Mitsubishi Grandis (2004 - 2010) 2.4 MIVEC Equippe 5d Owner Review

Start with the bad: Low ground clearance at front, front bumper prone to catching kerbs and splitting. Light grey interior + lively outdoor kids a pain. Does not fit in many parking spaces (but not by a huge amount) due to length. Awful over speed bumps (Sharalaxy much better). Thirsty around town, but should not come as a suprise being a heavy petrol + big engine. Mid row seats do not fold flat. Turning circle almost, but not quite good enough for getting in supermarket parking spaces in one go (compared to the Tino/Carens/Corollo Verso had in the past). Deceptively quick. As pretty quite, smooth ride and tall geared easy to speed. The manual is the most verbose piece of spiel ever written, covering LHD and RHD variants, 6 and 7 seats and then misses out useful details that require googling (such as the standard stereo having aux setting, but does not come with a connector which can be bought separately). Compared to our Corolla Verso the body corrodes quicker (stone chips on front bonnet), but chassis underneath seems to have fared better. The good: Looks like a tall estate rather than a small transit van. Interior is better quality than Sharalaxys. Epic leg room have had 7 6 foot people in the car ALL had enough knee room. Mid row, though not 3 separate seats has room for 3 booster seats across with room for my kids to do all their seat belts up, slightly more width than our Corolla Verso. Useful boot with all seats up, more space than Sharalaxy. 2in taller boot opening than a Carens - very useful for eating a sofa (which would not fit in the Carens). Great air con vents for all passengers (both rows) and floor heating for middle row. Engine is super smooth and even response and once rolling 30-40 mph the acceleration is very good, really strong from 3000 to 6000 rpm. Balanced handling, little body roll, drives like a big estate, compared to the Sharalaxy which is more van like, does not like being hustled quickly round fast sweeping A roads as much.  Really at home cruising at 60mph plus on rolling A roads or motorway. Stable, unfazed by crosswinds or wagons, not upset on bumps and dips. Easy to drive, my wife actually test drive it first, at 5 foot 4 and petite did not stall it, even managed to reverse park it. Cruising economy is reasonable - 35 real mpg at 70mph (by GPS) is possible. I got my petrol manual so cheap that at average milage would take 3 years to recoup cost VS the derv. Square sides make parking easy to judge car position. It can fit a 170cm 2 seater sofa in (lift the front over the tipped forward seats gave vital few inches space to squeeze the boot shut. Traction control is useful, it is not one that kills the power totally when a wheel spins, nice and progressive application of brake and reduction in power. Having travelled in and test driven numerous Sharalaxys the Grandis is slightly better in many areas as a cheaper used buy. And Clarkson's favourite - plenty of cup holders.