ALL FOR ONE
The Mitsubishi Shogun Sport is perfect for your country, family and social life and you won’t need to remortgage your house to buy it, says Neil Lyndon
The Mitsubishi Shogun Sport is versatile and affordable
Only about 3,000 people in Britain are expected to buy the new Mitsubishi Shogun Sport, which will make it a rarer sight on the roads than a Porsche. But given the profile of the average Scottish Field reader, it is possible that the majority will fall into that small group who find this car fitting for their needs and their way of life.
This seven-seater vehicle is the one for anybody who occasionally has to pull a trailer laden with logs off a boggy hill, or transport seven guns through a wintry forest to their stands, or return a gang of teenagers to their respective homes scattered around 300 square miles of countryside after a school dance.
It is also the one for people who like a few creature comforts and would prefer not to drive into the city for dinner or to the theatre in a car smelling of sheep shearings.
Owners of Range Rovers may smile condescendingly at this point and murmur: ‘But my car will do all those things.’ To which the purchaser of the Shogun Sport can complacently reply, ‘Yes, but you will have forked out about £40,000 more for your car. I am more than happy to keep the change.’
There’s another difference between owners of the Shogun Sport and Range Rover drivers. The Mitsubishi will be sold to people who genuinely need it for its countryside attributes rather than to put on a pretence. The mighty clearance between the tyres and wheel arches isn’t for show any more than those pillar-mounted grab handles: you will need them to get up into the elevated cabin. Similarly, with a
“The Mitsubishi will be sold to people who need it for its countryside attributes
braked trailer towing capacity of 3.1 tonnes, 90% of the Shogun Sports are likely to be fitted with a tow-bar. You might find that item of kit on one in ten Range Rovers.
The Shogun Sport is being introduced to edge the old Shogun out of the showrooms, that indomitable old warrior having been on sale since Moses went up the mountain. It shares the Shogun’s ladder-frame chassis and unconquerable off-road capabilities; but the Shogun Sport actually has more in common with another vehicle in the Mitsubishi stable – the legendary LS200 pick-up. In many ways, not least in its uncompromisingly utilitarian appearance, it would be accurate to see the Shogun Sport as the SUV version of the LS200.
Its 2.4-litre turbodiesel four-cylinder with 179bhp and 317lb ft of torque or pulling power, is a straight lift from the LS200. Paired with a new eight-speed automatic transmission and variable four-wheel drive, including a low-ratio option, this muscular set-up is as durable as the Cairngorms (two out of three LS200s ever sold in Britain are still running) but it does not exactly compare with being wafted on a zephyr when it is at work – nearer to a cement-mixer in motion, perhaps, and with comparably exhilarating acceleration and top speed.
Two trim levels are on offer: the Shogun Sport 3 costs from £37,775 and comes with 18in alloy wheels, leather seats all round, LED lights, dual-zone climate control, a reversing camera, privacy glass, automatic lights and windscreen wipers and a touchscreen infotainment system with a DAB radio, Bluetooth connectivity, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
The top-spec 4 starts at £39,775 and adds even more goodies, including heated front seats, an uprated audio system and adaptive cruise control. This is the one we borrowed and also the version that is expected to be chosen by three-quarters of Shogun Sport buyers.
With the middle and rear rows of seats folded, a load-space like a small van’s is created. With the seats in place, seven adults can be comfortably accommodated because the rearmost pair are not designed only for occupation by chimps.
On the road, the Shogun Sport’s pick-up origins make themselves felt in a lumpy ride and vague handling so the word ‘Sport’ may seem somewhat far-fetched. Off-road, however, there’s nothing to beat it. Not even a Range Rover.