Vehicle Tests > Commander vs Pajero vs Prado

Storage-wise, there's little left behind the rear seat. Jeep offers a knick-knack storage tray with a lift-up lid and 12V up back - and seats up or down, the load area is very high. In fact, it wasn't possible to completely lift the lid of the fridge loaded for most of our test.
The grunt of the Jeep's diesel almost has to be experienced to be believed. Anywhere, anytime, it just gets up and goes and simply eats the Pajero and Prado for breakfast. But the engine's output is at the mercy of suspension that quickly loses the plot. Lumpy bitumen or dirt/gravel sees it at first leaning and lurching, then bucking and skipping as springs break away from too-soft damper settings. Even unloaded, it's possible to bottom-out on fast country bridge approaches. Thankfully, it's quiet inside at most speeds, with a distant thrum from the tyres and wind noise that does increase as speeds rise.

Lighter and brighter inside - even with the subdued two-tone biscuit and black of the test Exceed - is the Pajero. Up front, the new series' instrument cluster will appeal to many (not all - they are a bit PlayStation, especially with the altitude recording graph thingo in the test Exceed's centre stack) and the seating is firm and light years ahead of the Jeep. The Exceed's leather tends to allow a bit of slip, though, and the steering wheel doesn't reach as high as ideal.

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On faster surfaces - bitumen and grippy dirt - Pajero offers crisp, tight handling and around town it's generally a good day-to-day package with possibly too-slow steering a minor gripe. The third row seats disappear below the load floor, leaving a large load area you almost have to reach down into but the second row occupants will be slightly knees-up. No biggie.

Despite Mitsubishi's efforts in recent years to cut the clatter with extra soundproofing, the diesel makes itself known inside. But not as much as general road noise. Having the suspension - itself tuned tight for good handling, of course - mounted almost directly to the monocoque body means there's a lot more noise transmitted to the cabin. It's at its most vocal on fast gravel corrugations where there's enough going on with body and suspension to get the dashboard dancing.
The Prado has no such issues. One or two testers lamented the lack of driver's seat height adjustment and the odd arc of the steering wheel on its highest setting on first entering the Prado, but that was the end of the whinges. Most people will find it easy to almost immediately feel comfortable behind the clear gauges and logical controls of the Prado. It feels a little taller and initially more cumbersome around town but the higher seating position and better general view soon comes into its own. The mid-row seat is the pick of the three but the rear two seats flip sideways, '80s-style, and impinge on the load area that is itself higher than Pajero's, behind the heavy door that has a daggy steel stay in contrast to Pajero's gas strut.

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