Mitsubishi L200

To the despair of its rivals, the Mitsubishi L200 pick-up has held its leading position over the past seven years. The brand's best-selling pick-up has been a big hit with both business and leisure customers and has secured its place as the king of the pickups, with a massive 48% retail market share. However, Mitsubishi is not one to rest on its laurels, with the introduction of the new L200. Bold, rugged and packed with new design features, the all-new L200 is a completely new model from the ground up. It builds on the strengths of its popular predecessor but promises to exceed expectations with a combination of best in class specification, car-like driving dynamics - including a turning radius of only 5.9 metres.

Chassis strength has also been increased and all-terrain capability has been further improved on high series models with the addition of traction control and super select four-wheel-drive as standard - great news for all those who drive off-road or tow heavy loads. Lift the bonnet and you'll find a new Euro IV compliant 2.5 litre direct injection turbo diesel engine. This time though, standard power is upped to 136bhp and, for the first time, there's the option of an automatic gearbox. Sitting high up in a pick up is great for visibility, and not just for spotting other road users, but with all four corners of the vehicle visible from the driver's seat, negotiating loading bays and parking areas is easy. For customers who want a few more horses under the bonnet a power upgrade is available taking the standard power output up to around 160bhp. Three body configurations are on offer Single, Double Cab and Club Cab. Load lengths are 2,220mm, 1,325mm and 1,805mm respectively. A single handle opens the tailgate for access. Payloads are all in excess of one tonne with the Single Cab offering the most at 1,120kg. Steering is power assisted and the brakes are ventilated discs at the front and drums at the rear. ABS is fitted as standard across the range. Depending on the trim level, the four-wheel drive system is either the basic Easy Shift or Super Select (high spec), but both provide a low range of gears for off-road. The latter includes a centre viscous coupling as well as a Stability and Traction Control system. Service intervals are set at 12,500 miles and the warranty remains at three years/100, 00 miles.

Ford Ranger (05)

Ford’s Ranger pick-up continues to appeal to Britain’s drivers with another record-breaking year in 2004 with 7,539 Rangers. With its bold stance and high specification as standard, Ranger is appealing to people who want to make a style statement as well as having the benefits and versatility to carry goods of all shapes and sizes. Whatever the task, the new Ranger will get the job done and turn heads in the process.The standard two-tone paint scheme covers the upper three quarters in black leaving the remaining lower section free for a lighter silver hue. Fog lamps are set into a more prominent body-coloured front bumper, which also features a chrome section to match the bright work on the grille, wing mirrors and the tubing around the rear of the cab. Inside, its Charcoal Grey leather all the way, stretched generously over the firm, supportive seating to complete the Thunder’s bold, in-your-face persona.

Inside the Thunder, you get class-leading space and better materials than you’d expect from what is essentially a commercial vehicle. The seating is firm and supportive for longer trips, while the driving position is far more laidback and car-like than you’d credit. It has remote-central locking and the standard immobiliser, which forms part of Ford’s PATS, passive anti-theft system. With this kind of security kit on-board, you can be reasonably confident that nobody is going to steal your Thunder. Standard safety features include driver and passenger airbags along with ABS.

The engine is a 109bhp 2.5-litre turbo diesel a little loud, but strong enough to ensure decent performance on tarmac. In fact, we found it much easier to keep up with A-road traffic than initial impressions would suggest. We managed to get an average 29mpg, but this vehicle is all about load ability and plenty of torque. We have to point out that our road test did not include any off road driving. The load box is usefully big (though it's worth paying extra for the dealer-fit option of a plastic internal cover) and the Thunder's gross payload is 1180kg. Towing capacity is 2800kg, and with the sturdy low-down performance, we reckon this would be quite an impressive tow vehicle even though we didn’t have the opportunity to experiment.

Pleasure Power and Performance

My test vehicle was the top spec Nissan Navara Aventura double cab manual six speed. With a class leading 171 bhp, and a 297lb ft of torque the new direct injection diesel engine is a perfect complement to the stunning rugged looks. All drive goes to the rear wheels under normal conditions but torque is split equally to all four wheels when 4x4 mode is engaged via a dashboard-mounted dial. There is a low ratio mode for serious off-road work too and with this setting selected, drivers have the option of employing an electronic rear diff lock to extricate themselves from sticky situations.
With full leather heated and electrically adjustable seats, electric windows and door mirrors, climate control, dvd satellite navigation, rain sensing wipers, cruise control, blue tooth mobile, automatic headlights and so on, it was easy to forget that this vehicle was a pick up truck.
With a comfortable driving position easy to achieve you get a commanding view of the road head. The rear seats will accommodate three adults, and features storage compartments which fold up and away in a 60/40 split for carrying larger items within the cab. There are numerous other storage areas within the cabin including two glove boxes and a 6-litre centre console box.
With minimal rear wheel arch intrusion the Double Cab has a generously sized pick-up bay offering 2.36 cubic metres and will cope with a payload of at least 1075kg. The pick-up bay is fitted with moveable fixing eyes, which can be located to the sides, bulkhead or floor of the load area. All models have central locking, an alarm, immobiliser, and a locking rear tailgate.
One thing for sure the gap between pick-ups and family 4x4s is narrowing and most of the major manufacturers are getting in on the act but they will have their work cut out in eclipsing the Navara.

Shift to an Outlaw

The Nissan Navara Outlaw is very comprehensive with high levels of equipment included as standard. Nissan has a stylish and rugged looking 4x4 that is equally at home, both on and off road with a powerful 2.5-litre Di diesel engine.However, practicality and efficiency isn't all the Navara is about, there's a certain style element too. The Outlaw has tubular side steps, roof rails, chrome grille, colour coded wheel arch extensions, 17 inch alloy wheels, heated chrome door mirrors and a styling bar. On the safety and security front, there's ABS, dual front airbags, front and rear head restraints and an immobiliser. Inside, air-conditioning, all-round electric windows, remote central-locking, electrically adjustable door mirrors, velour upholstery, four-speaker CD sound system, power steering and a carpeted floor area come as standard. One of the Navara's big advantages is its raised driving position. It's comfortable for a commercial vehicle, you get a commanding view, and it's possible to see over the tops of the cars in front.
With minimal rear wheel arch intrusion, the King Cab and Double Cab offer generously sized pick-up bays. The Double Cab offers 2.36 cubic metres and the King Cab, which has the longest, widest and deepest load area available, has 2.9 cubic metres of capacity. Both will cope with a payload of at least 1073kg. The pick-up bay is fitted with moveable fixing eyes, which can be located to the sides, bulkhead or floor of the load area. The King Cab features two rear seats that can be folded away when not needed to provide extra storage room and the front passenger seat can be folded flat. Its pillar less four door configurations will swallow the bulkiest of shapes too. The Double Cab features storage compartments under the rear seats, which also fold up and away in a 60/40 split for carrying larger items within the cab.
One thing for sure you certainly get noticed in this big boy with its looks and style you’re guaranteed to turn heads.The words go drive spring to mind.