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Private Fleet Car Review: 2016 Mitsubishi Pajero Sport Exceed
What the Australian car market has known as the Mitsubishi Challenger, for some two decades, is no longer. Enter the Pajero Sport, bringing us into line with the international naming system. Built upon the Triton platform but given Mitsubishi’s “shield” nose job to visually break away from the Challenger, the Mitsubishi Pajero Sport is currently available as a five seater only (the seven seater has been signed off for ADR) and is aimed fairly and squarely at the family.
Complete with a 2.4L diesel and new eight speed auto, A Wheel Thing reviews the top of the range Pajero Sport Exceed.
Straight up, it’s an imposing looking vehicle, standing 1805 mm high. There’s side steps adding to the visual appeal, plenty of chrome up front (burying the headlights in the look), a kicked up rear window line echoing the raked front window and an odd looking tail light design, almost as if the lights have melted and run down the tail gate’s sides.
It’s not as long as it looks though, with a length of 4785 mm making it shorter than Kia’s Optima. It does offer, however, plenty of room inside, with shoulders and legs having plenty of space; 1067 mm front leg room, 880 mm rear leg room, there’s 1022 mm and 1420 mm front head and shoulder room while rear seat heads get 957 mm and 1409 mm. 
The rear seats, though, sit up higher than the front, which would be uncomfortable for taller passengers that may not wish to take advantage of the DVD screen mounted into the roof lining. The DVD screen is simple to operate, with Mitsubishi tossing in a pair of wireless headphones and a full function remote control as well.
The interior is a step up from Triton, but recognisable as being a family member, thanks to Mitsubishi’s common design themes. The sombre black plastic and seating covering is broken by splashes of brushed alloy look plastic, and there’s there’s the colour display for the driver’s dash binnacle. 
Ergonomically, there’s the simple and easy to use aircon controls, red backlighting for the steering wheel controls (which are hard to read in the daytime due to the light beige/bronze plastic used) and a seven inch touchscreen complete with digital radio and Android Auto/Apple Car Play app connectivity plus external HDMI input. What it doesn’t offer is satnav, only offering GPS, relying on the app to supply mapping. If you take the car off road and out of mobile range (easy to do with some providers, then GPS only won’t cut it.
There’s heating only (grrr) for the front seats but they are both power adjustable. The tail gate, though, is not and it also has one of the numbest feeling opening mechanisms A Wheel Thing has come across. It’s literally the same as a door not closed properly, such is the lack of pressure required to open the door by using the handle. Certainly the lack of a power ‘gate stands out in this class.
The seven seater version will, apparently, have the second row seats fitted into the cargo bay’s undercroft, where the spare wheel would normally go. This allows the Pajero Sport to keep the 673 litres of rear cargo space with the current rear seats up, which increases to 1624 litres when folded (they tumble fold as well).
There’s also curtain airbags, a driver’s kneebag and the usual onboard electronics as well, such as Active Traction Control, Active Stability Control, Hill Start Assist, ISOFIX rear seat mounts, plus there’s a centre and rear diff lock for off roading.
Out on the road the Pajero Sport is an adequate performer on tarmac. The 2.4L diesel feels as if it’s perhaps too small for the 2070 kerb mass it needs to move but there is 430 torques at 2500 rpm, good for 3100 kilos of towing. It’s almost a situation where acceleration is not a word seen in the same sentence as alacrity. To clarify, that’s acceleration off the line, as mid range get and go is reasonable, without being startling.
Yes, there’s paddle shifts, but they make no difference in change of speed for the transmission whereas some cars have a substantial difference between self shifting and manual changes. The changes themselves are smooth and the transmission kicks in for engine braking downhill, as well. Certainly, having the extra cogs do make a difference to the drive, with freeway velocities seeing around 1700 rpm.
