Mitsubishi Pajero Diesel

Way, way back in the annals of history, just between the period where the last dinosaur bit the dirt and a monkey thought it would be a good idea to get down from its tree and take a good walk around, my family owned a Pajero.

At the time I was bitterly disappointed, because my father had test driven a Range Rover and chosen instead this slow square Japanese thing. The joke was on me of course, because the Pajero, while being only slightly quicker than continental drift, lasted decades without anything else than regular maintenance, while the Range Rover would have spent more time at the dealers than actually fulfilling it's role as a family wagon.

Sure, the paint eventually decided to depart large sections of the body, but mechanically the first generation Pajero carried on as if nothing had happened, despite teaching three children to drive and being stored within walking distance of the beach for a large proportion of its last days.

But here's the kicker - the only Pajero I have driven since then is the absolutely brand new one you see here.

I don't really know how it happened. I've been a motoring journalist for over ten years, worked for a newspaper and magazines, and yet never actually got behind the wheel of a Pajero younger than Zsa Zsa Gabor. So it's with some tongue in cheek that I must announce that progress has been made with the fourth generation LWB Mitsubishi Pajero.

For a start it's bigger and quicker, and more comfortable, with seven proper seats rather than the ability to carry two extra children in the boot amongst the luggage (ahh, those old days when no one really gave much of a damn about crash safety).

But I've also avoided the unfortunate generation where the front wings of the car were huge lumpy wings, joined by swollen rear wheel arches, and this latest Pajero really does look good. Someone at Mitsubishi has obviously decide that SUVs have to look butch and this one does, with straight lines and a design that makes it look bigger than it really is.

Styling aside, there have been some important improvements to the Pajero between the new and old generation (and that I mean the third gen model). Yes, Pajero may still be reputed to be the spanish name for wanker, but when you take into account all the technology that goes into this one there's no self gratification here, just an honest urge to get you as far off road as you can go. This was demonstrated by a stretch of beach with sand less substantial than Brittany Spears' wedding vows.

This test vehicle has the same 3.2 litre turbodiesel seen in the Triton ute, producing 127kW and 364Nm of torque. It's a very impressive engine, and it's only when you're trying to overtake other traffic at open road speeds that it feels a little over-stressed. The Pajero will tow 3300kg though, albeit slowly, I would imagine.

The new Pajero, like the previous gen, has MATTS, which means a four wheel drive system that is pretty much foolproof. You have to select the mode through a selection of levers and buttons, but you then have a four wheel drive system that locks every differential in the car except for the front one, and that's so you can continue steering.

Make a mistake and leave the stability control on and you are quickly bogged down as the four wheel drive system thinks that you're still on some sort of solid surface rather than a soft sea of sand and kicks in traction control, leaving you in the middle of nowhere.

But if you're really going off road you select four wheel drive low range lock, which solidly connects front axle to rear, and switches off the stability control on its own. You do have to engage the rear diff lock yourself, and all that ensures that the only thing that's going to stop you off road is your own lack of momentum and experience.

But of course the only way a brand new Pajero is going to plunge off into the wildest of wildernesses is either in the hands of a Paris to Dakar veteran, or someone who has won Lotto and very little sense. The real appeal to the new Pajero is that it drives very well on road, and especially in diesel guise, uses a reasonably low amount of fuel while giving you enough space within the car to carry your entire family, friends, passers by, and if you're early reckless, someone you just found on the side of the road with an abnormally large thumb.

It's been a while since SUVs had to have any claim to of road ability, but the Pajero scores on both scales.

You can actually go off road in it, and you can carry a lot of people, and in this NZ$76,990 Exceed model you get plenty of luxury spec including climate control air conditioning, cruise control, power windows, multi-mode display with outside temperature and trip computer, leather seat trim, available in black or cream colour options, aluminum pedals, a sunroof, manual rear seat air conditioning and a 12 speaker Rockford Fosgate sound system with steering wheel controls.

On the safety front you get dual-stage driver and passenger front and side airbags, and curtain airbags help protect occupants in the first and second row seats. ABS and Active Stability Control is also standard across the entire Pajero range.

You also get something I really do like, an altimeter that allows you to resets the reading if you're at sea level. In the Outlander you get an altimeter that you can't reset, but in the Pajero you can. I know it's petty, but I really hate features in cars that are patently useless. Yes an altimeter is pretty futile unless you're ascending Everest, but at least in the Pajero you have a fighting chance of making it accurate.