FAMILY CAR REVIEW: 2020 MITSUBISHI PAJERO SPORT

How good is the storage in the 2020 Mitsubishi Pajero Sport? How big is the boot of the 2020 Mitsubishi Pajero Sport?

The 2020 Mitsubishi Pajero Sport has two cup holders in the central console that are well sized to hold a reusable and disposable coffee cup.

In front of them is a rubber-lined, phone charging well with two USB sockets and a 12V socket.

Underneath this is another storage shelf that I found useful for my husband's phone when out together so we could both use the charging.

The central console box is a good size and the lid doubles as your armrest.

Inside there is a little shelf in the top.

There is a lined glasses case in the ceiling and the front visors both have lit vanity mirrors.

The glovebox is a good size and would hold my iPad and wallet with the manual.

The front door pockets will hold a large refillable water bottle and there is a good amount of space behind too for a book or iPad.

In the back, the door bins are smaller and would only hold a 600ml bottle.

There are map pockets on the back of both front seats that will hold an iPad and my wallet.

In the back of the central console, there is a three-prong plug socket and two USB charging ports.

There are two cup holders that pop out of the front of a fold-down armrest in the central seatback. They will hold either a reusable and a disposable coffee cup however I worry they might be easily broken by little hands!

The third-row passengers get two cup holders on the right-hand-side of the boot. They are big and would hold a large re-usable water bottle or a popcorn bucket!!!

Storage in the boot is limited when using all seven seats and only three shopping bags will fit. This is comparable to the Isuzu MU-X which holds five shopping bags, the Toyota Fortuner which holds six and the Ford Everest which holds seven shopping bags when using all seven seats.

Or I could fit a compact stroller in there with a shopping bag.

The boot space and its functionality are really important. I like to have a big boot space and little side wells or areas I can divide things into. So something I don’t want to move around while I’m driving such as Tulsi’s lunch bag or her wet swimming gear can be sectioned off in a little well where it’s not going to spill or get squashed by the rest of the things in the boot.

Hooks for securing shopping bags to are also favourites of mine, I like being able to secure the bag containing more fragile things like eggs so they don’t move around on the journey.

I measure the boot space in freezer shopping bags, prams and dogs. Not because I think all there is to a mum’s life is food shopping, prams and dogs. (Although it can feel like it sometimes!!) But because these are visually mesurable items we can all associate with. For me, the car company boot measurement of litres is not an amount I can easily visualise and 400L in one car may differ in usability to that in another due to the configuration or shape of the space.

When using only five seats the boot is much more family-friendly. Sixteen shopping bags will fit in the boot of the Mitsubishi Pajero Sport, which is comparable to seventeen shopping bags in the boot of both the Toyota Fortuner and Isuzu MU-X and eighteen in the Ford Everest.

A twin side-by-side pram fits in the boot with five shopping bags.

The tandem pram fits with seven shopping bags.

The single pram fits with eight shopping bags around it.

The compact stroller fits with twelve shopping bags around it.

The boot floor is nice and flat so you could fit a large dog in the boot and it is perfect for an emergency nappy change too! The third-row seat bases do fold up onto the backs of the second-row seats which rob the boot of a little space.

The retractable roller blind doesn't come with the Pajero Sport you have to pay extra for it.

There is a bit of plastic storage space underneath the boot floor which I found useful for kids shoes and wet things so they didn't make the carpet floor dirty.

How noisy is the 2020 Mitsubishi Pajero Sport? How good is the media system in the 2020 Mitsubishi Pajero Sport?

The 2020 Mitsubishi Pajero Sport media system has been updated and it is simple and easy to use and navigate, through the touch screen.

There are some good features within it. You can easily move the speaker sound to come out of the back with this drag screen. So you don't have to listen to kids music in the front.

You can adjust the volume settings of a few features within the volume screen so that they don't disturb little passengers.

The sat-nav screen has a button in the bottom right corner to turn the navigation guidance voice on…

… and off.

The system also supports Apple CarPlay and Android Auto too which is great.

The reversing camera image is milky and it's hard to see in the sunlight. You do get the overhead image which I found useful when reversing and parking.

Becoming a parent I soon realised there are some noises and sounds I feel are unnecessary and I could happily live without if it meant my baby stayed asleep!!

That often the distraction of my screaming, distressed baby is more dangerous when driving than not having a lane departure warning for example.

If it is the lane departure warning beeping that creates distress with my baby then which is safest?

It’s where I think we need to be able to strike a balance and choose when we can mute the warnings or swap them to a vibration in the steering wheel or flashing light perhaps?

A lot of these noises come with the increase in technology and especially linked to safety features and alerts. For me these all have their place.

Another thing I have realised is I spend my time in a lot more places where small children roam, parks, beaches, play gyms, swimming lessons, daycare centre etc. I have become more aware that when I’m reversing or manouvering in the car parks I have to tripple check for small children running around behind me or being in my blind spot when reversing. For this I LOVE reversing cameras, I just don’t like their beeping sounds!!