Fuel economy with Mitsubishi is flexible: their onboard system gives a real time indication of usage, rather than an average, with the figure showing over 14.0L per 100 km when taken off road and used in low range to just over 8.0L per 100 on the freeway run back to the dropoff point. What’s a touch worrying is the comparatively small 68L fuel tank fitted to deal with Mitsubishi’s claim of 8.0L/100 km for a combined cycle.
Handling? Not fantastic and not helped by the compromise 265/60/18 on and off road rubber, to the point that an incident was almost had on a left hander as the tyres lost traction. It took a long moment before the electronics kicked in to help sort out the (potentially un-fun) situation. It’s a touch soft and prone to some body roll on normal roads, yet crashes on some pothole and speedbumps. Odd. The steering is numb on the straightaway, takes a bit of a turn either side before there’s any bite and does tend towards understeer most of (well, all) of the time in 2WD, and only slightly less so in 4WD H. Turning circle is tighter than the rest for the class, at 11.2 metres.
Bear in mind it’s a four wheel drive capable vehicle and seemed to tighten up in handling when the drive mode was changed from 2WD to 4WD high range. The aforementioned incident was also in 4WD high. It does seem, however, that the Pajero Sport’s forte’ is off road. Taken to A Wheel Thing’s standard off road test track, a mix of mud, gravel, rock and sand, it tested the Pajero’s off road drive and the switchable programmed modes, being all of the former plus Snow. Is it any good?
With a proper transfer case (although somewhat recalcitrant in engaging via the control dial), once the drive finally decides to finish thinking, it’s an… engaging drive. It powers through puddles (it has a wading depth of 700 mm maximum), clambered over rocks, crawled down gravel and rocky slopes (utilizing the crawl function programmed in) nicely and essentially made its on road manners look even worse. Yes. It’s good.
For its off road capability alone, it’s worth the buy for those that like to get dirty. There’s a 30 and 24 degree approach and departure angle, 218 mm ground clearance (unladen), and will climb a 45 degree slope. For downhill runs, the Hill Descent Control works admirably, easing the two tonne plus machine down cautiously, with a little huffing and wheezing from the brake system, but easily as well.
At The End Of The Drive.
It’s a three model range, the Pajero Sport, with GLX and GLS sitting below the Exceed. There’s a price spread of $46990 to 54990 plus ORCs. It’s a well priced range and certainly a range full of value. It’ll have even more of a broader appeal when the seven seater arrives, sometime before June 2017.
The new look also, hopefully, points the way towards a new Pajero, something the cash strapped Japanese maker needs, along with a new Lancer and ASX range.
For info, click here:2016 Mitsubishi Pajero Sport range and for info about the Mitsubishi Pajero Sport‘s service costs, talk to your Mitsubishi dealer.
Private Fleet Car Review: 2016 Subaru Liberty 3.6R Sedan
Subaru’s Liberty sedan is an unsung hero in Subaru’s fleet, with the Outback and WRX getting all of the eyeballs That’s a shame because it’s big, roomy, nice to be in and not unattractive to look at. When the 3.6 litre boxer engine is slotted into the engine bay, it then becomes an entrant in the large car class, against Aurion, Commodore, Falcon…and so it should. In February of 2016, A Wheel Thing attended the launch of the updated Liberty, Forester and Outback and recently sampled the 2.0L diesel and 3.6L petrol powered versions of the Outback Premium.
The Liberty sedan with the 3.6L is, effectively and essentially, the same as the Outback wagon, bar the extra ride height and sheetmetal. It certainly has the same excellent ride quality and handling, with a lot to be commended. Of note were the subtle changes to the suspension in the wagons. It’s A Wheel Thing’s opinion that the Outback is one of the best in the medium wagon class for ride and handling and the Liberty sedan slots right in there. There is a bit of competition out there such as the Mondeo, Superb, and Octavia, just to mention a couple, but the incremental development work that Subaru Japan and Subaru Australia have jointly been involved in has paid off.
