Yahoo News Mitsubishi Shogun Sport review: no show pony, but no workhorse either
No one actually mentioned Land Rover at the launch of the new Mitsubishi Shogun Sport, but it hung around like a rascally Banquo's ghost. As Mitsubishi's UK management droned on about farmers and foresters and vehicles that have to earn a living, everybody present will at some point have turned their mind to the 60-year-old British company that used to occupy this muddy segment.
These are the customers who used to buy a Defender or even a Discovery, until the former went out of production and the latter was last year turned into a Chelsea Tractor. It's not a big market, but of the 3,500 or so annual sales of this new Mitsubishi, the UK importer reckons between 30 and 35 per cent will go to pure working environments, places where the mention of Chelsea elicits a snort, or worse.
Yet Mitsubishi needs a reality check here, too. This car's predecessor, the Shogun Sport Mark I, was sold from 1996 and disbanded in 2009. So if you happened to be a farmer or someone needing a reliable, tractable and reasonably well-equipped workhorse, you could go whistle for a few years until the company deigned to re enter the market with a vehicle which has been marketed variously under the Montero, Pajero, Shogun and Challenger names.
For those wondering about the full-fat Shogun, the latest rumours are that a mark V new full-sized Shogun/Pajero isn't expected until next year. And, after this Japanese car maker was acquired by the Renault/Nissan Alliance in October 2016, that big Shogun replacement has been widely tipped to be based on the next generation Nissan Patrol, which by general acknowledgement, is the third best in the triumvirate topped by Toyota's Land Cruiser, with the current/outgoing Shogun a strong second.
So this smaller sized Shogun is where it's at for the moment, though the size and specification of the Sport version would leave you wondering which was the big sister. This 4.8-metre-long, 2.1-tonne, seven-seat SUV comes equipped with a full transfer box driveline giving a set of crawler gears, a lockable rear differential and a 181bhp, 2.4-litre turbodiesel that makes up for its stentorian voice and less than parsimonious thirst, with a mighty 317lb ft shove. There's also a new eight-speed automatic transmission, with a manual override for when the going really gets sticky.
The cabin is comfortable and spacious, and even the rearmost pair of seats have (some) leg room, but the materials are what might best be described as dog-proof. Big buttons and simple analogue dials give an old-fashioned impression, but they are at least easy to find when jolting up and down, which is why Mitsubishi keep them.
Seat folding isn't as simple as some and there are lot of Lego-hungry creases in the folding mechanisms, but with both rows of rear seats folded there's a big flat floor, 1,488 litres of space and 1,827mm of load length even if it is jolly high off the ground. With five seats in use the load space is 502 litres.
Two versions are offered, the Shogun Sport 3 at £37,775 comes with leather upholstery, automatic headlamps and wipers, reversing camera, trailer stability assistance and dual-zone climate control. The £39,775 4 model adds heated front seats, adaptive cruise control, forward collision mitigation and a 360-degree camera system.
The specification seems quite high, though one omission is a sat nav and while Mitsubishi claims the standard Apple Car Play and Android Auto connectivity means a mobile phone system can suffice, in some of the out-of-the-way places where this vehicle is likely to find itself (including the Cotswolds launch route), there's seldom a telephone signal – or direction instructions. The more expensive model also comes with an ultrasonic mis-acceleration mitigation system, which given the claims of unintended acceleration that hung around the previous model, should surely have been standard on all cars.
A quarry was pressed into service to try out the off-road capability, which saw this L200-pickup based vehicle scrabble, wade, cross axle and restart on slimy hills with the best of them. The hill restart and the hill-descent systems were particularly helpful. Tyres, though, are a key determinate in keeping going in such conditions and the all-terrain rubber on the Shogun Sport's 18-inch rims were optional extras rather than standard.
Out on the road, this big SUV has a lolloping gait, which tosses passengers' head around and adds spectacular vertical acceleration on sharp-edged bumps and pot holes. The body trembles over poor road surfaces and the impacts are heard and felt throughout the cabin. The wishbone front, multi-link rear suspension is pretty much state of the art, but in its vague steering and rolling gait, Shogun Sport feels like an old-school, body-on-frame utility, where passenger comfort defers to practicality and load carrying.
It's actually faster than the figures suggest, but there's a lot of it and you need to drive accordingly, maintaining momentum, with gentle inputs to steering and brakes and looking far forward down the road to avoid anything sudden. So leave the transmission in automatic and the system avoids the most boomy and fizzing parts of the engine's rev range, although if you change gear manually you'll find them as surely as a lurcher does a rabbit. The Super Select II 4x4 system means that the driveline can be shifted between two-wheel and four-wheel drive on the move at up to 62mph, though accessing the low range of gears via the transfer box is done at a standstill.
With a five-year, 62,500-mile warranty and 12,500-mile, one year service intervals, maintaining the beast shouldn't be too much of a hardship, you just need to keep pouring fuel in it. Quite a lot of fuel in fact, as at quite modest speeds we saw an indicated average consumption of 27.8mpg.
Shogun Sport sits awkwardly between cheap and cheerful vehicles like the SsangYong Rexton, more comfortable but less able cars like Land Rover's Discovery Sport, Kia Sorento or Hyundai Santa Fe, and the full and much more expensive off-road monsters such as Toyota's Land Cruiser or Land Rover's Discovery. It's certainly competent off road, but Shogun Sport struggles to maintain its appeal on the road, particularly its ride comfort and unrefined engine. As the company admitted, the market is small, but if this vehicle had been better it could have owned it and made it bigger. As it stands, if you haven't got a job for it, it's pretty hard to justify a Shogun Sport.
Mitsubishi Shogun Sport – the facts
TESTED 2,442cc, four-cylinder turbodiesel driving all four wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission, a lockable transfer box with a locking rear differential
PRICE/ON SALE from £37,775, as tested £39,775. On sale July
POWER/TORQUE 181hp @ 3,500rpm, 317lb ft @ 2,500rpm
TOP SPEED 112mph
ACCELERATION 0-62mph in 11sec
FUEL ECONOMY 32.8mpg EU Combined, 27.8mpg on test
CO2 EMISSIONS 227g/km
VED BAND 227 - 255 £2,070 for first year, then £140
VERDICT Its undoubted space advantages, as well as knee room for rear-most seat passengers, don't make up for the Shogun Sport's noisy engine and agricultural dynamics. Put simply, it isn't really good enough.
Telegraph rating: two out of five stars
Mitsubishi Shogun Sport – the main rivals
Škoda Kodiaq from £22,630
Don't be fooled by the low price, that only buys a tiny petrol engine, five seats and two-wheel drive. By the time you've got a two-litre diesel, 4x4 and seven seats, you looking at £30 grand plus. Surprisingly likable, with a high quality interior and long legs, but the ride is fidgety the 4x4 system isn't as robust and towing weights are modest.
Land Rover Discovery from £46,335
Does anyone like the look of last year's Disco revamp? All the good bits remain under that ugly aluminium skin, though, with unparallel off-road ability, up to 3.5-tonne towing capacity, big V6 diesel engines (and a forthcoming hybrid) and lots of comfort. Expensive, lovely, ugly and occasionally not always the most reliable conveyance for all seasons and terrains.
Hyundai Santa Fe from £33,425
Good looking, fine riding and well made SUV/Crossover, which has a decent warranty, an effective if noisy 2.2-litre diesel and a multi-plate clutch based 4x4 system which limits towing weights to about two tonnes. Add seven seats, 4x4 and a decent spec and you are looking at £37 grand. Nice, but when the going gets tough you'll need a bit more than this.
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