Delica Canada | Mitsubishi Van Club | The first 5000km

So, it's been 5000km already! Hard to believe we picked up Monty less than three months ago. Anyway, I changed the oil this weekend, and these are some of the observations I made (for the driveway mechanic) while doing that, and while installing the rear hitch and the trailer wiring harness:

-the 31" tires are great because I can shimmy under the vehicle for short periods without putting the vehicle up on the ramps;
-the underside of the Pajero is much beefier than the Delica (should be more solid when I do get off the road);
-the mounts for the trailer bar are more accessible;
-the oil filter is located in a much better place, and it's oriented vertically (instead of horizontally);
-the oil pan plug is clear of the frame, so when the oil comes out it doesn't splatter all over the frame (and then into the catch pan);
-the oil cooler holds a lot of extra oil which comes out all over hell's half acre when the oil filter is backed off (much messier);
-and, the extra height and having to reach over the engine bay necessitates a stool or step ladder to reach the oil filler cap if ramps are used (might try it flat on the ground next time).

As for towing, much better response, both with acceleration and shifting (doesn't seem to hunt as much). I only drove about 20km with the trailer as a trial, but I expect to be camping this summer, so I'll get a much better idea of how the vehicle handles with the larger engine and intercooler. First impression: better.

Overall, I'm happy with the SWB Pajero, and if we still had both of my step-daughters living with me, well, we might have gone for the LWB 4-door. I still miss the Delica, but I'm loving this new Pajero. Heck, even my dad is interested for when he has to return his leased truck next month.

Good you're enjoying it Paul, if they weren't nice truck I wouldn't have bought one 3 days ago...

So, is doing an oil change easier/cleaner or messier than the Delica?

It's easier, but this first change was definitely messier. I had to get a bottle of degreaser and clean up the driveway... Maybe next time I won't be such a slop.

Hi Paul, wow what a sales pitch -- very tempting, especially the less messy oil change (ggrrrr, oil pouring down my arm again). But I do love my L300 the full length sleeping bed inside, so I don't have to step outside the van when we arrive at our camping spot in the pouring rain, the true British Columbia Experience. Look forward to camping again with you guys soon. Christine.

How was the fuel mileage during those 5000 clicks?

Odometer is in kilometers, so I don't know what the 'mileage' is, but the fuel 'economy' is thus:

-4237 km travelled
-485 litres of fuel consumed
-8.73 km/l or 20.53 mpg (US) or 24.66 mpg (Imp)
-this is a combination of about 65/35 city/highway driving

It seems to be about the same as the L300 Delica - lighter vehicle, bigger engine, averages out in the end.

And I put American miles with American gallons as well as Imperial miles with Imperial gallons because I just KNOW someone is going to ask... and yes, the conversion is correct because the app in my iPhone says so. If you want to dispute the math, fine, but I'm not going to go on and on about it, nor will I convert it to binary so you can figure it out in octal to use one your RPN-engineering calculator.

All that and you omitted L/100km... I had faith in you Paul, what's going on?

That measure of fuel economy doesn't mean anything to me because it's not very backwards-compatible. If I see the get-more-fuel-dummy light illuminate on the dash I know that I have about 7 litres remaining in the vehicle, which means I can travel about another 50 km before I run out. The conversion is more convoluted if I have to calculate that 7 litres is more than half of the 12 litres of the 12 litres/100km fuel economy which means I can travel less than half of 100 km of the 12 litres/100km fuel economy. Understand? Of course it makes perfect sense when I describe it that way - right?