Mitsubishi L200, the car with workhorse capability and family practicality

If you need workhorse capability family practicality and good old-fashioned value for money mitsubishi claims it has the pick of the pickups this new l200 beats its rivals in lots of different areas it's got the lowest emissions it's got the best fuel economy it's got the lightest body it's the most aerodynamic it's also got the tightest turning circle and it's got the highest combined load lugging and towing capacity overall then it's a little bit of a show-off this mitsubishi also has plenty to brag about here in the back seats because it's bigger than the old l200.

So this front seat there it's my usual driving position as you can see i've got lots and lots of knee room headroom's good as well and that's helped by the fact that this back seat is actually reclined slightly by about 25 degrees so it makes it comfortable if i pull this lever you can see that you can fold it forward and then you have access to some tools in terms of carrying more than two people in the back well yeah you can it's reasonably wide so you can just about fit three of breasts and if you look down here you'll see the foot wells are nice and large so there's plenty of room for everyone's feet even though you do have this slight hump there in the floor overall the practicality is pretty good no one's sitting in the middle seat fold this down you've got a couple of cup holders and the rear door bins.

While they're big enough for this large bottle the door bins just as big in the front and there's a large centre of cubby too and while you'd never call it stylish the interior design is as good as you get on any current pickup now i should point out all the plastics here in the cabin they're all hard and brittle but i'm going to forgive this vehicle on this one occasion because this is all about utility the plastics need to be durable and they are and there are still some creature comforts i mean look at this on this particular model the glove box it's damped that is unusual for a picker so too is the fact that the steering wheel also moves in and out now as standard across the entire range.

The l200 comes with bluetooth it comes with usb connectivity and it comes with air conditioning but this is the range topper it is the barbarian and it has but it has everything really i mean we've got sat nav we've got electrically operated seats they're heated as well we've also got if you look back here we've got ambient lighting so mitsubishi have tried to make this l 200 as car like to drive as possible but you've got to remember this is still designed as a work vehicle and it's a bit like expecting a weightlifter to be as graceful as a ballet dancer it's never going to happen but in terms of pickup trucks this is the darcy bustle of the pickup trucks the combined towing and carrying capacity is actually over four tons it's best in class and so the suspension is quite firm in the back so you do get a bit of bubbling around over bumps in the road.

But overall compared to other pickups it's more comfortable and overall i'd say it handles better than other pickups so yes on the whole this new mitsubishi l200 is the best pickup on the market to drive the l200 is also surprisingly easy to maneuver in town too thanks to its class leading turning circle but what about visibility now some of you have complained that this carbide headcam test doesn't give you an exact eye view as what i'm seeing because it sits too high the camera so we've modified it so i can actually control it with my eyebrows so we'll lock it into position to eye level and then you can see yes the view out of the l200 is really good because you sit up nice and high there aren't too many blind spots so the a-pill is not too fat even though you've got this grab handle to help you get in.

Over-the-shoulder visibility is really good the other back window is good as well as you can see in the rear view mirror and yes you do have that low bed i'll just pop this up it does make reversing a little bit more difficult but you can get this car with a reversing camera which does make that a lot easier the l200 is powered by a punchy diesel engine which beats its rivals for performance emissions and economy mitsubishi actually claims 42.8 miles per gallon is possible but what's the reality so let's have a quick look at the trip computer what have i been averaging since i've had it it's doing 39.5 miles per gallon that is better than the claim figures of all these pickups rivals this l-200 is a proper off-roader.

When you're just on the road you can have it in two-wheel drive mode and then if you need more grip you just turn a dial and put it into four-wheel drive mode then if you want to go off-road say for something like this you can put it in four-wheel drive lock mode and so you've got even more traction and then if the going gets really tough you just stop it the button down turn it and you go into low range mode and then this thing can pretty much go anywhere all that's missing is hill descent control which you do get on a ford ranger while other minor issues include a fiddly infotainment system that's not as good as that in a volkswagen amarok which incidentally has a slightly wider low bed too but really the main problem with the l200 and all pickups for that matter is they still aren't as comfy or as quiet to travel in as a normal suv and they're not as desirable either.