irishcar.com - The Mitsubishi L200 Double Cab

You can thank Charlie McCreevy and the Revenue for the increased interest shown in the Mitsubishi L200 Double Cab pickup which graced my driveway recently.

The latest budgetary parameters to qualify for the £40 VRT rate has seen vehicles such as the L200 Double Cab and the new Pajero Sport commercial fall into the new criteria, based on revised gross vehicle weights and lengths.

It allowed the Mitsubishi price fall from almost EUR 35,553 to EUR 26,639.

As value goes, the L200 is on song. This is a vehicle which will carry five adults, enough hay to feed a similar number of ponies for a week, and additionally has the ability to cross rough terrain.

It's a vehicle which offers the best of both worlds but there are a few hidden costs.

Power comes from a 2.5-litre intercooled turbocharged diesel engine. Older in design than the 2.8-litre TD unit, the 2.5 is nevertheless refined and amply powerful for today's environment. It produces 98 bhp and 177 lb ft of torque at 2,000 rpm.

Mated to the engine is a smooth gearbox but one feels that - especially on motorway driving &Mac220; an extra gear is required. A sixth gear would possibly improve fuel economy, not great at the moment. Mixed driving returned around 26mpg, a figure which can drop further if the vehicle is asked to perform to its full ability.

The easy-select part-time 4WD with its freewheel differential suits the L200 to both leisure and working types. One could throw the skis in the back and head to the slopes, or enter the muddiest of fields in the depths of winter and fodder the cattle, and still feel you're driving a vehicle ideal to the job.

Shifting between 2WD and 4WD can be done up to 62mph.

Apart from accommodating five people, the deck area offers a cargo bed measuring 1470mm wide and 1500mm long. An easily-opened tailboard gives decent access, or lighter items can simply be tossed over the fixed reinforced sideboards. There's an optional cover unit for the cargo bed.

The L200's suspension setup - wishbones up front and long springs on the rear - is ideal for carrying loads, but makes for less than comfortable travelling for the rear passengers on anything other than best roads.

Still, muscular and well built, the Double Cab is a stylish vehicle, and an all-rounder for many who would forgive its shortcomings. I can now understand why the pickup accounts for 50 per cent of the total US car market.

The L200 comes well equipped: alloy wheels, central locking, ABS, driver and passenger airbags, electric windows and an engine immobiliser.

And with its price now within the grasp of many more farmers, builders, contractors - and, indeed, members of the travelling community - or the young for its fun and sporty attractiveness, Mitsubishi's Irish distributors will undoubtedly need to drive in one all the way to the bank, smiling as they lodge this machine's extra profits to their operation.