Tested on dirt and tarmac roads in South Australia during the launch, and driven hard in its most likely environment, suburbia, both sedan and wagon exhibited the kind of ride a discerning driver looks for. On undulating roads,there’s no sense of continuing the motion, with the Liberty Premium simply following the up and down movement while simultaneously isolating the cabin from it.
Shopping centre car park speedbumps were ignored, with only the barest thump transmitted through at low speed (say two or three kmh) and at 
around 20 kmh there was a short, sharp, jolt which was instantly damped. The larger rubber based units on some back roads were noticeable in the relative lack of impact felt inside, with the compliant suspension taking up most of the shock and minimising any bodily movement. It’s well tied down and lacks the floatiness found in others.
It’s also quiet on the road with tyre, road and wind noise very quickly becoming forgotten. This helps in regards to fatigue on a drive, as does the ride quality.
It’s a tight handler, with just a hint of understeer in slow 90 degree corner turns but tucks the nose in nicely in roundabouts. Steering is responsive, perhaps moreso in the 3.6R, with the load building up left and right from centre in a progressive manner.
The transmissions provided were CVTs for each, programmed for six speeds with the 3.6R feeling more like a traditional auto. There is a manual option available, as well as a 2.5L four potter. The range starts at $35990 for the entry level 2.5L with CVT with the range topper 3.6R at $48490.The diesel premium CVT is $44490, with that price being an increase of $1500 over the outgoing model whilst the 3.6R seeing an increase of just $500.
A Wheel Thing has not been a fan of CVT, for the most part, as the CVT added to the WRX is simply superb. There’s a discernable lag in acceleration, a lag in switching from Reverse to Drive before forward motion is engaged, a lack of smoothness in doing so as well. The 3.6R’s gearbox however is zippy, instantaneous response is given when asked for, and there’s more of a sense of the engine working firmly hand in hand with the gearbox.
The 3.6R is more free spirited in its revvy nature, seeing 191 kilowatts at 6000 and showing no restraint in how it spins. There is the question of economy, with 9.9L/100 km for the 3.6R, however final figures finished well under that figure, at 8.5L/100 km.
What is impressive about the 3.6R’s delivery is the torque; although peak torque is at around 4500 revs, there’s something in the order of over eighty percent available from 2500, meaning there;s plenty of low end response and urge to keep the Liberty motivated.
Apart from the all wheel drive system marketing that Subaru has steadily built its following on, there’s been the step by step increase in standard technology. The 3.6R gets the EyeSight package, with stereo cameras and also now with colour recognition programming. The 3.6R also gets the Vision Assist package, giving the driver: Blind Spot Monitoring, Lane Change Assist, Rear Cross Traffic Alert, high beam assist and self dimming rear vision mirror.
The colour recognition shakes hands with the ACC, Adaptive Cruise Control, by recognising brake lights being activated in vehicles ahead, and will slow the Outback. It’ll also recognise lane changing vehicles ahead, adding to the five star safety rating the range has. A very handy feature is what’s called Unintended Start Prevention, where it’ll hold the vehicle if the accelerator is pressed but the sensors read an object in front of the car.
Subaru have also tossed in the Euro style emergency brake light system, which flashes the brake lights when the computer senses input that would be an emergency stop situation. 
The interior of the 3.6R Liberty sedan is identical to the Outback wagon with the 3.6L, down to the sunroof, somewhat slabby seats, lack of detail on the leather, no cooling for the pews (surely a must for Aussie spec cars with machine made leather seats?), the SI Drive system (which changes the engine mapping and shift points in the autos), the StarLink touchscreen satnav and infotainment system…you get the picture. A Wheel Thing still feels the location of the clock has it lost within the aircon controls, not exactly an ergonomic or safe feature…Of course you’ll get Bluetooth handsfree phone connection, audio streaming and, being wagons, plenty of storage space in the cavernous boot, with over xxxL of cargo and enough bottle holders to suit the family.
You’ll get curtain airbags, side airbags, driver’s knee airbag, power seats and that all wheel drive system with its so user friendly handling.
