsubishi India could have ruled the SUV segment with the Pajero.

I read somewhere that Mitsubishi may be planning to bring Pajero sport to India in 2021. Thailand has a low cost version of Pajero sport with 2WD already.

Originally Posted by vredesbyrd

It does share a lot of resemblance with the Outlander, nice design family.

Outlander is one size smaller to PS and yes, the design language is very similar.

[prateekswarup]

Congrats Arjithin!

I have always been a fan of the Pajero. The new PS internationally, (which you have) has considerably improved over what we have here. The Dynamic Shield design is now the new Mitsubishi signature and is seen in the Outlander, PS & Triton trucks.

Here's wishing you lovely exploration opportunities with the PS. Drive safe!

[TheHelix0202]

If the Toyota Fortuner and Honda CR-V had a kid, this would be it.

Nice review, awesome pictures. Mitsubishi had so much potential, if only they worked upon it in India!

[pineapple_ameet]

Congrats for a very handsome car!! You've got a neat one there as it almost looks brand new!! Can you can share how much did you pay for this? Wish you many happy miles ahead with this.

[Nagato710]

I too have had the pleasure of extensively driving the PS here in Bhutan. It has 5 speed automatic gearbox instead of the 8 that you have. It's off-road capability is at par with LC 200 and LC Prado 150 though I feel the on road dynamics are not as good with too much body roll and much more bouncy (boat like as you described). For off roading, 2H to 4H is on the fly. 4HLc activates low range and 4LLc activates the central differential lock which is adequate for most off roading.

[nutcracker]

Congratulations on your purchase! Great car. And thanks for the information about the iDrive. Wonder if it will work on my PS 2014. I've owned (and still do) a Pajero Sports Anniversary Edition since 2014.
Love that car, it is solid as a rock, and drives like magic. Truly an enthusiasts and a purists dream. I do agree that there is a lag in the lower ranges, but I've gotten used to it and it doesn't bother me as such.

Comparing the lower range of the PS and my KTM 390 Adv (I know, apples and oranges) to give you a little bit of context, the KTM's lower end is incredibly jerky, whereas the PS is just lag, yet not jerky. That's why it isn't much of a problem to me. I sold my KTM for this specific reason only, the low end is just not smooth enough for traffic and stop-start riding.

[arjithin]

Originally Posted by nutcracker

thanks for the information about the iDrive. Wonder if it will work on my PS 2014.

Yes, the model number is IDrive EVC301L. The Indian PS is called Challenger here, and EVC301L is available for that. It typically retails around d 250AUD and often on sales at 225$

[abnormalspirit]

Congratulations on your new car . i am using these beast past 3 year onwards except turbo lag everything is perfect but that we can solve through paddle shifter.