I have become so much more aware of safety and potential accidents or hazards since having a child and so I love the peace of mind that I get from the cameras and sensors combined with my own vision from windows and mirrors as I don’t trust cameras alone.

You can turn the parking sensors off with a button by the driver's right knee.

You can lock the doors and windows from the driver's door control panel.

The indicator volume wasn't too loud and we didn't find it disturbed our daughter.

There is a really good seatbelt removal visual on the front dash that displays who is wearing a seatbelt and so you know when a person removes their seatbelt.

The windows and doors in the Mitsubishi Pajero Sport close relatively quietly and are not baby waking.

With baby asleep you can get in and out without worrying the doors will be too noisy. The same for the windows their mechanism is not too noisy and I didn’t notice them having a loud opening or closing sound.

With baby asleep you want to be able to get in and out without worrying the doors will be too noisy and wake Bub up!

An alarm did not sound when I came to a stop, took off my seatbelt and opened the door with the engine still running.

Since becoming a mum I spend A LOT of time parked up somewhere with a nice view while my daughter is asleep in the back! If it's hot I need to leave the engine running and the aircon on but I do like to get out and drink my cuppa tea in the fresh air while enjoying the fact my limbs are free from said dangling child!!

SO this is a very important test as I have found that sometimes I have been held hostage by a cars BEEEEPING alarms when I have taken off my seatbelt or opened the door while the engine is still running!! (I only stand outside the car, I am not a bad mother!!)

How many child seats fit in the 2020 Mitsubishi Pajero Sport?

There are ISOFix points in the two outer second-row seats, they are not within plastic guides but they are now clearly labelled and easy to connect to.

There are no ISOFix or top tether anchorages in the third-row seats so I couldn't install any child seats back there.

Now, when it comes to installing child seats, the Pajero Sport is still un-family-friendly and nothing has been updated from the previous model, especially the top tether anchorages… watch this video.

There is only one top tether anchorage in this seven-seat vehicle! YES, you read that correctly! Only the central seat in the second row has a top tether anchorage. This is situated in the centre of the ceiling above the third-row headrests, which greatly affects the visibility for the rear passengers and for the driver seeing out of the rear window. There are no ISOFix points in that central seat so you have to use the seatbelt, which also comes from the ceiling, causing greater inconvenience to the third-row passengers and problems with visibility.

I consulted the manual in the glove box which says you have to fit the other top tether anchor points yourself!!! WHAT?!?! Sound crazy?? We thought so too… here's a video about it.

I was completely shocked by this and think it is ridiculous! Not only do you have to spend more money to purchase the top tether points you need but you would have to buy the correct tool to fit them too!? The Australian Child Restraint Resource Initiative (ACRI) issued a warning in November 2017 about the installation of top tether points in the Mitsubishi Pajero Sport. The report said consumers should not use the top tether anchor points that come with your child seat in the Pajero Sport and that the bolt threads in them are different to the Mitsubishi ones and ONLY the Mitsubishi top tether anchor points are safe to use.

I think it is really leaving the gate open for wrongly installed top tether points and thus a safety issue. I like to think that something that is a legal requirement and vital for car safety would be installed by experts and not a tired new parent who barely has time to sleep let alone install top tether anchor points!! If you need a seven-seater car the chances are you have more than one child and so your time is even more limited!!

I did install a top tether point, but it was hard to do and I had to get someone else to tighten it up to the correct torque or Newton Metres or something!? It's ridiculous, Mitsubishi! This is a family vehicle, so think about the practicality for the people who are going to be using it!

Oh, and the instructions on the packet said to remove the top tether after use?? Don’t even get me started!! Yes, sure I’ll do that every time I take my child out of the car shall I? NOT!!

My rant over!! 😉

There are holes in the ceiling to fix the top tether anchorages to.

Again they are above the third-row passenger's heads and imagine sitting there with three lots of top tether straps and the central seatbelt across your face?!

I didn't install the top tether anchorages this time but I did test to see how many child seats would fit across the second row and we could get three across. It is quite a snug fit.

Unfortunately, accessing the third-row seats oes mean uninstalling a child seat in the second row in order to climb through.

Legroom is good in all three rows of the Mitsubishi Pajero Sport. The second-row seats are fixed and don't slide for adjustment but you don't really need it, with a rear-facing child seat installed in the second-row a 180cm driver can sit in front or with a forward-facing child seat installed a 184cm+ driver can sit in front.

Posting bub into their child seat in the second-row of the Mitsubishi Pajero Sport is fine from inside and outside the car; it is high up though so if you are around my height 162cm you might find it a reach up with tiny ones. There is plenty of room to feed bub in the back with only one child seat installed too.

