MITSUBISHI PAJERO LWB

Since its release in 1982, the Pajero has won 12 Dakar rallies – seven of them consecutively from 2001 – delivering the competition's maiden non-european and female champions. The last win was at the rally's final Euro-afro installment in 2007. Mitsubishi are still very proud of that famous victory, evidenced by the numerous Dakar references festooned on the rental car- white 2016 Pajero LWB (pictured below with the SWB) we received for this road test.

My father is a former Ford company man who was cutting his teeth as a junior production line superintendent when the Pajeros first rolled off the then SAMCOR Silverton assembly floor. I took the current model over to his house to gauge his opinion and I was met with hearty laughter. Most of it was him remiscing about the endless problems they had with the 4M41 3,2-litre inline four diesel engine, and how many people lost their jobs as a result.

And that's kind of the charm of the Pajero. It's a supremely capable off roader that has gradually been housebroken for city use through years of refinement. The proven recipe has stood up to decades of abuse, poor workmanship and still occupies the higher echelons of the SUV market without crossing, or even nearing, the million rand mark.

It isn't the fastest, the biggest, the most fuel efficient or the most modern (it really is still fundementally a 2006 car) but it retains an air of class. New trinkets like LED day-time running lights and a Rockford Accoustic audio system are offset by utilitarian touches like clever underfloor storage for the third row of seats or the sparewheel tool storage.

My family was easily accomodated in the spacious cabin and my five-year old was particularly impressed that she could see out of the window when I fetched her from

school without a booster seat in the car.

This isn't a car for the tight confines of a shopping mall parking lot, but load it up and point it at the mountains and it won't miss a beat. Fuel economy was great (hovering around the 11 litres/100 km mark), highway cruising was adequate and comfortable. It drives like a Pajero in the same way that the new Hilux drives like a Hilux. You're more the captain of a ship than a rally driver behind the wheel, so you must be aware of the longer stopping distance and dynamic deficiencies that come with the nautical body control. Again, these characteristics are awesome if you're clambering up the side of a mountain. – LS

NEED TO KNOW

ENGINE TRANSMISSION POWER/TORQUE 0-100 KM/H EFFICIENCY CO

2 AFTER-SALES: PRICE 1,5-litre turbodiesel 5M 66 kw/220 N.m 13,1 sec 3,6 L/100 km 95 g/km 3-year/45 000 km service plan R292 400