caorach
Well-Known Member
I've had a "new shape" L200 Titan for just over 18 months now and thought to post a little review comparing it to my previous X-Trail which I ran for nearly 7 years.
Before the L200 I had an X-Trail which I loved and thought made the perfect vehicle for someone who was fishing, stalking and also using the vehicle for general and everyday use. Having run the L200 for 18 months now I haven't changed my mind on this and there is very little the L200 will do that the X-Trail wouldn't plus there are a few things the X-Trail does better:
Unfortunately Nissan have replaced the X-Trail with a sort of "school run" vehicle which is certainly no good for my purposes so this is why I started looking around. Now, in the past there was only one answer to the "what pickup?" question but in the last 2 years or so the whole market place seems to have changed and after doing my research and trying a few things I ended up with an L200 Titan. The Titan is about the most basic of the L200 models before you get down to the more "commercial" vehicles but it has everything I needed and has the big advantage in my view of not having leather seats. It is, however, somewhat strange to report that it is also missing a rear bumper! No idea why they thought that might be a good idea. However, the bottom line here is that the L200 was bought as an X-Trail replacement.
As with any vehicle the only thing that gives you actual grip is tyres and due to wheel sizes getting AT tyres was something of a problem with the X-Trail, however I ended up running Yoko ATS tyres on it and found that they worked very well indeed in snow and about as well as could be expected in very modest muddy tracks:
With the L200 I decided to go with the new BFG KO2 all terrains and they certainly looked well on the car:
I suspect they made a slight impact on fuel economy compared to the useless things the car was delivered with but to be honest any difference in noise was insignificant. Clearly it was reassuring that the BFGs were very robust and puncture resistant plus they do have the reputation of being the best general purpose AT tyre out there. The "old model" BFGs got a reputation for lasting for anything up to maybe 100,000 miles but the new models are much softer and I would estimate that I will get maybe 25k of "usable" miles out of them, though they will be road legal for longer than this.
My take on the BFGs is that they feel a bit less able than the Yoko ATS tyres on the X-Trail on modest muddy tracks and while my snow driving with them has been very limited they also appear a much more risky proposition than the ATS on snow. This was not what I expected but, perhaps, the chunky pattern of the BFGs has had its day and been surpassed by more modern patterns?
On the road the L200 is comfortable and delivers reasonable performance and I run the tyres about 33psi which seems to work on road, I carry a little compressor should I need to reduce the pressure a bit in off road conditions and it is possible that doing so would change my views on their mud/snow performance. I don't notice the tyres to be dodgy on wet roundabouts and the like but I do take care.
I don't tow with the car and don't have a tow bar on it at the minute and I don't drive the car at all hard as that is completely pointless with a pickup. It probably averages about 1000 - 1500 miles per year off road and towards 10,000 on road and over several thousand miles I see an average of just over 36mpg according to the computer in the car. If I'm making "good progress" with a lot of motorway driving at the speed limit then the average would probably come down to about 31mpg. I suspect that aerodynamics are the big problem with fuel consumption and actually driving around town or even on forestry tracks in low gear can see figures nearer 40mpg which is the opposite of what you might expect, the engine seems very efficient. While I appreciate that manufacturers fuel consumption figures are always a work of fiction I think mitsubishi have taken a little bit of a battering over their L200 figures.
Mitsubishi currently appear to be trying to compete with the others, and especially Toyota, in respect of reputation for customer service and reliability. I think in the past they had a patchy reputation in this area. I've had two problems which are, I'm told, "known faults" with the current model - excessive wear on the leather steering wheel and the side steps rusting from the inside. Both of these problems were fixed, by fitting new steps and a new steering wheel, without any debate or questions when I mentioned them at a service. The 5 year warranty and the apparent willingness to fix problems ASAP do inspire confidence, but having these problems on a new car also leaves you a little worried about quality control so the jury is out on that one.
The pictures above show the L200 in a few places that the X-Trail would not go, or would be very marginal for access. It is interesting to note, however, that ground clearance for the L200 is, according to Mitsubishi, only 5mm more than for the X-Trail however in the case of the ditch shown above the overhangs become the problem. Now some people will be sitting back feeling pleased with themselves that this demonstrates why you need a pickup over one of the softer 4WDs but I do a lot of miles off the road in the year and I think these are the only two places I've had the L200 that I know the humble X-Trail will not go. In the end grip is down to tyres and that is probably key but in the vast majority of places you are either on the track/road and most vehicles would cope, or you are off the track/road and you need something very specialized indeed. When it comes to driving in town then the L200 is a bit of a pain, and it is one of the smaller pickups with the best turning circle of all of them I believe. Reverse into a parking space and come back to find a car parked on each side plus cars in the spaces across the road and you might not be coming out of there. Car park in work a bit tight? You'll not be using it. I'm lucky as most of my driving and parking looks like the pictures below but if I was driving or parking in town a lot then I simply couldn't be bothered with a pickup as life is too short to make it more difficult than it has to be, there is no question that in this area the X-Trail wins hands down.
Although this appears not to be a "rave review" I really like the L200 and it is comfortable and practical for general use on the basis that I do almost no driving or parking in town in a year. I think it could make a good car replacement for someone like me who is out fishing/stalking etc. quite often in the year and running costs are comparable with my X-Trail. Having the rear load bed is handy, but the extra height of lift up to it isn't so handy, and the little bit of extra "off road" ability is also handy but not a game changer. For most off road driving the tyres are the game changer.
