Mitsubishi Grandis Family Car Review

FamilyCar Rating: Model Reviewed: Grandis LS 4 speed auto $39,990* Other models priced from: VRX Auto $43,000* 3 Word Summary: Does The Job

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Review

The Mitsubishi Grandis is a true seven seater car, sitting up to 7 adults in comfort. It’s available in 2 models, the LS and VRX. The VRX has a few more goodies including alloy wheels, rear park assist, 6 disc CD player with 6 speakers, and heated front seats. The model reviewed is the LS automatic. The 2.4 litre engine provides sufficient power to travel on freeways and around cities, but lacks a little bit of “excitement”, if this is your thing.

Driver Comfort & Visibility

Driver visibility is very good out of the front, side and rear windows. The Grandis sits up higher than a sedan, but not as high as an SUV. This assists in providing good visibility as well as making it easy to get in and out of the car. The driver’s seat is bucket style and manually adjustable to help you get a good, safe driving position. There’s an adjustable armrest for the driver and front passenger. The dash is quite large and there is a small stretch to reach some of the controls. Access into the car is easy with remote central locking which also unlocks the boot. Cruise control eases the process of long distance driving.

Safety

The LS has some good safety features as standard including a front passenger and driver front and side airbags and curtain airbags in the front and second row. There’s also ABS with Electronic Brake force Distribution and Brake Assist. Neither the LS nor VRX offer a “Stability Control” system.

Comfort

Climate control air conditioning is standard with vents throughout the car. There’s a single disc CD player with MP3 compatibility and 4 speakers, but no steering wheel mounted audio controls. Power windows, power steering and power mirrors are all standard.

Seating

The Grandis has great head room throughout, and good leg room in the front and middle rows. The 3rd row legroom is not as generous, but is still OK for 2 adults. The shoulder room is a little limited with 3 adults in the 2nd row and is sufficient in the 3rd row .The 2nd row has a 60/40 split fold rear seat that slides forward to allow passengers easy access to the 3rd row. There’s also a centre armrest in the 2nd row. The black seat trim is good quality fabric with a contemporary design.

Storage

There’s a good amount of storage including a glove box, centre console tray with 2 cup holders, a dash storage box, a CD storage compartment under the CD player, a sunglasses holder and front door pockets with bottle holders. In the middle row there are cup holders in each door, door pockets with bottle holders, and pockets on the rear of the passenger and driver’s seat. In the 3rd row there are 3 cup holders and a side storage bin. When the 3rd row of seats are up, there is enough boot space to put in about 8 bags of groceries.

Kids’ Comfort and Safety

There are 3 child restraint anchor points located on the back of the second row seats doors. There are an additional 2 anchorage points in the boot so that you can put car seats into the third row. However, as the points are located on the boot side, not on the back of the seat, the child seat straps will limited your luggage options in the boot. Two child seats fit into the middle row with ease, but leave little room for a centre passenger when they are fitted. Kids will enjoy the storage compartments and cup holders as well as the trays that are located on the back of the driver and front passenger seats. There are child locks on each of the rear doors.

Green Factor

The Grandis LS and VRX both have a 3.5 star (out of 5) Green Vehicle Guide Rating. It consumes about 10.2 litres per 100kms combined city and highway driving. Its CO2 emission is 222gms per km, which is less than the national average of 226.1. These ratings seat the Grandis at around the middle of the pack in terms of being green.

Overall View

The Grandis is a good family car for those who need the 7 seats more than occasionally. Unlike some 7 seaters it still has some boot space when all seats are in use. It’s a good package overall and is for those who would like a more “car like” option than an SUV or family van.

Features of Model Reviewed

Airbags:	Driver and front passenger front and side airbags, curtain airbags 1st and 2nd row
Seats:	7
ABS:	Yes
EBD:	Yes
ESP:	No
Driver visibility:
Storage compartments:
Drink holders:	11
CD player:	Single CD player with MP3 compatibility
Air conditioning:	Yes, climate control
Power windows:	Yes
Power steering:	Yes
Power door mirrors:	Yes
Child restraint anchorage points:	5
Transmission:	4 speed auto
Engine capacity:	2.4 litre
Fuel type:	Petrol
Fuel consumption:	10.2 litres/100kms
Greenhouse rating#:	5/10
Green Vehicle Guide rating:
Warranty:	5 year/130,000km, with 5 years roadside assistance
Price:	$39,990*

 

* Excludes on road costs
# All new vehicles sold in Australia (up to 3.5 tonnes gross vehicle mass) are tested to determine the level of fuel consumption and CO2 emissions (Greenhouse rating), which are displayed on the fuel consumption label attached to the windscreen of the car. The Green Vehicle Guide rating combines the Greenhouse Rating and Air Pollution Rating and awards a star. 5 stars is the best rating.  For more information, click here.
Information is correct at the time of the review. Please check with your local Mitsubishi dealer for the most recent information.

Date Reviewed: May 2008