Delica Canada | Mitsubishi Van Club | Old member, tough decisions - comparion between L300 & L400

So... many of you know me either in person or on the forum.

I have found our golden egg so to speak : Turtle. The pop-top Delica.

We brought in two L400 Spacegear's just to compare and possibly keep them all in our family (sister/parents). One shorty and one long wheel base.

I just showed Maryna the long wheel base one and she flipped. She loves it. Reminds her of our Pajero but four times as much room in the back. It's huge.

I will be at a crossroad in the upcoming week/weeks. Which one of the three to keep.

Turtle has been a work in progress and is very sentimental to me. He is not sentimental to Maryna because she really only spent a few short trips here and there and one 1 week trip across BC recently. I have been in that thing 24/7.

We live together and make decisions together. We will be living out of this vehicle, whichever one we keep, for at least 4-6 months on route to south america next year so it's not a 'Jesse decides only' deal.

I will update this post with the progress.

Now, you guys that want Turtle... I'm not going to part with him without a massive, colossal fight.

Here's the goods :

This has to be one of 'the' finest Delica examples I have ever seen. It needs NOTHING. Whoever owned it in Japan took care of it top to bottom. I got really really really lucky in it's condition.

It is loaded. Stainless steel exhaust from turbo to the rear including hangers of all things. It's a monster.
Stainless steel intercooler/turbo outlet/inlet pipes
3" lift
Bilstein shocks
Uprated rear coil springs
Uprated front sway bar
31" Mud terrain tires
Chrome bling on almost everything outside
New car clean inside
Immobilizer
Remote

Maryna hasn't even seen the cool lifted shorty spacegear either !

Oh yeah... and the pictures do not do it justice. It's actually a cool looking vehicle.

1st impressions :

- Driving. The L400 feels more comfortable and drives more comfortable. It's more predictable on the road (bumps,ruts,etc..) and is just plain and jane feels like a beefed up minivan. So road handling is heaps better than the L300.

- Offroad. You may have read that the L400 is a soccermom van and the L300 is a hundred times better for an offroad vehicle. I can attest that this is not true. In fact, I have more rear articulation on the L400 than our L300 with the same lift.

The axles are bigger, the differential is bigger, the drivetrain is bigger... bigger is better in the offroad section.

So those who 'think' these spacegears are not as good offroad as the L300's are dreaming. But really. Both are great vehicles and it's 99% the driver who is 'good' or 'bad' offroad. I've made many mistakes offroad that has got me stuck. Most of them embarrasing and stupid things.

- interior space ... L400 long wheel base is bigger. Simple as that. L400 short wheel base is about the same length but the top 24 inches (I measured) curves inwards and is not as wide (boxy) as the L300.

Verdict = L300 is more roomy in the rear unless you have a long wheelbase L400.

- exterior ... L400 in my opinion is ugly. real ugly. but then everyone is entitled to their own opinions, right ?

Personally though, the rear end is bum ugly.

The L400 is a wider/taller vehicle. You can feel it while driving. It feels more like a heavier, wider, taller version of the L300. That's the short wheelbase L400.

The L400 long wheelbase feels like you're driving a 18 wheeler. It's loooooooong and you definitely feel it in the driver's seat both turning radius and body roll, speed bumps, etc...

Drivetrain - L400 wins. No question. It has the newer generation transfercase (SuperSelect) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active-Trac

You can shift on the fly going up to 100 km/h from 2wd into all-wheel drive mode and 4H. That is really really useful up here when it gets wet and snow/icy. I know because I've used it when I had my Pajero and once you start using the AWD mode, it feels like a Subaru on steroids.

Interior accessories :

L400 wins for one exception : mini-fridge in the L300's in the front. L400's don't have that.

Everything else is an upgrade. Buttons, cup holders, layout, seats, ability to walk from driver to rear of vehicle... it's all cushy.

I like the L300's myself. Put me in that corner.

Few pics :

Slideshow :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/26976821@N ... 4540/show/

I vote for the Turtle - L-300's are like pre '68 split windscreen VW buses - later ones are OK, but... Good luck with the choice

Sorry Jesse, but in my opinion is ugly. real ugly.
I don't care if it's bigger, better, stronger and with more bling. It just has no personality anymore!
You can not compare a L300 with an L400 just because it's a Mitsubishi Delica. It's like a different world.

agreed !

Jeesh tough one ,its like the Matrix except there is
3 pills to choose from and Morpheus is Japanese and...never mind.
heh heh

Waiting for the shorty pics....
can't make a case without all the evidence right?

Right on!

WoW!

that long wheelbase 400 is just humongous!! I guess if I were taking the 6 month excursion that would be the vehicle to pick ..... as long as reliability is proven excellent.

Personality wise? The Turtle wins, by a mile!!

Interesting dilemna, I'll be most interested in following the saga.

Agree with everything you say, the reality is that's one nice, clean vehicle; BUT it's just looks like a blinged out Mazada MPV!!!! Truly a BC soccer moms dream come true there. I know they look better in person, but.......... One of the first thoughts of the L300 years ago was of a old VW bug ad; 'it's ugly but it gets you there'. That ad had a picture of the moon lander, wasn't any Ford Windstar sitting on 31 inch tires (saying the F word really makes me feel dirty).

I think the only issue the L400 have with regards to offroading is there is possible frame cracking, at the front spring mounts; as the Aussies have proven after years of rough roading.

Just browsing you pics for Turtle images and found this pic.......very cool shot of Maryna.

I can't say for sure, but I suspect on your long trip the L300 would be a lot easier to find parts for... it's also a simpler vehicle, less things to go wrong...

Jesse:

I remember you having gone on-and-on about the Active-Trac transmission in the L400, just like your ol' Montero, better because it's got AWD and part-time 4WD, etc, etc, ad infinitum...

...and I thought you had bolted one into the Turtle. No? If such was the case, why is there even a pause for thought? With that you'd have the space of the StarWagon, the better stance of the L300, the transmission of the L400, and I have to agree with Green1 on this next one, the simplicity of the 4D56 engine. I know, most times newer is better, but in nearly as many instances, simpler will out-trump technology with speed of repair, availability of parts, recognised repairability for an unknown mechanic, etc.

Keep the Turtle, ditch the SpaceGears and buy Maryna something nice to console here while she sits in the passenger seat and laments the loss of an L400 - something like a puppy! Girls LOVE puppies.

Funny you say that. She wants a puppy badly.

So there you go: get her a puppy, keep the non-butt-ugly Delica. Everyone happy. Yeah!

I think you should keep Turtle and sell the LWB L400.... to me :)

See how much help we're being? Someone else has already made the decision on the LWB for you.

BTW: do you have any pictures of the SWB?

To have built up the Turtle to such a fine instance of machine and then not include it on the trip... well it does seem a little unfair.

Personally the pop top aspect is one of the factors to me I would think. the standing room aspects on the trip should not be underestimated I should think. Makes me envious anyway.

Typically I am a function over fashion kinda guy, but I would not trade out something that was working for me that was known for something new just for the hell of it. But then again I am not a car guy so to speak, I have own three in my life

If you do decide to part with turtle I think you potentially mad, consider long an hard

I agree that the poptop should not be overlooked. In all honesty, I think the poptop means that you have way more room. I mean even if you crammed the L300 full, you can still pop the top and sleep with everything still inside the van. In the L400 you would need to sleep in the pile of stuff you bring. Keep Turtle. Life is about style just as much as function. Turtle seems the best of both in my opinion!

Josh