Before the L200 I had an X-Trail which I loved and thought made the perfect vehicle for someone who was fishing, stalking and also using the vehicle for general and everyday use. Having run the L200 for 18 months now I haven't changed my mind on this and there is very little the L200 will do that the X-Trail wouldn't plus there are a few things the X-Trail does better:
Unfortunately Nissan have replaced the X-Trail with a sort of "school run" vehicle which is certainly no good for my purposes so this is why I started looking around. Now, in the past there was only one answer to the "what pickup?" question but in the last 2 years or so the whole market place seems to have changed and after doing my research and trying a few things I ended up with an L200 Titan. The Titan is about the most basic of the L200 models before you get down to the more "commercial" vehicles but it has everything I needed and has the big advantage in my view of not having leather seats. It is, however, somewhat strange to report that it is also missing a rear bumper! No idea why they thought that might be a good idea. However, the bottom line here is that the L200 was bought as an X-Trail replacement.
As with any vehicle the only thing that gives you actual grip is tyres and due to wheel sizes getting AT tyres was something of a problem with the X-Trail, however I ended up running Yoko ATS tyres on it and found that they worked very well indeed in snow and about as well as could be expected in very modest muddy tracks:
With the L200 I decided to go with the new BFG KO2 all terrains and they certainly looked well on the car:
I suspect they made a slight impact on fuel economy compared to the useless things the car was delivered with but to be honest any difference in noise was insignificant. Clearly it was reassuring that the BFGs were very robust and puncture resistant plus they do have the reputation of being the best general purpose AT tyre out there. The "old model" BFGs got a reputation for lasting for anything up to maybe 100,000 miles but the new models are much softer and I would estimate that I will get maybe 25k of "usable" miles out of them, though they will be road legal for longer than this.
My take on the BFGs is that they feel a bit less able than the Yoko ATS tyres on the X-Trail on modest muddy tracks and while my snow driving with them has been very limited they also appear a much more risky proposition than the ATS on snow. This was not what I expected but, perhaps, the chunky pattern of the BFGs has had its day and been surpassed by more modern patterns?
On the road the L200 is comfortable and delivers reasonable performance and I run the tyres about 33psi which seems to work on road, I carry a little compressor should I need to reduce the pressure a bit in off road conditions and it is possible that doing so would change my views on their mud/snow performance. I don't notice the tyres to be dodgy on wet roundabouts and the like but I do take care.
I don't tow with the car and don't have a tow bar on it at the minute and I don't drive the car at all hard as that is completely pointless with a pickup. It probably averages about 1000 - 1500 miles per year off road and towards 10,000 on road and over several thousand miles I see an average of just over 36mpg according to the computer in the car. If I'm making "good progress" with a lot of motorway driving at the speed limit then the average would probably come down to about 31mpg. I suspect that aerodynamics are the big problem with fuel consumption and actually driving around town or even on forestry tracks in low gear can see figures nearer 40mpg which is the opposite of what you might expect, the engine seems very efficient. While I appreciate that manufacturers fuel consumption figures are always a work of fiction I think mitsubishi have taken a little bit of a battering over their L200 figures.
Mitsubishi currently appear to be trying to compete with the others, and especially Toyota, in respect of reputation for customer service and reliability. I think in the past they had a patchy reputation in this area. I've had two problems which are, I'm told, "known faults" with the current model - excessive wear on the leather steering wheel and the side steps rusting from the inside. Both of these problems were fixed, by fitting new steps and a new steering wheel, without any debate or questions when I mentioned them at a service. The 5 year warranty and the apparent willingness to fix problems ASAP do inspire confidence, but having these problems on a new car also leaves you a little worried about quality control so the jury is out on that one.
The pictures above show the L200 in a few places that the X-Trail would not go, or would be very marginal for access. It is interesting to note, however, that ground clearance for the L200 is, according to Mitsubishi, only 5mm more than for the X-Trail however in the case of the ditch shown above the overhangs become the problem. Now some people will be sitting back feeling pleased with themselves that this demonstrates why you need a pickup over one of the softer 4WDs but I do a lot of miles off the road in the year and I think these are the only two places I've had the L200 that I know the humble X-Trail will not go. In the end grip is down to tyres and that is probably key but in the vast majority of places you are either on the track/road and most vehicles would cope, or you are off the track/road and you need something very specialized indeed. When it comes to driving in town then the L200 is a bit of a pain, and it is one of the smaller pickups with the best turning circle of all of them I believe. Reverse into a parking space and come back to find a car parked on each side plus cars in the spaces across the road and you might not be coming out of there. Car park in work a bit tight? You'll not be using it. I'm lucky as most of my driving and parking looks like the pictures below but if I was driving or parking in town a lot then I simply couldn't be bothered with a pickup as life is too short to make it more difficult than it has to be, there is no question that in this area the X-Trail wins hands down.
Although this appears not to be a "rave review" I really like the L200 and it is comfortable and practical for general use on the basis that I do almost no driving or parking in town in a year. I think it could make a good car replacement for someone like me who is out fishing/stalking etc. quite often in the year and running costs are comparable with my X-Trail. Having the rear load bed is handy, but the extra height of lift up to it isn't so handy, and the little bit of extra "off road" ability is also handy but not a game changer. For most off road driving the tyres are the game changer.
I also find, as detailed above, that most tracks are either relatively good or impassible unless you've got an Argo so having "a bit more" off road capability increases the number of places you can go by a very tiny amount.
