Mitsubishi Content - I'm not a defector, promise!

[Alex225]

Some of you may have seen that I put up a thread asking about green laning a while back and received some great responses. I decided against an ML and ended up with something which is very capable off road and somewhat unrefined on the road but I absolutely love.

It's a Mitsubishi Shogun Sport, which is basically an L200 with a top on. I've driven an L200 off road so I know how able they are so this seemed a good all rounder. This particular example has 117k on the clock, has a 2.5 turbo diesel engine, five whole gears and some other stuff. It's basically four big wheels, a torquey diesel with low range and lots of ground clearance. I've given it a clean up, it's got a few dings, bit of lacquer peel but overall the bodywork is pretty sound.

It came with it's very own oil leak too, which started off minor ended up rather major. My usual mobile mechanic applied a 'bush fix' which didn't go too well and it dumped about 5 litres of oil. Luckily, only a few miles from him and from home!

Couple of brass fittings instead of braded rubber hosing to replace the leaking sections of the oil cooler pipes. Job done.

I have since had all of the belts done including the cambelt and also the water pump whilst it's at it.

It comes with a leather interior which has held up pretty well to 18 years of daily and family use, bit of a clean up inside and it looks pretty respectable.

Put a new stereo in so this one will stream all my lovely music straight off my phone.

It's even got some gauges. The digital compass being particularly helpful here in Surrey! haha

My rather odd kids love the movie Spirited Away so got a mascot for the car from AliExpress.

Headlights weren't terrible but a little cloudy.

Didn't even need to go too hardcore with it, some Meguiars Plast-X worked in by hand did the job.

Some heavy duty rubber mats from CarMats4U do the job.

The gearknob was a bit boring and well, I'm not too prissy about this car so went for something a bit far out.

This Handsome chap was about a tenner, my youngest daughter has named him Badger. (no idea!)

So there you go. It's a complete contrast to my S Class, it's fun to drive albeit very slow, I love how it looks and it's got some real presence and I can be a bit silly with it!

 

[poormansporsche]

Greta says no.

I love it, nice one. First one to make the kids throw up is the winner

 

[Alex225]

Haha Greta definitely would not approve.

I'm staggered at how amazingly bad on fuel it is. As in it's comparable to my CLS63, which for a diesel is mental. If I'd bought this as a my only car and as a runabout, you'd be annoyed. Even on a motorway run at 60 it'll do at best 30mpg, if you're lucky! haha

Funny thing is the kids seem to really like it. My youngest daughter always asks to be taken to nursery in it. It actually sounds quite cool in an agricultural way and with a couple of tweaks will be very capable.

It's even got electric windows and aircon, like an actual modern car! haha

 

[fabes]

Hardly the s*&# box the sticker implies though. That looks very smart in a Green Welly sort of way.

Had a mate who had a few of these and L200s. Very rubbish on mpg.
But responded well to the L200 remap that Superchips provided.........

 

[SmartAmg]

Alex, I'm confused
(Doesn't take much) Did you still get the Black ML Grand Edition? I've lost count, so you've got an S class an ML and a Shogun.

 

[Alex225]

Hardly the s*&# box the sticker implies though. That looks very smart in a Green Welly sort of way.

Had a mate who had a few of these and L200s. Very rubbish on mpg.
But responded well to the L200 remap that Superchips provided.........

Well it's not too sh!t but it's not the most refined. It's faster down hill that's for sure but quite tidy for it's age.

Yeah it's shocking on fuel, there's me thinking it might hit early 30s but early 20s on the MPG front. I have a couple of things in mind, one being a remap. Power would come up to the 140bhp mark which sounds pitiful bit it's geared for that low down torque. Also larger tyres help gear it up a bit when on a run so should make long distances a bit more palatable.

Alex, I'm confused
(Doesn't take much) Did you still get the Black ML Grand Edition? I've lost count, so you've got an S class an ML and a Shogun.

Haha I like to throw in some randomness. So yes the ML is my other half's car and that's going ahead, should get that next week. This Shogun is in addition to my other cars, bit of a left field choice for me as I've been a Merc/Renault fan for years now.

I've got a few cars now as still got my CLS63 but also a 2006 RenaultSport Megane and a 2010 RenaultSport Twingo as well.

 

[Bellow]

I'm staggered at how amazingly bad on fuel it is. As in it's comparable to my CLS63, which for a diesel is mental. If I'd bought this as a my only car and as a runabout, you'd be annoyed. Even on a motorway run at 60 it'll do at best 30mpg, if you're lucky! haha

Is that with 4WD engaged or disengaged?
A guy I know who has a newish Mitsi told me the mpg is much worse with 4WD engaged than disengaged.

 

[Alex225]

Is that with 4WD engaged or disengaged?
A guy I know who has a newish Mitsi told me the mpg is much worse with 4WD engaged than disengaged.

