Melbourne to Noosa via Broken Hill - Road test a Pajero

Given the opportunity to stay for a week at ‘Alkira' a 5 star penthouse apartment at Noosa Heads on Queensland's Sunshine Coast we decided a 4 wheel drive would be the best way to get us there.

Mitsubishi kindly gave us a Pajero for 3 weeks, providing us with the chance to see a bit of outback New South Wales on the way up from Melbourne. We travelled to Broken Hill on our first day, then to Bourke along the Darling River via Menindee and Wilcannia.

From Bourke we headed to Moree via Lightning Ridge the next day, then across to the coast at Tweed Heads. The following day got us in to Noosa for a week and while there we took the opportunity to do some beach driving including a quick tour of Fraser Island. On our way home we stayed on the Gold Coast for the 4 day Indy 300, then across to Goondiwindi for a night and down the Newell Highway to Narrandera for the last night.
Models

Mitsubishi sell 5 Pajero models in Australia - two 3 doors and three 5 doors. Our test vehicle was the 5 door ‘VRX' which sits between the base ‘GLX' and the upmarket ‘Exceed'. Our auto VRX was fitted with the 3.2 litre 4 cylinder ‘Direct injection Diesel' (DiD). This 16 valve DOHC, turbocharged and intercooled unit produces 125kW of power @ 3,800rpm (the engine's redlined @ 4,250rpm) and 358Nm of torque at 2,000rpm, when mated with the 5 speed auto transmission (the 5 speed manual produces 118kW and 378Nm).
Creature Comforts/Features

4x4's have come a long way in the last few years. The entry level GLX is stacked with features a lot of luxury car buyers were only dreaming of 10 years ago - 4 wheel Disc Brakes with ABS and EBD, Cruise Control, Climate Control Air Conditioning, Central Locking with Immobiliser and Alarm, to name a few. The VRX sets itself apart from the base GLX with a range of features which are largely cosmetic.

The more significant ones however are:

1. 18" alloy wheels rather than the standard 17"
2. Front Fog Lamps
3. Privacy Glass
4. Audio Controls on the Steering Wheel
5. Auto Dimming interior rear view mirror
6. Power Drivers Seat

Our VRX was fitted with the optional Family Pack which adds a selection of the Exceed's standard features. These include:

1. A ceiling mounted DVD player for the rear seat with headphones (x2)
2. Side Airbags for torso protection & Side Curtains for head protection in side impact
3. Reverse Parking Sensor
4. Rear Air Conditioning

Performance & Handling

We drove the Pajero in a wide variety of conditions - about the only thing we missed on this trip was snow! Our first experience was around the city and we finally appreciated what so many people find attractive about punting 4x4's around town. The Pajero is surprisingly agile and with the diesel's inherent torque, getting off the line is never an issue. Visibility is excellent and drivers of mere cars tend to give way to you more readily. The 5 speed auto can be changed ‘manually' in sequential style, but around town this seemed a complete waste of time. Parking was easy - the 7 seat Pajero is only 4.9 metres long (a whole 6cm longer than the current Commodore). The Pajero's spare wheel is located centrally on the rear door and has been lowered to aid vision but rear vision is still reasonably restricted, particularly when the third row of seats is set up. We fortunately had the benefit of Reverse Parking Sensors and would rate them as essential for city driving.

We headed out of Melbourne in morning peak hour traffic and worked our way onto the Calder Highway via the Tullamarine Freeway. Again the Pajero felt right at home in these conditions. Pajeros are fitted with road going tyres as standard (Dunlop AT20 Grandtreks - 265/60R-18's on our VRX) and at 100km/hr they are only just audible - the external mirrors however start whistling a little around this speed. Cruise control is standard across the range and is easily operated from the steering wheel with four clearly marked buttons. This is another of those areas on which manufacturers need to standardise - hiding these controls on a stalk hidden from view behind the wheel, like most European cars, is crazy.

