You don't see many of these
Mitsubishi Pajero Juniors any more – and you certainly don't see this one, which was written off in December 2004. At the time the picture was taken, this Junior was Mitsubishi's media demonstrator and what a capable little machine it was. The 'Jr' was much more comfortable than its obvious rival, the Suzuki Samurai, and still had more performance to offer at 100km/h, compared to the Suzuki which at that speed had pretty well given its all. Off-road, the Junior performed as well as the Suzuki. It used a sweet 1094cc engine producing just 59kW, but then the vehicle's weight was only 960kg! Wikipedia has some stuff on the Junior
here. And there's a good spec sheet at
this site.
Hi - is this the same thing as a Pajero iO?
ReplyDeleteNo, the iO was a later design - and still in production - that was only built as a five-door, as far s I can find out. Wikipedia has some background at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_Pajero_iO
ReplyDeleteI thought the Junior was far better off road than the iO, possibly due to its light weight and shorter wheelbase. I tried the iO when Mitsubishi first started importing them about 1998-99 and, on the standard street tyes, found it very average on the usual tracks and trails.
The Pajero Jr had independent front suspension, which put it at a disadvantage against the Samurai.
ReplyDeleteFair point, Anonymous.
ReplyDelete"The Pajero Jr had independent front suspension, which put it at a disadvantage against the Samurai."
ReplyDeleteMaybe, but not enough that it mattered in most conditions. I have driven them both and the Mitsi was just as much an offroad warrior as the Suzuki.
I thought of buying one a year ago, but there just isn't the parts etc compared to a Suzuki.
ReplyDelete