Mitsubishi Grandis – Moving Around in Grand Style

Mitsubishi Grandis – Moving Around in Grand Style

by -

Mitsubishi Grandis – Moving Around in Grand Style

Mention Mitsubishi, and the typical mental image is that of an EVO Rally car decked out in the familiar red livery for the World Rally Championships. The Mitsubishi rally heritage is strong, and is backed up by very nice road going versions that are quick, and can be easily converted for competition without much fuss.

Mention the Mitsubishi Grandis, and you will probably get a blank stare, but believe me, there is such a vehicle, and it is a superb MPV. I picked up a Grandis, courtesy of Mitsubishi Motors Malaysia, and took it for a test covering three days. I collected the Grandis in the evening, and that same night, took my friend Tony Khoo and his wife out to supper. One week later, his wife Helen, is still excited over it. She can’t quite remember the name, but is ecstatic about the interior trim, the luxurious feel of the seats, the exceptional comfort, and most of all, its immense size. And of course if you knew that she and Tony have an extended family the size of a football team, and need three cars if they wish to eat out, you would understand why the three rows of seats in the Grandis would appeal to people like them. With an overall length of 4,755mm a wheelbase of 2,830mm, an overall width of 1,795mm, and an overall height of 1,655mm, the Grandis stands out as one of the larger MPVs.

The Mitsubishi Grandis is an MPV that is not only big, but carries enough grunt to pull all of its 1620 kg of weight, plus eight full sized passengers. A high torque (217Nm @ 4,000rpm) SOHC 2.4 litre fuel injected engine producing 165PS at 6,000rpm gets it moving. In addition, the engine features MIVEC, the well-known Mitsubishi equivalent of variable valve timing, to provide added grunt at higher engine revolutions. It is of course not an Evo, and will not accelerate as if it was one, but the gearing and engine are well matched to give it quite decent ‘get-up-and-go.

Transmission is a four-speed automatic gearbox with a Sports Mode that allows one to do manual shifts. Mounted on the lower part of the dashboard to maximise cabin space, the gearshift is a ‘gated’ arrangement to prevent accidental shifting into reverse or neutral. Pulling it to the right allows the sports mode to be activated, after which you can use it like a sequential manual..

In terms of looks the Grandis scores high in my books, being contemporary in design in its two-box layout. It starts with an aggressive looking front that is influenced by its very successful sibling, the Evo, a snub-looking and highly raked bonnet line that blends well with the backward sloping, large windscreen, and continuing backwards into the roofline. The roof starts to dip downwards towards the rear, finishing off with a roof-spoiler on top of the tailgate. The rear lights are mounted high up on the rear of the C-pillar, highly visible, and relatively safe from rear-end shunts. From all angles, the Grandis looks great.

Inside, the velour seats are generous in size, with oodles of legroom for the middle row. Packing some adults into the third row, we are quite pleased to report that there is still sufficient legroom for mid-sized adults. The driver and front passenger have the luxury of arm rests for more relaxed travel, and the rear passengers have their own air-conditioner vents located on the roof lining, together with individual reading lights. The rear seats split and fold to provide many versatile combinations for storage space, but my favourite is the way the rear seats ‘flip’ over and fold flat to make the rear a luggage area. And if you need to carry that one extra passenger, you can choose to fold over one rearmost seat, and leave the other standing.

Ride is excellent, due to the excellent match between spring and dampers; suspension is independent all round, with McPherson struts and coil springs at the front, and a semi-trailing arm arrangement also with coil springs, at the rear. Handling is consistent with other MPVs of this class, with a little bit of body roll, something that is expected if the design is for comfort. Tyres are 215/60R 16’s all round, fitted to 16-inch alloy wheels.

Top speed is 180 kilometres per hour, and the engine pulled without hesitation all the way up to this indicated speed, which incidentally, is also the maximum speed on the speedometer. We did not do a full fuel consumption test, but our full tank of petrol (tank capacity 65 litres) lasted about 300 kilometres, and it still had a little more than a quarter showing on the gauge when we returned the vehicle to Mitsubishi Motors Malaysia.

For the record, the Grandis is a CBU unit (fully imported) from Japan, and retails for RM205, 650.00 (price on-the-road without insurance).


1 COMMENT

Leave a Reply