The exterior hasn’t come in for any major do-overs; there’s a new Dark Blue Pearl paint (verra noice) and a retrimmed grille for the 2.5i and 3.6R aside from the aforementioned driving light change. It’s a handsome looking vehicle, with good looking 18 inch alloys and 225/60 Bridgestone rubber. It’s a good size overall, too, with a total length of 4815 mm encompassing a wheelbase of 2745 mm and tracks of 1570/1580 mm. .
At The End Of The Drive.
Subaru’s Liberty really is a hidden gem for the niche player from Japan; the brand had a massive 344.7% sales increase in 2015 though. There’s a three year warranty on offer, which some would say lacks compared to some of the other brands out there. But the brand has a strong, fiercely loyal following and there’s little doubt an extra year or two warranty makes little difference to that loyalty.
What the Subaru Liberty trades on is a good look, solid engineering, dependability and with the 2016 model, some of the best handling in its class, with the MacPherson struts and double wishbone rear. It’s a pity the CVT nobbles the diesel compared to the 3.6R as the economy of the diesel will always be a winner there but the 3.6R wins thoroughly in the performance stakes. Head across to www.subaru.com.au and follow the links for information on the vehicles available.
Road Rules That Time Forgot
Driving a car seems to be, for some people, one of the hardest things to do. Not necessarily the act of driving itself, but some of the legal requirements that will make your drive, and theirs, safer.
Some surveys state that the number one peeve of drivers is others that don’t indicate. That’s a fair point, as far too many drivers don’t do that on the straight road but did you know it’s also a requirement when merging from a freeway/highway on/off ramp? It also ties in with the relatively simple yet seemingly over complicated act of merging.
Here’s how it should work: you’re on the merge lane and the road you’re coming to is on your right. The first thing you should be doing is be looking for the traffic that will be coming up behind you. This is where the law AND common sense come into play. 
Indicate right; not once, not twice, but until you’ve entered the left hand lane from the merge lane. At the same time you should have either accelerated or slowed in order to “zip merge”.
A tip: if you’re on the highway and coming to a section where it’s clear there’s a merge lane, move right, allow the incoming traffic to do so with a higher safety factor.
By setting up your approach speed correctly, you’ll aid in keeping the flow of traffic up plus, by using your indicator, you’ll give plenty of warning to the highway or freeway traffic and you may even see them do the right thing and move right.
Another road safety tip involving indicating is when you pull over or leave from a roadside location. Let’s say you’ve just got a call on your mobile phone and you haven’t got it bluetoothed to your car. It’s a call you need to take; when pulling over to the left, onto the verge and off the road, indicate to show following traffic you’re doing so. When ready to continue, it’s a legal requirement that you indicate right BEFORE entering back into the flow of traffic.
Wet weather driving seems to be more fraught with danger than what it should be. The simplest safety tip you can take advantage of is to ensure your headlight switch, if fitted with Off/Auto instead of Off, is to switch it to Auto. It’s also legislation that your headlights should be switched on once it’s sunset however there’s good sense in having them on anyway. The New South Wales Roads and Maritime Services says:” Headlights. In many daytime situations driving with your vehicle’s headlights on can improve the likelihood of being seen by other road users. This applies to both country and city driving situations. Your headlights must be on when:
Driving between sunset and sunrise
At any other time when there is not enough daylight to be able to see a person wearing dark clothing at a distance of 100 metres.”
If your car has driving lights fitted, as most modern cars do, they’ll be visible to the cars in front but your tail lights won’t be on until the Auto function kicks in or you move your light switch to the next setting. Simple, and safety is raised.
Finally, a hint on roundabouts. These are, surprisingly, seen as a complex item to deal with but here’s how to make them easy to live with.
If it’s a roundabout that is a four way entry and exit and you wish to go left, you indicate left.
If you’re going straight ahead, you indicate left once you’ve reached the half way point between entering the roundabout and exiting.
If you’re going right, you indicate right as you enter then left to show you’re exiting. The same applies to all three way roundabouts.
