The Mitsubishi Montero is a Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV), which in its long and illustrious life has busted many a myths and broken numerous records. Known as the 'Shogun' in the UK, the Montero was born out of the Pajero, which since then has become extinct, except in India that is. The name Montero, the literal translation of which is 'Mountain Warrior', is quite befitting for this 12-time Paris to Dakar Rally winner. In fact, the Montero is the most successful vehicle in the history of the rally! A distinction that has helped considerably in boosting its image and sale figures, in the West.
See Specs of Mitsubishi Montero Variants
The 4th generation Montero, which was recently launched in India is a supreme machine delivering the best of two worlds. It has a distinct split personality, changing characters from that of a beast to an immaculate gentleman seamlessly. It is perhaps one of the few SUVs capable of delivering an adventurer to his rugged mountainous destination as easily as it can deliver a Chief Executive to his swanky office, in complete style and panache. Thanks to its versatility, a Montero never looks out of place and out of sorts cruising along Marine Drive in Mumbai, or while climbing the steep hills of Garwhal.
Design
The new Montero has been designed in keeping with the Dakar Rally winning car. With its beautifully sculpted flanks, an all-new attractive chrome-plated front grille, sparkling head lamps, frosted tail lamps and huge 265/65 17" alloys, the Montero is quite in your face and elegant at the same time. There is no mistaking the fact that behind the beautiful façade there lurks a vicious beast.
With dimensions of 4,900mm (length), 1,875mm (width), and 1,870mm (height) and with a kerb weight of 2,380kg, the Montero is a stunning leviathan, and with its staggering ground clearance of 225mm, it makes for quite a commanding sight.
Starting from the front, the latest edition of this venerable SUV comes fitted with a pair of very distinct looking discharge type Xenon headlamps, which sit on top of an aggressive looking bumper with an integrated over-rider and fog lamps. The classy silver painted front skid plate, wraps up the front of the Montero.
17" alloys wrapped with 265/65 tyres, dominate the muscular flanks of the Montero. Small touches like the colour keyed outer door handles and side garnish, discreet side steps and power folding side rear-view mirrors with integrated turn signals help to lend the car an upmarket look.
New 'Frosted' tail lamps, a new design centrally mounted spare wheel cover with integrated rear fog lamp complete the rear of the car. All in all the new Montero has a much more appealing appearance than its predecessor.
There are two different interior packages on offer - beige leather with wood inserts or black leather with carbon inserts. Irrespective of choice, the interior of the Montero compliments the exterior perfectly and shrouds the occupants in absolute luxury.
The well-executed dashboard is neatly laid-out and dominated by a LCD Centre Information Display and an 860W thumping new Rockford audio system with 12 speakers! The air-vents flanking the audio system on the centre console are conveniently slanted sideways for improved focussed cooling. Behind the leather wrapped multi-functional steering wheel, is a stylish and easy to read instrument cluster with cool blue lighting. Housed in front of the adjustable centre armrest are the 5-speed manual/automatic gearshift lever and the 4x4 gearshift lever.
The Montero sports very supportive power bucket seats with lumbar support at the front. Apart from height adjustment the seats also boast heating facility. Needless to say, legroom, knee room and shoulder room is in abundance, which is hardly surprising if you look at the size of the vehicle. Of the three rows of seats, only two are meant to seat adults with the third row strictly meant for children. The second row of seats with adjustable headrests splits 60:40, whereas the third row of seats is completely removable to free up to 1,050 litres of cargo space.
Comfort
There was a time when comfort was never an issue for an off-road vehicle. SUVs back then were immensely bare from the comfort point of view. Bare in the sense that they didn't carry anything that could be counted as a comfort feature. Those were the days when SUVs seldom ventured into towns and cities. Instead spending more time in the wilderness, where it felt very much at home, but times have changed. Today's
SUV's are not longer the bare and basic off-roaders that they used to be. They are refined and luxurious vehicles with multiple comfort enhancing features to satisfy and pamper the demanding owners of the 21st century.
The Montero is as comfortable an SUV as one could ever find. It cuddles its occupants in sheer comfort with a host of features that would make any luxury sedan proud. Of course, vehicles like the BMW X5 and Audi Q7 carry more comfort and convenience features, but one must not compare them with the Montero, as they are more of luxury soft-roaders than off-roaders. With leather wrapped tilt and multi-functional steering wheel incorporating functions of cruise control and audio controls, all the driver needs to do is press a button to experience the wonder of modern automobile engineering. Parking sensors make a driver's life so much easier by aiding in parking the vehicle. This feature is especially helpful in the cities where there always is a crunch of parking space. The front seats are heated which one might think to be a bit extravagant at first, but there is no denying its usefulness on a drive from Shimla to Manali in the thick of winter. Then there are other comfort features like powered seats (front only), electro-chromic rear view mirror, sunglass holder, accessory sockets, LED front foot lamps, front adjustable central armrest, rear armrest with cup holders, climate control with vents and controls for rear passengers, and height adjustable seat-belts (front only).
