Mitsubishi Pajero VR-X

The Mitsubishi Pajero first came to our attention in the mid 80s as a short-wheelbase two-door wagon with an asthmatic four-cylinder petrol engine and later a small diesel that would struggle to pull a sailor off your sister.

Later came the four-door wagon that was even more underpowered for towing purposes and which was termed a small-to-mid-sized four-wheel drive wagon. Sure the long-wheelbase version had plenty of room, a foldaway third row of seats for the kids, and a bit of comfort when most 4WDs were not much more than farm implements, but it needed more grunt.

The Pajero soon found that with a three-litre V6 and a turbocharged diesel that offered slightly more than adequate power. How times have changed.

The Pajero has grown up to be a real force to reckoned with in the upper end of the long-wheelbase 4WD wagon sector. It’s no longer known as a middleweight, but more a light-heavyweight. The secret of the success of the current Pajero is in its diesel engine. Since the release of its Direct Injection Diesel (Di-D) in May 2002, the Pajero has really taken on a new dimension. The engine is a 3.2lt four-cylinder item with twin overhead camshafts, 16 valves, turbocharging, and intercooling.

All this translates to 121kW of power at 3800rpm and a hefty 373Nm of torque at a low 2000rpm. This is substantially more torque than the Pajero’s 3.8lt V6 petrol engine puts out (310Nm at 3250) and nearly as much power.

The wide gap between maximum torque and maximum power means that the Di-D is a flexible engine too; something that’s normally found in a small diesel and something that makes for an excellent tow vehicle. The Pajero is offered with either a five-sped manual transmission or a five-speed auto, which would be my choice. The auto comes with a ‘sports mode’ sequential shift change so you can hold onto the lower gears up hills or for engine braking down hills if you need to.

Pajero’s ‘Super Select II’ full-time 4WD transfer system is also pretty tricky. It has a selectable two-wheel drive mode with an automatic free-wheeling front diff so you can run as a conventional 2WD.

Mitsubishi recommends a maximum towing weight for the Pajero of 2500kg, which is pretty damn good. It comes in three basic specification levels: GLX, GLS and Exceed. But Mitsubishi has recently added the VR-X specification to the list for a limited time. This sits between the GLX and GLS. Basically, you get virtually all of the GLS features and more for a lower price.

The VR-X offers electric windows and mirrors, central locking, six-stacker CD, cruise control, air-conditioning, front driver and passenger air bags (side optional) and more.

The VR-X also has what Mitsubishi calls MATT (Mitsubishi All Terrain Technology) as standard.
MATT incorporates the Super Select 4WD system with Active Stability Control (with Active Traction Control) and ABS with Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD).

Pricing for all this whiz-bangery starts at $48,190 for a petrol-powered GLX with manual transmission and goes right through to $70,990 for an Exceed with diesel power and automatic transmission. My favourite, though, would be a VR-X diesel with the five-speed auto for $54,990.
For this you get all the gadgets you’d want in a luxury 4WD combined with the stability control system, the super-slick auto, and the lovely diesel which, by the way, returns claimed economy figures of 10.7lt/100km.

I’ll have a white one, thanks!

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