Private Fleet Car Review: 2015 Jaguar XE S Supercharged V6
Once upon a time cars came in three sizes: small, medium, and large. Once upon a time you could buy a Jaguar in just one size. Large. Now there’s a choice of SUV, sports, small medium and medium large and of course, large. The relatively new and all alloy XE (compared to the bigger XF) fits into the small medium size. Why small?
It’s a compact sedan, with emphasis on compact. It’s just 4672 mm long, 2075 mm (with mirrors extended) wide and stands just 1416 mm high. That puts it right into the same ring as the BMW 3 series and Mercedes-Benz C Class. For two normal sized people in the front, there’s just enough room. For the two in the back, because it’s not really wide enough for three abreast to be truly comfortable, rear leg room is then severely compromised. With two sub ten year old children on the rear pews, the front seats have to be moved forward to provide some measure of comfort for them.
Odd given the wheel base is a relatively large, compared to overall length, 2835 mm, an inch longer than the 3 series and 5 mm shorter than M-B’s C Class. Also, the British contender has a slightly larger turning circle than both, at 11.66 metres compared to 11 for the continentals.
Those same front seats become a problem for drivers even of average height, with the seats needing to be lowered to allow some head space…but that then compromised, somewhat, forward vision and the need to look out the window in certain parking situations, regardless of the reverse camera and guidance lines, because sometimes cars go forward into tight spaces and there’s the lingering doubt about clearance for the alloys and scraping on concrete…
There’s also the matter of the steeply raked front screen, with the roof line meeting the glass directly over the driver and passenger’s head. Given the S had a glass roof, which drops the lining by a crucial inch or so, it just doesn’t work ergonomically. BUT, at least the designers have given the rear seat passengers a bit of extra head room.
The interior design of the XE also intrudes into space; the flying buttress wraps around into the bottom of the windscreen nicely however it also curves in at the top along the doors, potentially making driver and passenger a touch liable for claustrophobia. Even the power window switches are oddly placed, perched uncomfortably on the top level of plastic.
Being the size that it is, it also shrinks boot space, (455 litres, compared to the 3 series and C Class 480 litres) to the point a weekly shop started to look like it was going to overfill it. At least it’s a powered boot lid, with a simple button in the mid right side of the lower section needing a gentle press.
It’s black and red leather (which looks a treat)on the seats for the XE S, with, thankfully, both heating and cooling, operated via the eight inch touchscreen. Unusually, the rear seat passengers do get the ability to warm their behinds, a nice touch on a coolish autumnal or winter’s day. There’s DAB+ audio pumping through Meridian speakers and with a fair amount of punch. There are dials just below, housed in piano black plastic, for the aircon that are easy to operate, and the designers have placed embossed lines into the plastic, mimicking the XE’s tail light design.
The Start/Stop button is also located here, pulsating red in a heartbeat fashion. The centre console is of hard, hard plastic, and given the cabin size it becomes a leg rest. It’s not a comfortable feeling for the kneecap, nor is there an abundance of soft touch material in the cabin plastics full stop.
Tech wise, The XE S is loaded: Blind Spot Monitoring, Autonomous Emergency Braking, Lane Departure Warning (a subtle but noticeable shake of the steering wheel), Reverse Traffic Detection, Park Assist and 360 degree camera view. The driver gets a HUD, a simply brilliant and intuitive piece of vehicle engineering that, in A Wheel Thing’s opinion, should be more prevalent in cars, however the XE’s display was in red, and sometimes lost against the background. You can also option in a Driver Condition Monitor, alerting you to lapses of concentration and Adaptive Cruise with Queue Assist.
Now, for the good news, and the XE’s’ raison d’être. That comes in the form of Jaguar’s bespoke supercharged 3.0L V6, powering down through to the rear wheels, and a razor sharp handling package. There’s 250 kilowatts and a very usable peak 450 torques to play with, but get too exuberant and you’ll see the 63 litre fuel tank being drained faster than a cold beer in the hand of a shearer at day’s end. Jaguar Australia says 11.6 litres/100 kilometres in the urban jungle but a reasonable 8.1 and 6.1 litres for the combined and highway cycles.
