Mitsubishi Shogun (2007-2018) Review

Do you live in the countryside? Do you do lots of countryside-type things? As such, do you need a car that’ll tow a double horsebox over a muddy field without getting stuck, with a boot big enough for saddles, stirrups and whatever else you might think to drape over a nag? If so, the Mitsubishi Shogun could just be the no-nonsense workhorse (sorry) that you’ve been looking for.

It’s impressive off-roading ability, 3500kg towing limit and enormous loadbay make it perfect for just such a job, and with a cabin that’s robust and hardwearing, it should stand up well to such service.

However, before you start thinking that the Mitsubishi Shogun is a true alternative to luxurious off-roaders like the Land Rover Discovery or Range Rover, think again. It has nowhere near the comfort, quality, quietness or class to compete in that company.

Well, it’s an easy call on the engine, because despite being on sale for so long, the Mitsubishi Shogun was only ever offered with one, a 3.2-litre, four-cylinder diesel. Early on, it was offered with either a manual gearbox or an automatic - both five-speeders - but later examples were auto-only. We never got to try a manual version, but we probably would’ve chosen an automatic anyway, because it suits this kind of car.

The trims available - and what you got with each one - changed fairly regularly throughout the car’s life. Early cars had names like Equippe, Barbarian, Warrior, Diamond and Elegance, while later cars were less imaginative, being called SG2, SG3, SG4 and SG5. We reckon you want a lower-mid-range trim like the SG3 trim to give the best balance between kit and affordability.

As a rufty-tufty, go-anywhere, seven-seat off-roader, you can’t ignore the Land Rover Discovery, although it should be noted that the Disco costs a big slice more than the Mitsubishi Shogun. A more direct rival these days would be the Ssangyong Rexton: big, brash, seven seats, capable in the rough stuff, will tow just about anything you need it to, and it’s similar on price.

If you’re in less need of rugged off-roading ability, and you just want an affordable seven-seat SUV, then you’ll probably be looking at options including the Kia Sorento, Hyundai Santa Fe and the Skoda Kodiaq. If off-roading is the priority and seven seats aren’t, then the long-wheelbase Jeep Wrangler and Land Rover Defender will be in the mix, too

The Mitsubishi Shogun is completely unapologetic about being a rugged, no-nonsense kind of car, and that’s definitely reflected in the finish of the interior. Your eyes are met with swathes of dark plastic that look sturdy, robust and hard-wearing, resulting in a very solid feel that gives the impression that the Mitsubishi Shogun is built to last. 

However, not many concessions are made to tactility. While most modern SUVs are trimmed in sophisticated soft-touch materials, the Mitsubishi Shogun’s plastics are hard and scratchy, and less appealing to the fingertips as a result. 

Not many concessions are made to design flair, either. There’s the odd metallic trim piece or various smatterings of unconvincing wood-effect panelling, but other than that, it’s all very samey. What’s more, the central trip computer unit, positioned above the touchscreen, looks like something straight out of the 1990s.

All versions have a leather steering wheel, but you have to go for second-rung SG3 trim or above to get leather upholstery, which helps lift the cabin, while the SG5 gets posher quilted leather. Even then, though, you’ll never trick yourself into thinking you're sitting in an Audi.

We never had the chance to encounter an entry-level SG2 Mitsubishi Shogun, so we can’t tell you how easy or difficult its infotainment system was to use, but we can tell you that it was very much more basic than in other versions. You got a CD player, USB sockets and a Bluetooth phone connection, but that was about it. 

Upgrading to SG3 trim checked most of the outstanding boxes, with a 7.0-inch touchscreen system that brought satellite-navigation, DAB radio and a Rockford Audio system with 12 speakers. SG4 and SG5 versions used the same system, but in the SG4, you also got rear-seat entertainment screens that were built into the headrests of the front seats.

The touchscreen is reasonably responsive, but the graphics look very dated and some of the on-screen icons are a wee bit small and fiddly. The menus aren’t all that logically arranged, either, so it’s not the most intuitive system you’ll ever encounter. What’s more, the system is too old to offer Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, so you can’t just ignore the car’s operating system and use your phone’s instead.

Unsurprisingly, the Mitsubishi Shogun’s performance in this area will vary greatly depending on whether you go for the short-wheelbase three-door model or the more popular long-wheelbase five-door.

Let’s get the former out of the way pretty sharpish: it’s not great. There’s loads of space in the front and the rear seats are (just about) adequate for headroom and legroom, but getting into the back is pretty difficult due to the relatively small gap you’re required to clamber through. The boot is pretty small by the standards of most modern SUVs, and it’s not that impressive on size when you fold the back seats down, either.

Naturally, the (much) bigger car does a lot better. The front is very roomy, and the rear seats also have enough space for tall adults to sit comfortably, although many newer rivals do offer more space. Two more seats pop up out of the boot floor to make the bigger Mitsubishi Shogun a seven-seater, but although adults can just about fit in them, they won’t be comfortable, and won’t want to stay cooped up for long periods. Most other seven-seat SUVs are roomier in the third row.

With all seven seats in place, there’s room for a few small bags in the boot, more than in some rivals. Fold down the rearmost chairs, which drop flush into the boot floor, and the boot space you get is every bit as huge as you expect. The middle row folds in a 60-40 split, and then tumbles forward to give you a flat loadbay that’s impressively enormous, but the loadbay is inevitably shorter than in rivals where the middle seats fold flush into the floor.

The Mitsubishi Shogun dimensions are 4900mm long, 1875mm wide and 1890mm tall.