We stayed on the bitumen all the way into Broken Hill and also the next day to Menindee. From Menindee to Wilcannia we hit the gravel for the first time. It continued alongside the Darling River from Wilcannia to Bourke. Both these roads have a wide variety of surfaces - from hard smooth clay to deep red sand. The Pajero allowed us to switch from 2 wheel drive (which we used all the way up the bitumen) to 4 wheel drive on the fly (up to 100km/h). For gravel roads we selected the first of the three available 4 wheel drive modes - '4H'. This mode provides all wheel drive with the centre differential still active. It makes a significant difference when travelling on gravel and eliminates (scary & adrenalin producing) understeer when negotiating a gravelled bend with only the rear wheels driving. The Pajero is no slouch, happily sitting on 100km/h+ for hours on end at a diminutive 2,000rpm.

From Bourke we got back on the bitumen and headed east to Lightning Ridge and Moree, then over the border into Queensland at Goondiwindi. From here we headed straight for the coast via Warwick, Beaudesert and Nerang. The twisty mountain roads close to the coast proved effortless for the VRX. With the tyres pumped to 36psi front & 40psi rear, it accelerated, cornered and stopped like a sedan. It really was easy to forget we were driving a 7-seater 4-wheel drive.

We stopped at Tweed Heads for our first night on the coast, before heading up to Noosa Heads. Once settled in Noosa we, of course, just had to drive up the magnificent Cooloola Beach to the town of Rainbow Beach on Wide Bay from where we could catch a barge to Fraser Island and then on through the interior to Lake MacKenzie. This day trip gave us a really good taste of some extreme roads - the worst of which was a 10km stretch of pure bone jarring corrugations from Hook Point at the southern tip of Fraser Island, which we were forced to take due to the high tide. This bone shaker is potentially a real car breaker, but the Pajero seemed to suffer no ill effects.

Driving these beaches is reasonably simple with creek crossings providing an occasional minor challenge. We used basic all wheel drive again for the majority of our beach driving. We needed however to select the next mode '4HLc' and drop our tyre pressures to 18psi all round to negotiate the beach entries and exits which are notoriously soft and deeply rutted sand. This mode simply locks the centre differential and distributes power equally to all 4 wheels. An automatic transmission is better in these sort of conditions as you lose less momentum between gear changes compared with changing manually - momentum is king when it comes to driving in deep sand on road tyres. The final mode '4LLc' gives you low range with the centre differential locked. Pajero offers a rear diff lock, but our VRX didn't have this option fitted. Pajero now also has Active Traction Control (ATC - which brakes a spinning wheel and provides power to the other wheels) and Engine Brake Assist Control (EBAC - which cuts in automatically when descending steep slopes in '4LLc').

Fuel Economy

Mitsubishi quote 10.6 litres/100kms for the 3.2 litre diesel in auto form. We were pleasantly surprised to average not far off that laboratory controlled number, with the VRX 11.4 litres/ 100kms over some 5,800 kilometres of quite varied driving. The 5 door Pajeros have an 88 litre tank giving us a range of around 770kms per tankful.
Warranty & Pricing

The RRP for the VRX Auto is $59,590 and for the manual $56,590. The Family Pack adds $3,000 and the rear differential lock $1,000. Mitsubishi offer an extended 5 year/130,000km warranty with 10 years/160,000km on the powertrain and a 5 year warranty against 'Perforation Corrosion'.
Summary

The technological revolution of the past 20 years coupled with the desire of city dwellers to drive 4x4's in town, has led to a dramatic change in the four wheel drive market. It's also led to the huge growth in 'All-wheel drives' - pretend 4x4's if you like, which offer some of the benefits but with restricted offroad performance. The Pajero is a real 4x4 but with the capacity to move between a wide variety of conditions with ease. We found it's highway cruising a breeze and its command of variable gravel roads nothing short of stunning. It's performance on sand was also exceptional, particularly bearing in mind we were running stock standard road tyres. We rate the Pajero highly.

Test vehicle provided by Mitsubishi Motors Australia Pty Ltd

Yvonne Williams
Road Safety Educator and Freelance Journalist.

David Williams
Road Safety Educator, Driving Instructor and Photographer
Member of the Australasian College of Road Safety

Melbourne to Noosa via Broken Hill - Road test a Pajero

Recent Articles

Popular Articles

Email Address:

Password:

	Forgot password?