It’s an easy spinner, revving freely when asked or lazily rotating at well under 2000 rpm in top gear. Connected to an eight speed auto, with Dynamic and Sports modes, it’ll slingshot the 1635 kg machine to say goodbye to your license speeds in around five seconds, on its way to a computer limited 250 kmh. Dynamic is engaged by the simple matter of tapping one of a pair of buttons mounted in the centre console, which changes the car’s driving mode from Snow, Eco or Normal. Not only does it sharpen the transmission’s response, it feels as if the suspension tightens up, stiffening the ride yet doesn’t lose comfort plus changes the interior lighting from a cool blue to a baleful red.
The dash backlighting takes on the same hue as the centre info screen says Dynamic Confirmed. Left in Normal or Eco, it’s still responsive, but needs just a little bit more pressure on the go pedal. The gearbox changes somewhat more softly, easing into the changes, rather than snatching them through . Outside, a passer-by would hear a gentler note from the twin exhaust, rather than the erotically charged, raspy snarl, emitted when the XE is punted hard.
Back to the road; it’s a superb, fluid and confident chassis underneath the passengers, with a solid and sporting feel at freeway velocities yet doesn’t bounce people around the cabin, offering a pliant, lush, comfortable ride at residential speeds. Undulating roads are consigned to the scrapheap, sharper bumps are leveled and the damnable shopping centre speed bumps are the only ones that feel as if they’ll overpower the XE’s setup.
The sound of the blower is intoxicating, especially under a solid right foot, and being supercharged means instant response when the ankle is bent. Using the paddle shifts adds to the theatre, with a hint of snap/crackle/pop from the exhaust when the foot is lifted.
Outside, there’s gorgeous metallic grey 20 inch alloys wrapped in 265/30 Pirelli tyres ensuring that grip is always there, under normal circumstances. The XE can be provoked a little too, with that powerplant up front combining with the chassis to give a little sideways kick heading into a turn and the power on. It’s almost a coupe style, with a long, flat, aluminuim bonnet (with pedestrian safety pop up installed) and a short tail.
The steering is “on” all of the time; just the slightest movement has the XE responding to your touch, not unlike a cat presenting the belly for a rub and purring the moment you start. Being electrically powered there’s variable ratios, with long sweeping turns handled differently to tighter turns or car parking spaces. It’s communicative and precise in its accuracy.
The dash design is clear, legible, not overthought, and is lit by a cool cobalt blue light, as are the piping lines in the console, right and left air vents, and in the doors. Select Dynamic Mode via the toggle switches in the console, and they become a devilish red shade, as mentioned. It’s a small yet effective visual touch.
Warranty? Three years and unlimited kilometres. Price? Call it around $102K plus on road costs.
At the End Of The Drive.
The XE S is a Jaguar, mostly. There’s grace, there’s pace, but not a lot of space. If Jaguar is aiming the XE at a SINK or the DINKs, it’s fine. Add an extra body and things become interesting.
Feature wise, there’s plenty on board, as there should be and you’ve got that sensational supercharged V6 heartbeat up front that’s simultaneously enticing and intoxicating. For two aboard, it’s comfortable in the leather seats, with almost every button within easy reach of both front seat passengers but just seriously don’t expect the back seat to be a comfy place.
Plastics need to soften up, the centre console really is too hard and detracts from what is an otherwise enjoyable work space. There is, however, plenty of toys to play with, that cracker engine and in truth a reasonable economy figure as well. A longer warranty, though, would be nice.
But, it IS a Jaguar, a technological advancement with the aluminuim construction, and a fantstic ride and handling package. If you need more room, there’s the XF. Or the XJ. Or the soon to be released (Q3 2016) F-Pace.
For more info, click here: Jaguar Australia
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