Mitsubishi Pajero

Mitsubishi Pajero Sport

Mitsubishi Pajero

While Mitsubishi isn’t the most popular brand worldwide, it certainly makes a good crop of cars, or should I say a great crop! They’ve generated much fanfare with their Lancer EVO and Pajero models among rally and off road enthusiasts respectively. But look harder and you notice the Pajero isn’t just a pure-bred dune attacker. It can do just as well on the road and is a great family car that doesn’t cost the world to own and to run. You get the luxury and the gadgets on the inside, apart from one of the best audio systems ever offered in a car. There are three rows of seats with a genuinely pampering second row. As a performer too, the Pajero, Montero, Shogun or whatever name it goes by in other markets, is nothing short of a brilliant all-rounder. A 3.2L 4 cylinder common-rail direct injection engine delivers 202 hp and 325 lb-ft of torque to a 5-speed automatic transmission which sends it to the Super-Select four wheel drive system. While those figures may be lower than many of the models mentioned here about, it doesn’t feel like it has anything missing when you’re at the wheel.

The Pajero figures in this list of elite SUVs because it not only gets the job done right, but also because it doesn’t cost as much to get almost all of what you would get from something twice the price. It is also extremely reliable and dependable upon as an every day car.

Lexus LX

Lexus have aimed square at the big guns with their new LX570.