4x4 review: Mitsubishi’s Barbarian at the gate covers all bases

If CHOOSING a car was simply a matter of “biggest equals best”, all the world would be behind the wheel of Mitsubishi L200 pick-ups. Double-cab, long-wheelbase models, naturally. At 17 feet long, this monster Mitsubishi outstretches pretty much everything you can drive without qualifying for an HGV licence.

Thank god we’re in the top-of-the-range Barbarian model, then, which has a reversing camera fitted as standard, essential for monitoring matters astern as you manoeuvre the L200’s distant derriere into a neighbouring postcode area.

The Barbarian, festooned with leather seats, sat-nav, beefy engine, shiny chrome bits and five-speed auto box, represents the “lifestyle” end of the L200 spectrum, pitched at those who find themselves drawn to the truck’s “go-anywhere, do-anything”potential, but who want something a bit plusher than the hose-down vanilla versions which builders and farmers have been snapping up for nigh-on two decades.

Anyone who calls a pick-up sexy needs their bumps felt, but the L200’s curvaceous cabin sets it apart from angular rivals. Inside, there’s a stack of space for five adults, although luggage will have to go in the load bay, so you might need to budget for an after-market canopy.

The Mitsubishi is built on an old-school ladder-frame chassis, and features even older-school leaf spring suspension at the back. Those springs are pretty firm, since the L200 is designed to carry heavy stuff, like sheep and rubble. Or, in the case of the more upmarket Barbarian, schoolbags and surfboards. In other words, you shouldn’t expect sportscar-like handling, or Bentley-esque ride comfort, but for all its utilitarian underpinnings, the L200 doesn’t disgrace itself on the B-roads.

No worries about venturing off-road, either, thanks to the L200’s generous ground clearance and Mitsubishi’s Super Select 4WD transmission, which lets you flick between two-wheel-drive and four-wheel-drive at up to 62mph. If talk of “low-ratio boxes” and “diff-locks” gets your juices going, you’ll love this car.

And, as we found out on a cross-border raid from Edinburgh to Newcastle, it’s pretty handy on the dual-carriageway, too, thanks to a 2.5-litre diesel engine which produces 175bhp. Lower-spec L200s make do with 134bhp. There’s a degree of clatter from under the bonnet at low speeds, and a bit of wind noise at 70mph (much of it caused by the huge wing mirrors), but conversation doesn’t call for raised voices and the cabin is a relaxing place to pass the time.

It’s cossetting, too – as darkness and drizzle descended on a bleak moorland byway somewhere near Kielder Forest, Mr and Mrs Scotsman Motors agreed they were glad to be in the sure-footed Mitsubishi.