2021 Mitsubishi Pajero Sport Exceed review

Some SUVs are bought to fit in the family and line up with all the other high riders at school pick-up because, God forbid, Johnny and Jemima should be at all squished on the 10-minute drive home.

If that’s your bag, then all power to you.

But others are bought for their off-road potential and the world that opens up.

You can tell you’re driving a proper 4WD when you’re cruising suburban streets and can’t quite shake the feeling you should be off doing so much more with it.

Such is the case in the Mitsubishi Pajero Sport, which is capable of a lot more than sticking to the suburbs.

The 2020 version of the Triton-based Pajero Sport is the same ute with a boot as it was before, rolling with a solid 133kW/430Nm 2.4-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine.

We were in the seven-seat Exceed variant, the top-spec offering at $57,190 plus on-roads, but if you’re willing to take a hit on seats and gear you can pick up a five-seater GLX for $46,990.

From the outside it looks like what it is: a vehicle with a decent (but not class-leading) amount of grunt, big and bulky and up for a challenge.

But inside the cabin it’s comfortable, smooth and not too flashy — which is good if you’re planning on treating it rough, but maybe not what you’re looking for if you’re aiming for something a bit flash to be seen dragging the family around in.

On that note, if your little ones are quite little, be warned, because the anchor points in the seven-seater make the Pajero Sport a bit of a nightmare for a car seat — you will need to buy some additional extenders and if you’re chucking the seats in, you’re sacrificing a decent amount of comfort for the people in the third row.

The entertainment system is everything you’d need, with an eight-inch display with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and it even has an app which you can download which will let you open the tailgate which sounds like something somebody would never actually use, but hey, stranger things have happened.

There’s tweaks here and there.

It looks slightly different with a higher front bonnet and headlight and grille tweaks, and there’s a few added safety feature and creature comforts.

But at its heart it’s the same as before: a good vehicle with size which will get the job done for you.

You just have to go in knowing what job you want it to do.

VERDICT

Comfortable and well kitted out, the Pajero Sport does the same job as many others, but at a price that won’t make you weep.

2021 MITSUBISHI PAJERO SPORT EXCEED SPECIFICATIONS

• Price: $57,190
• Engine: 2.4-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel
• Output: 133kW/430Nm
• Transmission: Eight-speed automatic, 4WD
• Fuel economy: 8.0L/100km