Our long-term Mitsubishi L200 pick-up showed off its versatility one recent bank holiday weekend, going from workhorse to show pony to football bus in just 24 hours.
Saturday was spent, for both myself and the Mitsubishi, lugging a load of paving slabs (well, as many as I could lift before collapsing in a heap!), destined to become a new shed base. A couple of wood chocks below and to the side of the slabs stopped them damaging the load bay, and the revelation in ride quality meant I actually left the slabs in the back for the next couple of days – a decent load in the back and the L200’s ride quality becomes smooth.
Those next couple of days included trips four-up plus a dog from Sussex to the West Country for the Badminton Horse Trials, followed by three of us heading
up to Colchester for the last away-day trip of the season to watch my beloved Brighton FC.
The trip to Badminton set a new high for fuel economy, probably due to the reduced speed of having my parents along for the ride, achieving 31.3mpg, only
the second time we’ve got into the 30s. It also proved what a handy picnic bench the tailgate transforms itself into.
Mile-munching complete, the slabs were unloaded and changed from ballast to shed base.
I don’t like to think about what they did to the fuel economy, but the ride improvement probably made it worthwhile for a long trip regardless.
Long Term Test: Mitsubishi L200 (2)
Versatility is the name of the game as our pick-up proves capable of handling a variety of roles, writes Paul Barker