Mitsubishi Pajero Sport Exceed 2019 review

The Pajero Sport lives up to its name, and is much sportier and far less rugged than the actual Pajero. Curved lines on the corners and a rear spoiler that comes standard with the Exceed model help it look like it’s about to take off. While it’s difficult to get large car designs right, the exterior of the Pajero Sport is still quite stylish, and they’ve managed to mesh tough plus slick to make a cool looking car.

Inside the car is neither flashy nor fancy - it sticks to its Pajero roots and delivers an interior that favours function over form with simple features that traditional Pajero buyers will appreciate, while still maintaining a refined look and feel. 

The Pajero Sport Exceed comes with leather seats and a leather steering wheel that both lift the interior design, and it doesn’t feel like an empty cabin in here. But it’s not so sophisticated that you feel like you might ruin things by climbing in with wet boots fresh from a day in the outdoors. Everything is built with durability in mind.

Inside, the Pajero Sport Exceed comes with leather seats and a leather steering wheel.

There is lots of space up front, with legroom and headroom even for the taller members in my family. The cabin feels nice and breezy and you won’t be complaining about being too close together.

My children aged five and seven had heaps of room in the back with plenty of space between feet and the seat in front of them (no kicking the back seat in this car!) and there was also enough space in the centre to pop a third child seat. I did it with two boosters and a baby capsule and it easily fit. 

The third row will fit children easily, and I fit in at 161cm, but if you are taller you may be hunching for head space on longer journeys. Short journeys will be fine though, no matter how tall you are. 

If that third row is in use, the boot space is quite small. You’ll barely fit even groceries in there. School bags, yes, because you won’t mind if they fall out when you open the boot anyway but you don’t want groceries falling everywhere. If you’re going away though, the Pajero Sport comes with built in roof racks, so all your luggage will be up there anyway. 

With the third row down, the boot grows to 673L and you can fit a pram in, groceries, sporting equipment - whatever you need.

Boot space is rated at 673 litres with the third row down. (image credit: Dean McCartney)

Remarkably, the second row flips up right off the floor, allowing you or the kids to climb into the third row easily. You have to pop the seats of the third row in place but it’s no great stress, and getting it all back into place is not hard work either. Tick. The boot is a tad high off the ground for me, so watch your back if you’re lifting heavy equipment in.

The third row needs to be popped into place. (image credit: Dean McCartney)

There are six cupholders in total, two in each row. The centre storage bin is not as large as you’d imagine and there’s no spot in the front for keys or a phone either, which I always find a little odd. Each door has small storage and a bottle holder and there are pockets on the back of the front seats. 

There are air vents in the second and third rows which is so important, especially with us having driven it over the summer holidays, I found it very necessary. 

There’s also a step to climb into the car as it’s quite high off the ground and my children definitely needed it.

For shorter people there’s a sidestep to climb into the cabin. (image credit: Dean McCartney)

The Pajero Sport scored a maximum five-star ANCAP ranking when it was assessed in late 2015. And being the top-of-the-range Exceed model, this one came with all bells-and-whistles included - newer safety technology like auto emergency braking, lane departure alerts, active cruise control were all part of the package. 

The Pajero Sport comes with front and side airbags for driver and front passenger and side curtain airbags that extend to the back row. ISOFIX points are found in the middle row, on the outer two seats and there are also three top tether points for children’s car seats in the middle, but none in the back row. 

The Mitsubishi Pajero Sport Exceed is $54,200 and the one I drove had a metallic paint job which cost an extra $590. Fuel consumption is a claimed 8.0L/100km and that’s using diesel. 

It comes with Mitsubishi’s five year/100,000km warranty, and service is recommended every 12 months/15,000km (whichever comes first).