Living room on wheels

Mitsubishi Grandis Warrior 2.4

Mitsubishi calls it a ‘living room on wheels’. For the Grandis Warrior MPV, that’s quite a label to live up to. So does this title aptly reflect the Grandis’s capabilities? I should say.

This large Mitsubishi is a cross between an MPV, a minibus and an estate car. It’s about the same length as a Chrysler Grand Voyager and has similar proportions. It also has seven seats.

Mitsubishi is big on wagons with style and the Grandis is no exception. It is very glossy with its metallic black finish, chrome wing mirrors and door handles and huge shiny alloy wheels. It sparkles, even when the weather’s dull.

The front end is in keeping with the rest of the Mitsubishi family. It has good aerodynamics and although styled like a small minibus, it doesn’t feel like it’s very high up off the road and it certainly doesn’t have a high centre of gravity, which also means it’s very easy to get into without clambering up onto high seats.

Inside this wagon is a comfortable space. It’s more than just transport. You could sit and spend time in here without actually being on the move.

With seven full-size seats, complete with headrests and three-point seatbelts, all the occupants can ride in comfort with legroom and headroom – although the second row probably benefits from more room – well this is where the main occupants will spend most of their time.

They layout is very important. For the driver everything is close to hand with some handy cubbies and pockets. I like the instrumentation, which has a cool blue backlight. The dashboard is very deep, although the glove box encroaches into the passenger footwell too much and I found myself feeling quite vulnerable in the leg department. However, the seat is fully adjustable and you don’t have to sit with your face pressed up against the windscreen – which is actually a fair distance from the front occupants as it slopes down towards the equally sloping bonnet.

I really like the black and grey trim with carbon-fibre accents. It’s very Mitsubishi. All the seats are leather-trimmed and nicely sculptured in black with white stitching to contrast. The rearmost two ‘hide ‘n’ seats’ can be permanent fixtures as they are as much a part of the car as the middle row of seats, however with just one hand you can fold them into the floor to give you estate-car sized boot. The two headrests just unplug and then clip together for easy storage.

Or, you can fold the back flat and the backs of the middle row flat so that they make a day bed. The seating configurations are very versatile, with adjustments for the travellers who are seated to have their seat backs in whichever position they find most comfortable.

On the backs of the front seats are airplane-style trays the flip and fold. More family friendly features include the roof-mounted DVD player complete with wireless headphones, remote control and attachments for games consoles. It’s so easy to use the kids can just please themselves with it.