That's it running in RWD only which is the go to option really, it's then got 4WD high and 4WD low but don't tend to use them on the road or need to should I say.

This particular model is notoriously bad. I'm part of a Facebook group for them and it's a running theme that they're crap on fuel. The gearing doesn't help meaning at 70mph you're doing 3,000rpm. Tops out at 96mph.

 

[Piff]

I've got an L200 with auto box.
Most of my daily is 20 miles each way to work & back on A140 (mostly 50mph, some 30mph & a little dual carriageway 60/65mph)
Best I get is high 20's mpg.
Previous truck was a Navara but 4wd system was rubbish.
L200 system is way better. Have used it to help pull out tree stumps. Had a builders merchants lorry stuck in mud on site & the L200 helped pull it out.
Had it at 3 months old as an ex demo & its now over 11 years old on about 67k. Apart from a few warranty trim issues it has needed nothing other than regular service. 10 year service was pricy though with various belts & filters, costing well over £1k.
Now on 2nd set of tyres, first set replaced as perished rather than worn out.

 

[Alex225]

So far despite being thirsty the Shogun is proving to be extremely reliable. I completely forgot about the MOT so had that booked in back in November. Now it's 18 years old with at the time 117k on the clock. I expected it to need something to get it through the MOT, probably rust related more than anything.

Well it required a weld that cost me £40! Otherwise it's a completely clean MOT much like the previous one. I'm planning to have the underside wax oiled in the near year as apart from surface rust it's in good condition underneath and easier to prevent issues than cure!

Actually managing about 30/31mpg on a run but that's a steady 60mph!

Sadly Badger the gear knob broke, although I'd actually got my money back when it broke the first time and I'd glued it so not a huge problem. Instead I went for the pool ball option. 8 ball for the gear knob and a 5 for the low range gear lever.

 

[Darrell]

Cool truck.

 

[Alex225]

Thanks Darrell!

 

[Alex225]

Well, I've been having fun with the Shogun these last few months and been using it for day to day driving. It's dog slow but there's something very engaging about how it drives, even for long drives despite being thirsty I've found it quite comfortable!

Also, I do love how I don't have to be too serious with this car. With my S/CLS I wouldn't just chuck some AliExpress tat on them. It's not right, but with this I can and it's all good. Such things as these very helpful and awfully sophisticated cup holders...

Or my new mascot...

I also fitted this fun, not road legal and largely unnecessary light bar to the front...

Rather than have to run cables into the car and back to the battery, I found a remote switch so a really straight forward fix and works brilliantly.

Pictures don't do it justice but totally overwhelms the main beam. Not bad for £60 for everything I needed!

On a more serious note, I actually had my mechanic Waxoyle the underside. So all loose surface rust removed and everything necessary and likely some stuff that's not coated.

Still keeping it clean for now.

Here's to another 120k!

 

[alabbasi]

Those were really popular in the US in the late 90's and early 2000's. You don't see any today which is odd.

 

[Alex225]

Those were really popular in the US in the late 90's and early 2000's. You don't see any today which is odd.

It's quite divisive even in my own head. There are way more comfortable, spacious and economical SUVs on the road. I mean it probably does 25mpg at best round town and it's slow. So for someone who just wants to stay on the road and cart the family around, this probably isn't the right car.

For pure ruggedness, practicality, reliability and off-roading (I'll get to it eventually) these are hard to beat.

The main thing that kills them it seems is rust or a large bill that someone refuses to pay out for. Compared to the prices of stuff on my S Class, a large bill on these things really isn't so bad! haha

 

[Alex225]

Been an eventful few months with the SS. It still soldiers on and makes for a good workhorse. For a while now there'd been a squeal under the bonnet, it used to go after a minute or so, would have had it looked at the service. It decided it didn't want to wait that long and about a mile from home, both alternator belts went ping. Lots of dashboard lights and a slight code brown as it took out the brake servos too!

My friendly mobile mechanic popped round to help me out, had to wait a week or so but he swapped the belts over and didn't want to charge me. It took him all of about 30 minutes but I made sure he took something. Shiny new belts, which means all of them have been done now.

The car is now in for it's MOT and service today. I knew it needed a weld and it turns out one of the brake lines was leaking so all being sorted. Didn't get back in in time for the re-test so should have it back Tuesday.

Costing me about £440 all in which I think for a near 20 year old car is pretty good going. It's got 125,000 miles on it now and hopefully will see many more!

 

[Alex225]

Brake lines sorted, welding sorted and the SS lives on for another year. It'll hit it's 20th birthday next year so be nice to keep it going. now the rust is sorted, I'm hoping it'll remain rust free for a while now. My mechanic seems to think it's solid enough to last a good few years more.

I'll be taking it for a little drive this evening so roll on 130k haha