There is a LCD Centre Information Display mounted on the dashboard, which is certain to give the driver an information overload! Time, date, compass, barometer, altimeter, a/c settings, internal and external temperature are all there for the driver to know and see. A 5.1 channel 860W Rockford theatre surround audio system with 12 speakers is standard, to guarantee a rocking time while driving to any destination!
Engine, Transmission and Performance
The 2008 Montero is available worldwide in different engine variants with varied performance readings. In India, the Montero is available either in manual or automatic guise. It comes with a 3.2litre 164.5PS turbo-charged intercooled DOHC diesel engine. It employs a Common Rail Direct Injection system and is said to
be more fuel-efficient and refined than its predecessor. Torque at 383Nm @ 3,500rpm is plentiful and delivers optimum power in low and mid-ranges, thus qualifying the Montero as a competent vehicle to drive both in and out of the city.
Thanks to a lightweight and highly rigid monocoque with a built-in ladder frame chassis, fixed atop a dynamic independent suspension, the Montero possesses a fine all-terrain capability mixed with a luxury-sedan comfort. Like the Pajero, the Montero too has a minimum body-roll while cornering at high-speeds and it is pretty fast as well, with a maximum speed of 174kmph, not bad for a 2 ton plus SUV!
Apart from the groundbreaking chassis, the Montero also comes with 4-wheel Traction Control and 4-wheel Power Control with a rear differential lock and super select 4WD system (SS4-II). This makes it a serious off-roader, capable of negotiating any kind of terrain. Available in automatic transmission and manual transmission variants, the Montero has an Intelligent and Innovative vehicle Electronic control system (INVECS-II) smart thinking 5-speed gearbox. The INVECS-II with the help of advanced computer control studies the different styles of each driver and adapts gear change strategies accordingly.
Safety
Accidents are an unfortunate occurrence; they are more often than not a result of human error. Some even say that accidents are unavoidable as they are a doing of fate. Unavoidable or not, it is imperative that a modern day vehicle carry substantial safety features to protect its occupants in the event of an accident.
The Mitsubishi Montero has been fitted with a host of active and passive safety technologies. To start with, the Montero has a very strong and rigid monocoque chassis with an in-built ladder frame to withstand all types of collisions. Montero's RISE (Reinforced Impact Safety Evolution) body design also helps to minimize the impact of a collision and aiding the strong chassis further are the front and rear crumple zones, which adsorb all the collision energy and prevent it from passing onto the occupants.
The driver and front passenger are protected by two intelligent dual-stage SRS airbags that inflate in the event of a frontal collision. At the moment of impact the onboard computer measures the force of impact and adjusts the airbags' deployment speed accordingly. In addition, there are also side and curtain airbags cocooning the passengers in case of a side impact.
Sometimes in the event of a severe rear collision the fuel tank can get ruptured, which can lead to an explosion from a spark, but not in a Montero! Its fuel tank is located ahead of the rear axle to prevent it from getting ruptured in case of brutal rear impact and on top of that a tough resin under-protector also protects it.
The Montero also carries other standard safety features like 4-channel Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), Electronic Brake-force Distribution (EBD) and Active Stability & Traction Control (ASTC). The ABS prevents the wheels from locking-up under fierce braking, EBD distributes the force of braking equally between all four wheels to reign in the SUV within the shortest possible distance and without any loss of control, while ASTC calculates in real-time, vehicle status via various intelligent sensors and controls engine torque and braking force to each wheel to improve vehicle control, trace ability and traction in all driving conditions.
Apart from all this the Montero has other basic safety features like auto-levelling headlamp with washers, front and rear fog lamps, rear window intermittent wiper and washer, rear window defogger with timer, anti-skid pedals, six retractable assist grips, electronic chromic rearview mirror, collapsible steering column, rear door child lock, 3-point ELR seatbelts with pre-tensioners and height adjustment facility (front only) and central remote locking with engine immobiliser.
The Mitsubishi Montero is available in a choice of 4 colours - Black Mica, Sophia White, Cool Silver Metallic, and Blue Mica. Priced at Rupees 35.10 lakhs (ex-showroom Delhi) for the manual transmission version and Rupees 36.63 lakhs (ex-showroom Delhi) for the automatic version, Montero is one of the very few true blue SUV's in the country today.