Australia being a country of weather extremes blazing sun and torrential rain means you may find it easier to put bub into their seat from inside the car. If it’s hot you can get the aircon going, cool the car down and not stand out in the heat with the door open while you fasten them in or shelter from the rain and not get soaked yourself whilst you’re doing it. So it is important to test whether bub can be easily installed from either direction.

How comfortable is a 2020 Mitsubishi Pajero Sport?

The front seats of the 2020 Mitsubishi Pajero Sport are comfortable and easily adjustable using the controls on the side of the driver's seat.

They are heated too in the Exceed model I tested, using the buttons on the dashboard.

The headrests are not adjustable which meant we couldn't wear a ponytail!!

I had spent hours styling my hair this morning to get it just right too… said no new mum ever!!!

The steering wheel is fully adjustable in/out and up/down.

The cruise controls are situated on the right on the steering wheel and I found them simple to use, I found it was very accurate on motorways as well as on undulating roads at slower speeds which was a great surprise.

There are four air-con vents across the front dash. A large one either side of the media screen and one at each end of the dashboard.

There are also air vents in the ceiling above the second and third-row seats which are fantastic for keeping the rear passengers cool.

You can control the rear airconditioning using the controls on the front dashboard which is also great for families.

Visibility is greatly affected in the Mitsubishi Pajero Sport by the top tether straps going all across the rear window. Also, the windows slope upwards quite dramatically towards the back of the car so it is difficult to see out of the second and third-row windows.

You sit up high in the Mitsubishi Pajero Sport which gives you great vision out of the front but I found when changing lanes I was double-checking every time as visibility was difficult down the off-side and you could easily loose low or small cars in your mirrors. The blind-spot monitoring helped with this but I was worried each time.

The reversing camera is definitely needed when maneuvering in car parks etc but the image is milky which made it difficult to see in a lot of lights.

One thing I have noticed since being a mum is I hate it when I reach a destination or get home from being out and Tulsi has either done really well in the car or she is screaming her head off and I have done really well to keep it together for the entire journey (usually the latter!!) and it takes 10 minutes to park the car! It can be really stressful. Usually I dread when we drive big cars and utes as they tend to take longer to park in our tight apartment block carpark, the Mitsubishi Pajero Sport a little tricky to park due to the visibility!

In the back, the ceiling lights are situated in the centre above the second and third-row seats, I could not reach them while driving.

I often will reach back to turn on the interior light if I am driving at night time, I find my little girl gets less distressed travelling at night that way. It helps if I can reach the interior light from the driver's seat so I can turn it on and off whilst driving. I often find my daughter will need it on as we start our journey in the dark but once she falls asleep I can turn it off.

It is also useful when there are lights situated above the doors where the handles are usually positioned. These are good for when putting baby into their child seats when visibility is poor, so you do not have to reach across them to a light situated in the ceiling centrally etc.

Handles above the rear doors on either side are perfect for hanging a baby toy from too.

The Mitsubishi Pajero Sport comes with seven airbags as standard, including dual frontal airbags, front side airbags and drivers knee airbag and curtain airbags for all three rows of seven-seat versions.

It's a strange concept when we most often put our children in the third row as they’re normally the smallest ones who will fit in there! You just have to pay more for the two high spec models, the GLS and Exceed, which both come with curtain airbags the full length of the vehicle.

Also in the Pajero Sport, the self-installation of top tether anchor points was a safety concern for me. If that safety anchor point in the vehicle is to hold my infant's seat in place in an accident, I was hoping that an expert installed that at the factory and someone double-checked it was done correctly! Not tired mother of five fitting it in around everything else in her day and hoping she got it right?! Or little old me who has no idea what a torque wrench or Newton Metres are?!

The Australian Child Restraint Resource Initiative (ACRI) issued a warning in November 2017 about the installation of top tether points in the Mitsubishi Pajero Sport. The report said consumers should not use the top tether anchor points that come with your child seat in the Pajero Sport and that the bolt threads in them are different to the Mitsubishi ones and ONLY the Mitsubishi top tether anchor points are safe to use.

I wonder if the reason they are not installed is that they are easy to bang your head on when getting in and out of the rear row of seats and they really hurt! I can vouch for that!!

The Pajero Sport received a five-star ANCAP safety rating in 2015, so it has not been through any of the Child Occupancy Testing. Overall it scored 36.22 out of 37. 15.72/16 in the frontal offset test 16/16 in the side impact test and 2/2 in the pole test. These results are based on the crash test results of the Triton Ute that has the same engine and chassis.

The top-spec models also come with adaptive cruise control (ACC), blind-spot warning (BSW), lane change assist (LCA), rear cross-traffic alert (RCTA) and ultrasonic misacceleration mitigation system (UMS).

Some of these safety features are also features that drive me crazy as a mum! Like the lane departure and forward collision alert or the parking sensor beeping sound.
I want all the safety technology AND to be able to mute the sound when Tulsi’s asleep!