2020 Mitsubishi Pajero Sport

By Alex Forrest

In the first half of 2020, the Mitsubishi Pajero Sport was the fourth-biggest selling large SUV after the Toyota Prado, Toyota Kluger and the Isuzu MU-X. But it also sold more than the Hyundai Santa Fe, Mazda CX-9 and Subaru Outback.

Earlier this year, the Pajero Sport had its first major update since its launch in 2015. Most obviously, the front end styling was updated to match that of the Triton ute.

There’s also been changes to the rear lights (they now don’t go down as low as on the original Pajero Sport), and the power rear tailgate can now ‘sense’ the vehicle driver approaching and open automatically.

In the large SUV category where the Pajero Sport sits, there are two distinct large SUV types – road-biased SUVs and those with full off-road driving ability. The Pajero Sport fits into the latter group.

It has a separate transfer case with low range gearing for off road situations like crawling over large rocks.

In fact, the Pajero Sport allows the driver to run in rear wheel drive only, four wheel drive with high gearing, four wheel drive with high gearing and the centre differential locked for more challenging conditions and four wheel drive with the centre differential locked plus low gearing for when the going gets really tough.   

Plus, the suspension has the articulation needed to do that sort of driving. This means the wheels can move through a big range of angles to ensure the wheels stay in contact with the ground, maintaining grip and helping you progress through the rough stuff.

A trade-off of all this wheel articulation and off roading ability is a higher floor than you typically get in large road-biased SUVs, thanks to their more compact suspension configurations.

Deploying the third row seats is a two-stage operation that needs both hands, which is more complicated than in most urban-focused SUVs.

The Pajero Sport is based on the underpinnings of the Triton ute, meaning it has the same 2.4-litre turbo diesel engine, which is smooth and quiet by these standards.

Loaded with safety gear, the Pajero Sport is one of the best-value four-wheel drive wagons out there.