Ok, my name's Iain
got into this stuff because I felt obliged to tell people how fantastic my Mits...
Ok, my name's Iain
got into this stuff because I felt obliged to tell people how fantastic my Mitsubishi L200 is
.er little else to say!leave me a comment if you want
Member since:03.02.2008
Reviews:1
Ok, I won't beat around the bush. If you want a sports car, it's not for you. If you want an economical car, it's not for you and if you want a luxurious car then it's also not for you.
BUT, and for those of us who truly love cars, this is a big but
I think it's about the most fun car I've ever driven (apart from a 4.0l Jeep Wrangler)
It's riddled with faults, but those (for me) just enhance the character.
First off
The engine is dreadful. Noisy, rough and with absolutely no power to it and not really enough torque to compensate. The turbo lags until about 2500rpm when it hits you badly under hard acceleration. It is VERY lethargic until the turbo finally spools
Mine's just a base model on an 02 plate so it has a Tape player rather than CD, a plastic fantastic dash and cloth seats.
But again, this for me is good. The interior doesn't pretend to be from a Rolls-Royce. It's almost like it's just there because they had no other choice
Next, the steering is a mixed bag. Requires no effort(very light) but also very vague-makes parking very nerve wracking although is nice for the open road unless you really want to hammer it (which you wouldn't want to in this anyway)
Over every single bump, the car bounces-particularly at the back and this, coupled with the hard seats makes it very uncomfortable
The strangest thing for me to start with was the lack of balance front to rear. There's a heavy diesel engine up front and very little weight out back. In the wet, on the standard Bridgestone Duelers it's easy to spin the backs inadvertently, particularly on hill starts. Mine's been improved tenfold with General Grabber AT2s, although only because I spend a fair amount of time offroad. They look the part too-big, chunky, square tyres with white sidewall writing although do create fair tyre roar. This serves well to drown out the rattle and vibration of the 2.5l TD engine though!
I like the long throw 5 speed manual box- it's slick although the ratios aren't great for the open roads. Around town 1st and 2nd gears work admirably though and the shift-on-the-fly 4 wheel drive system is a godsend for hillstarts with a heavy trailer (I've towed well over the 2.7 tonne limit with a fair amount of ease).
Hard cornering is not advised-the rear will swing out very easily with very little weight over it, off road focused tyres and the throttle pushed. Particularly in the wet which is good fun in, say, an Opel Manta if you're fairly adept at controlling oversteer but not good fun in this. In fact, after having done this inadvertently once, I'm not going to do it again.
Talking of handling, in fairness to it, for a heavy, tall car body control is very good and there is very little roll. However, the harsh ride and surprise oversteer do a good job of overshadowing this!
I had no choice in buying the car-it was my father's work car (towing, off road and carrying bales and so on), which he had as a company car (and paid the standard commercial car tax on). When I turned 17, he had my name added to the insurance policy and it became 'my' car which he just borrowed for chores so I missed out ridiculously high insurance I would have paid if I owned it myself and I didn't have to pay a penny to buy it. Even after the tax loophole was removed, we just stuck a big company sticker on the back and said it was used for delivery duties and advertising to get the tax reduction back!
Fuel is expensive, although it seems to use SLIGHTLY less if I leave the tailgate down, due to it acting like a big air scoop and ruining the aerodynamics.
It didn't even look out of place in Abersoch or Salcombe-particularly with wetsuits, wakeboards and waterskis in the back and it covered in mud from North Wales off roading-another area where it does a good job
Ok so it's not comfortable or cheap to run (unless you're lucky, like me), it's slow and it's no sports car to hustle through a few corners
But despite all this, I love it. I love the high up driving position, I've learnt to love the vague steering and it sends out the right image
The 4Life badge tells you everything you need to know-it is a lifestyle car. You can get 4 guys and a big tent in and a few crates of beer and a boat on the back
It's not like a Range Rover or an X5 type of 4x4-it's a working class hero. It gets its job done and is fantastic fun at the same time-it just has character-period
And that's what I look for in a car above all else
I've had the time of my life with this car. NOTHING could have done it more admirably-apart from maybe if I lived in America and could get my hands on a Dodge Ram 1500 or a Ford F-150
Hope this helps someone!
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Advantages: Multi-functional/High driving position/Good towing capability/Commercial class vehicle with reasonable comfort level/Full VAT recovery under current legislation/PAYE tax on £500-00 only as still classed by revenue as commercial vehicle. Disadvantages: Poor steering lock/High fuel use (Diesel)/Poor reliability/Frequent service intervals(4500 miles)/High dealer service cost
feralcat 04.11.2003 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Mitsubishi L200
Feb 3rd, 2008
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