Mitsubishi L200 Review

Mitsubishi have sixty years of experience producing pick-ups - thirty-three of those in the UK. The new Series 5 L200 Pick-Up went on sale in September 2015 and is an entirely new vehicle from the ground up. The Series 4 L200 outsold all other pick-ups and Mitsubishi are celebrating 60 years of expertise and marketing the Series 5 model with the ‘Show the world how it is done’ advertising campaign.

What We Tested

We tested the L200 Series 5 Barbarian Double Cab with automatic transmission priced at the time of testing at £30,238.

The series 5 L200 is powered by Mitsubishi’s new aluminium 2.4-litre MIVEC diesel engine with a power output of 178 bhp / 3500 rpm and 430 Nm of torque at 2500 rpm. This equates to a 0-62mph time of 10.4 seconds (6-speed manual) and 11.8 seconds (5-speed automatic transmission) - with a top speed of 111mph (for the 6-speed manual) and 109mph (for the 5-speed automatic).

C02 emissions are recorded at 169 g/km compared to 256 g/km for the Ford Ranger, 222 g/km Nissan Navara, 203 g/km Toyota Hilux and 211 g/km for the Volkswagen Amarok.

The Series 5 Mitsubishi L200 is available with a choice of six-speed manual and five-speed automatic transmission. With the five-speed automatic you have the choice of using the straightforward automatic mode, paddle shifts on the steering column or sport mode which enables you to operate the gear changes like a conventional manual gearbox without the clutch - you just push the lever ‘up and down’.

The automatic version of the L200 Barbarian Double Cab is priced at £30,238 (includes VAT) compared to £28,558 for the manual which is a £1680 premium. However, in our opinion it is worth every penny - it just suits the L200 perfectly offering relaxed and effortless gear changes.

The official fuel consumption figures, are Urban 33.6 mpg, Extra Urban 43.5 mpg and on the combined cycle 39.2 mpg . We were achieving around 28-30 mpg over a mixed driving route and this was with a half laden bed, with 1,500 miles on the clock.

Out on the open road the L200 obviously isn’t going to have the dynamics of a car and there is a fair amount of body lean. Although the grip feels greatly improved over its predecessor, when unladen the suspension feels soft but certainly improves with some weight in the back

Rather than some gruff old diesel engine we found the new Mitsubishi unit to be rather refined for a pick-up and there is plenty of power on tap.