Marketed under one too many different names, the Pajero Sport launched in 1996 with underpinnings and oily bits from a midsize pickup. The long-running Triton is the donor in question, a workhorse that's better known as L200 in EU markets and in the United Kingdom.
Also sold as the Montero Sport and Shogun Sport, the Pajero Sport entered its third generation in 2015. Offered with four- and six-cylinder lumps, the body-on-frame utility vehicle underwent a nose job in 2019. Available with five or seven seats, the Pajero Sport is due a ground-up redesign in the near future.
Mitsubishi, a marque that's merely a shadow of its former self due to the aggressive cost-cutting measures of the Renault-Nissan Alliance, recently unveiled the sixth-generation Triton. Whenever the Pajero Sport gets the redesign it deserves, we're pretty certain that it's going to ride on the Triton's frame. Currently manufactured in Thailand, which is also where the all-new Triton is made, the Pajero Sport certainly looks the part with the stylistic traits of the midsize pickup.
Pixel artist Carbizzy is the gentleman who rendered the Pajero Sport in this way, and knowing the Japanese automaker, he's not far off the real thing. Limited research & development funds will force Mitsubishi to share as many parts as technically possible with the Triton, a pickup that comes with either two or four doors. The Renault-Nissan Alliance couldn't make a case for a brand-new engine, though, which is why the Triton continues to rely on the Mitsubishi-designed 4N1.
As opposed to the 4N15 of the 2023 model year Pajero Sport, the Triton features the 4N16 in either single- or twin-turbo flavors. Also shared with the Nissan Caravan and badge-engineered Isuzu Como, the 2.4-liter mill produces anything between 97 and 150 kW (make that 132 to 204 ps or 130 to 201 hp).
Peak torque is rated at 330 to 470 Nm (243 to 347 pound-feet), available from 1,500 revolutions per minute to 3,000 revolutions per minute. The 4N1 engine family rolled out in 2010 as the first passenger car turbo diesel engine with variable valve timing on the intake side.
Hearsay suggests the Pajero Sport will be refreshed inside and out in late 2024 as a 2025 model. As opposed to the Triton, the Pajero Sport is further expected to adopt the eight-speed automatic of the current generation rather than the Triton's six-speed automatic.
Over in Australia, where both the Triton and Pajero Sport are sold, the latter is going for anything between 47,740 to 65,490 kangaroo bucks. At current exchange rates, that means 30,960 to 42,470 freedom dollars.
Unfortunately, the Japanese automaker doesn't intend to bring the Triton or Pajero Sport stateside. The last time Mitsubishi offered a pickup in the United States was in 2010 with the Dodge Dakota-based Raider. The Dakota's brother sold poorly, with Mitsubishi moving fewer than 22,000 examples from 2005 to 2010.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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