While lots of things about the Mitsubishi Shogun changed over the many years of its life, the engine was a constant. Only one was offered, a 3.2-litre four-cylinder diesel. Associated numbers changed over time, such as the fuel economy, CO2 emissions and power output. However, variations in the latter were small, and it was always somewhere in the region of 200PS.

While that was about the same as most hot hatches of the day, most hot hatches weren’t as big or as heavy as the Shogun, and as such, this was not a fast car. 

That’s not to say it was slow - the 0-62mph dash stood at around ten or eleven seconds, depending on the version - but the build-up in speed was always gradual and relaxed, rather than face-bendingly fast. That said, the engine always had enough muscle to keep life relatively easy, and the engine’s brutish low-down muscle also helped great when off-roading and towing.

Early Mitsubishi Shoguns were offered with a choice of manual or automatic transmissions - both five-speeders - while later examples were only offered it automatic form. It was fine, swapping gears reasonably smoothly if not desperately quickly, just like you’d expect in a car like this. We never got to try the manual, though.

The Mitsubishi Shogun was unashamedly utilitarian in its approach to motoring, and this is one of those areas in which that was abundantly clear. This was not a quiet way of getting around. 

The engine’s prodigious low-down muscle meant you very rarely had to work it hard, but even when it was barely ticking over, it would clack away noisily like it should be ploughing a field rather than running the kids to school. A fair amount of engine vibration found its way through the controls and floor, too. And if you did find cause to stick a few revs on the dial, the engine would make you very aware of its displeasure at such harsh treatment.

But while the engine dominated the soundtrack within the cabin, it was by no means the only source of noise. You could hear the wind colliding with the bluntly designed front end, and the tyres rumbling along the Tarmac, even at moderate speeds. This was especially intrusive if your car was fitted with knobbly off-road tyres. The ageing underpinnings also meant that the suspension wasn’t awfully quiet about doing its work, either.

Believe it or not, in more than 35 years on this earth, the Mitsubishi Shogun has never been crash-tested by Euro NCAP. However, with the strictness of today’s safety standards, that might be just as well.

The bare basics are covered, including stability and traction controls, anti-lock brakes, ISOFIX child seat mounting points, tyre-pressure monitoring and six airbags (twin front, side and curtain). So, it complies to legal standards, but that’s about it. There’s none of the latest accident-prevention gear you get in the most rival SUVs, things such as automatic emergency braking, lane-change assistants, blind-spot monitors, traffic sign recognition, any of that. So, safety-wise, you’ll be sat in something big, but not awfully clever.

The Mitsubishi Shogun scored a below-average 9.00 out of 10 for reliability in the HonestJohn.co.uk Satisfaction Survey, which makes it one of the worst-performing Mitsubishis in the survey. On the one hand it's a relatively simple beast compared to more modern fare which is a good thing, but at the same time old tech doesn't necessarily mean reliable. Look for a car that has been pampered and not used off-road much and you stand a decent chance of few problems.

As a brand Mitsubishi finished 11th overall out of 30 manufacturers, which is a good showing, but the Shogun probably didn't play a big part in the score being that high.

There have been variations in insurance groupings for the Mitsubishi Shogun down the years, which is no surprise given how long it's been on sale. Most versions sit between groups 30 and 35, with one or two editions randomly making it up as far as 38. Those groupings are reasonably comparable with those of rivals, and while this certainly won’t be a cheap car to insure, it won’t be desperately expensive, either.

The amount of tax you’ll pay on your Mitsubishi Shogun will vary greatly according to which version you go for and when it was registered. On most cars registered after April 1st 2017, you’ll pay £165 per year, but as a few of the higher-end versions cost more than £40,000, you’ll have to pay an additional £355 surcharge on them between years two and six of the car’s life. This’ll hike your annual bill to £520 during that time, after which it’ll drop back down to £150 per year.

Cars registered before the given date are taxed on the old emissions-based system, and while this would be good news on many cars, it’s not for the grubby old Mitsubishi Shogun. Some Mitsubishi Shoguns were grubbier than others, and all of them sat close to the cusp between groupings, so the amount you’ll pay can vary greatly. Most versions command a bill of £330 per year, but a few versions go as high as £565 or £580. Certainly worth checking before you buy.

Throughout the Mitsubishi Shogun’s long life, it has gone through several changes in trim structure and specification, so it’d take all day to go through all of them. Here, we’ll focus on later examples of the car, but bear in mind that there will be differences in specification on earlier cars.

So, towards the end of the Mitsubishi Shogun’s life, the entry-level trim was known as the SG2, and came with 18-inch alloys, front foglamps, automatic lights and wipers, climate control, electric windows, electric door mirrors, keyless entry, cruise control heated front seats and a leather steering wheel. 

However, the Mitsubishi Shogun SG2 missed out on a few bits we’d deem necessary in a car like this, those being rear parking sensors, a reversing camera and leather seats, on top of the key infotainment kit we mentioned earlier. Those boxes are all checked by the Mitsubishi Shogun SG3 trim, along with ones for rear privacy glass, an electric sunroof, automatic high-beam headlights and powered front seats, making it our favourite trim level.

Mitsubishi Shogun SG4 trim only adds the rear-seat entertainment screens mentioned earlier, and 20-inch alloy wheels that make the ride a little bit worse, so we’d avoid it. Mitsubishi Shogun SG5 trim deleted the rear screens, but instead added quilted leather upholstery, heated rear seats, two rear USB sockets and LED mood lighting.