And since we have had limited warfare on this thread for the past few days, I find it my duty to reignite the flame.
Yesterday, took the Shogun for a real offroad trip with my club (4x4 Engaged) in Lahore on the second day of Eid.
Well, it wasn't a huge event, but we had sharp descents, climbs, lots of water, and most importantly, lots and lots of mud. You can check out the new thread too.
I have to tell you that I was very nervous taking the Shogun on this event, but since it was my request, I could not bow out. Lo and behold, I will brag this time and say that it was one of the best performing vehicles at the event. Perhaps because the terrain was softer than what I am used to as a driver, but I can guarantee the Shogun could have handled much more.
Reliability - no problems at all, did the entire event in AC (which I've never done before), diff locks worked well, and no issues there, no heat ups, no getting stuck.
Performance - handled everything my fellow member's Land Rover Defender, which is a great ride and is possibly one of the only 4x4s in Pakistan with ARB Air Lockers, front and rear. And, I have to mention this, he also had his kick butt Pajero Evo with him, and the offroad terrain was a joke for the Evo. (my all time favorite 4x4). I am sure though its performance had something to do with it being a Pajero, and not a Prado.
Limitations- I felt disconnected, since the only other offroader I have had was a LC RKR (army spec), and you really had to battle with wanting it to go places, it went everywhere, but there was a lot of driver involvement. So, I didn't enjoy offroading in the Shogun as much, it made offroading too easy at this event. Which is not what I prefer.
As a side note, and I wish I could have taken a picture, on my way back to Islamabad today, I saw a 96-98 Prado being towed because it over heated (I swear), the sad part was it wasn't being towed by a Pajero, it was being towed by a 2003 plus model Prado, so yes, Toyota Fans, there was some glory retained
The Pajeros are bloody good on the road, and I think will be as capable as any other, if not better than all other SUVs off the road. I would only trade mine for a true off roader, that I can drive to the office each day of the week. So nothing you Prado fans can say will ever change my opinion of Pajeros
And Mitsuman- was on my way back from Europe a few days ago, and stayed in Dubai for a night, you're right, I saw zero LCs, a couple of Prados, but soooooo many Pajeros you cannot imagine! The second most popular was the Jeep brand.
Rao.