Delica Canada | Mitsubishi Van Club

Welcome poecile. There are quite a few posts about that already. One of the best comparison is probably this thread: http://www.delica.ca/forum/old-member-t ... -5846.html

The L300 is deceptively larger than they appear. We had 14 sheets of drywall in the rear, with the seats folded down. And the roofline is taller, boxier than the L400. I would guess there is more cubic space in an L300 than the L400s. But that's just me.

Besides, there's a white L300 on consignment at Five Star Autos you might be interested in. I know I would be interested in you being interested in it...

The L300 genereally only comes in short wheelbase while the L400 comes in both a short and a long wheelbase.
The L300 has 8'4" of length from the back of the driver's seat to the tailgate (less length at floor level due to the enginehump)
The L400 LWB has the same 8'4" from the back of the driver's seat to the tailgate, however there's no engine hump. (so longer length at floor level than the L300)
The L400 SWB has less length inside (I'm guessing about the same as the floor length of the L300 instead of the seat length)
All vehicles are wider than 4' (above the wheel wells)

Interior height appears to be the same between the L300 and L400 (depending on high or low roof, and on the high roof as to if it has the crystal-lite roof or not) and although the L300 is "boxier" I don't think that gains any actual space inside.

The L400 has more exterior length than the L300.

I went with a LWB L400 because I wanted more power than the L300 had, and didn't want to sacrifice any interior room. but there's a lot of personal preference when choosing between the 2 vehicles. I'm certain however that any of them will have enough interior space for your needs.

Green1 wrote:I'm certain however that any of them will have enough interior space for your needs.

Agreed, if you were lumping around in a Voyager, I think you'll find the Delica positively R_O_O_M_Y_!_!_!_!

I think that a black L300 would fit your needs best

loki wrote:I think that a black L300 would fit your needs best

I think Butch already sold it

***Place Edit Here***

All Kidding aside, welcome peocile. The Lokimeister's van is certainly worth a look. Duel fuel, looks gnarly, lifted like a debutant's skirt at a football game.

I can't speak for the L400 crowd,....cause I don't like em and that wouldnt be fair, but my Goofy L300 has gone pretty much every place my full size Dodge can. As far as room goes, a quick gauge would be to lay down a 4x8 sheet in the front yard and lay out all your gear. If it fits on that then you know its roomy enough for your needs. Its a 2.5 diesel under 2 tons of truck, so youre averaging 550-600 K'S per fill................be cheaper if it was black and on Veggie

Good luck

poecile wrote:Any real difference in mileage between a L300 and an L400? What about logging road durability?

Forgot to answer this part.

From my experience so far, the L400 has slightly worse fuel economy than the L300 did, though signifigantly more power. (approximately 12L/100km instead of 11L/100km)

As for durability... some have said that the L300 is theoretically better, however they're both built like tanks, I don't think you'd have any issue with either one.

loki wrote:I think that a black L300 would fit your needs best

Um, he lives in Parksville - my van is obviously closer. Besides, it's white, with curtains.

Can't go wrong with either but one of the thing I don't like about the L400 (aside from style) is that you can't have decent rear cabinets built in the back as the way the rear seats fold down doesn't alloy it. With the L300 I managed to design some cool cabinets that maximized the space. I can post the link if required.

The frame on the 300 is also stronger than the 400...

Cheers,
David

delicat wrote:Can't go wrong with either but one of the thing I don't like about the L400 (aside from style) is that you can't have decent rear cabinets built in the back as the way the rear seats fold down doesn't alloy it. With the L300 I managed to design some cool cabinets that maximized the space. I can post the link if required.

The way the seats fold up in the L400 is one of the big selling features of the vehicle, when you don't need the seating space it's easy to get them completely out of the way, much better for carrying large items than the L300 where the bench was always in the way. I'd choose that over the L300 bench any day. (for one person sleeping in the vehicle, it also is nice to have the option to leave 1 half of the bench in place, while either removing, or flipping up the other half)

The frame on the 300 is also stronger than the 400...

While I don't deny that this is possible, do you have any information to back up that claim?

Low roof SWB L400 model can come with dual sunroof's.

Full tilt/slide open sunroof in the front
Full slide open moonroof in the back

It's nice

Green1 wrote:

delicat wrote:Can't go wrong with either but one of the thing I don't like about the L400 (aside from style) is that you can't have decent rear cabinets built in the back as the way the rear seats fold down doesn't alloy it. With the L300 I managed to design some cool cabinets that maximized the space. I can post the link if required.

The way the seats fold up in the L400 is one of the big selling features of the vehicle, when you don't need the seating space it's easy to get them completely out of the way, much better for carrying large items than the L300 where the bench was always in the way. I'd choose that over the L300 bench any day. (for one person sleeping in the vehicle, it also is nice to have the option to leave 1 half of the bench in place, while either removing, or flipping up the other half)

The frame on the 300 is also stronger than the 400...

While I don't deny that this is possible, do you have any information to back up that claim?

Yes, the rear seats on the 400 are nicer for everyday use but not for camperizing the unit while retaining the seats. If the seats are not needed and removed than it's all the same.

As for the frame just take a look at how the frame's front end is built on a 400 vs the 300... You'll see it.

Gotta go, building building!

delicat wrote:Yes, the rear seats on the 400 are nicer for everyday use but not for camperizing the unit while retaining the seats. If the seats are not needed and removed than it's all the same.

Actually the advantage to the L400 is that you can keep HALF the seat and get rid of the other half, as for camperizing with the seats in place, you have just as much (actually more in the LWB) space behind the back seats, and as for space under the seats, you loose very little of it. I'd take the L400 over the L300 for that sort of build any day. Just because your particular method of working with it wouldn't work in an L400 doesn't make them any less a valid option.

As for the frame just take a look at how the frame's front end is built on a 400 vs the 300... You'll see it.

Actually I don't, they're both unibody vehicles, the frame doesn't look any "better" or "worse" on either one to me.