I realize this is not going to get wide interest, since I think our prime readership is still driving gen1s and 2s here, but there are a few third gens, and as the years go on, there'll be a few more, so although this might be better received on expedition portal...

1500 kms into my gen3 ownership...

Very comfortable, very smooth (remember my gen2 is a diesel - 6G owners already have smooth), great interior ergos, great driving position, in short all the things I liked about the previous generation. On road handling is much snappier, and less affected by the wind. Road noise, though? Yep. Monocoque construction does induce a boominess into the interior on irregular roads that is going to take some getting used to, and this is with quiet Michelin LTXs. When I swap over to something more aggressive I'm sure it'll be even more noticeable... It's a trade off for the handling. I guess I'll see if it's worth it when I get it on some dirt roads?

It is wider. In truth it's only a few inches, but it feels a lot more than that.

The 3.8/5speed tiptronic combo is absolutely brilliant. Don't get me wrong, this thing is heavy, and could use a few more horses, but as a tag team, the engine/ trans works together nicely. And if you don't like what the trans is thinking, you can switch off auto pilot and take over manual control. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />

I miss my bumpers, my triple gauge console topper, and my steel skids. But I'm enjoying the nimble handling, the shifting, the comfort, and even the swoopy fenders of the "new Betsy". I'm looking forward to towing without falling in behind westfalias while worshipping the EGT gauge. I'm looking forward to buying enough oil in a 5L jug to do a whole oil change instead of being only 63% of the way there. And being able to buy a filter and still have enough left over for beer to accompany the job is a bonus!

Am I trying to sell myself on this? No. I had to do that a long time ago, before I ever started looking for one. I realized that I was going to be doing more towing and carrying bikes/kayaks than I was wheeling, so why not get something that might do it a little better?

Time will tell if I made the right decision, but so far I am (and my wife is) enjoying the new rig. When I come back from Moab at the end of May and put my gen2 up for sale I might be singing a different tune... But for now, I'm liking the gen3. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

Good report. I'd like to hear more as time goes by.

John B.

I have both Gen 2.5 & Gen3

Here are my observations.

Gen3 , yes 5 speed auto is great, its hard to imagine the difference that extra gear makes but it does, & it does work well with the motor.

Car is bigger, much bigger IMO, its longer too. makes parking harder.

Inside is extremely comfortable, good for long trips.

BUT roadnoise is a killer, I have gone back to highway tyres for that reason, still noisy but not as noisy.

Gen 3 is also more difficult to mod., eg harder to lift & harder to run 33s.

Gen 2.5


IMO the best Mitsu ever built, what I wouldn't do for a 5 speed auto, (it was an option too in some markets).

Is more nimble, IMO, easier to park, easier to lift, easy to run 33s. Absolutely superb & unstoppable offroad.

Looks better too, IMO

cheers

I noticed the road noise too when I worked on my neighbor's kids Gen 3. It's the booming that goes through the body on bumps. Much much worse than my 2.5 on the same roads in the neighborhood that aren't even that bad. I wondered if maybe chassis bushings were worn out or hard..

His Gen 3 is the 2003 3.5, and mine definitely had a-lot more pull on the highway in my opinion. I thought I can cruise 75 - 80 with much more ease without a kick-down to pass but thats because of the 5th gear in his I think.

Having done a few things on our 03 now, I am in no hurry to get one of my own. I know the 87 SWB I4 pretty well, along with the GEN II and II.5s we've had. The Gen III is so different in many at-a-glances, and also with the very little bit of work I have done on it, that I have no desire to learn how to really work on one.

Agreed that the 3.8 w/ 5-spd AT is a very pleasant combo- if you are to have an AT. Also, the unibody on sub frames is definitely louder inside, and much stiffer under your ass. The one mod I do plan on doing if we ever road trip in the 03 is putting in some sound deadening.

Rear HVAC is very nice. The third row seats aren't as good, nor the cargo area flip out windows for actually having people back there.

Any real world MPG numbers in yet, I'm trying to sell myself the idea of buying a Gen3 V6 since it's priced half of what a diesel cost's around here and that's a lot of gas I can buy for the difference. Gallon of gas around here is around $8.

agreed, I'm doing the same.

17 to 19 mpg highway, slightly better than my Gen 2s. In the city and winter, they all suck gas, think 12ish mpg.

My first tank (hwy) through the Rocky Mountains, reg 87 octane: 21 mpg, or 11.0 L/100km. (3.8, 5 speed a/t, no mods)

My wife always seems to get better mileage than me, so we'll see what happens to this number, although I'm not expecting it to get any better, and will be happy if it stays the same.

We've had ours now for some 8 months. I concur with everything here so far. The only mods we've done as of yet is a much larger and aggressive tire. Pretty much went as big as we could without having to trim stuff. The road noise Suprisingly, didn't increase by any noticeable margins. I think that may be the design. The only major difference we noted was a dramatic drop in MPG and a slight drop in power. I liken the MPG to that of my gen 1 before and after larger tires, pretty decent in the high teens, but once your above 3k RPM's it drops like a stone. All in all I'm pretty pleased with it.

What tires and size did you go with? I'm shopping. Need to get the Wild Peaks off of ours - too loud. Our are 265/70R/17

Good snow and ice performance, but hate the noise from them on this platform.