Renault Scenic E-Tech vs Mitsubishi Pajero

What's the difference?

The Renault Scenic E-Tech is lining up against some heavy-hitting competitors, but Renault Australia admits it has one top of mind - the Kia EV5. The Kia’s a quality package and if you’re in the market for a mid-size electric SUV, you’ll no doubt have it on your shopping list. And you should have a look at this slightly smaller car, as well. It has the refinement, practicality and safety to stand up confidently in a rapidly expanding segment.

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with travel, accommodation and meals provided.

The Mitsubishi Pajero Sport GLS 2WD seven-seater is a well-built and well-priced family-friendly wagon.

It's nice to drive, has a rather comfortable interior and – bonus – the vehicle on which it's based has proven credibility as a no-nonsense and highly functional touring vehicle.

But in 2WD guise it's missing something: namely Super Select II, which accounts for a considerable chunk of the 4WD Pajero Sport’s appeal – so the absence of that in this 2WD version is a significant negative, in my books.

The not-so-subtle point I’m trying to make? Sure, the 2WD Pajero Sport is a few grand cheaper than its 4WD stablemate and it's a solid value-for-money buy as is, but I reckon paying the extra cash to get your hands on a Pajero Sport that's equipped with Super-Select II is the better bet.

There are some design tips of the hat to Scenics past in this latest electric version, including blacked-out door pillars and a recognisably angular C-pillar treatment.

But despite the fact it debuted at the Munich IAA Motor Show in late 2023, from its slimline headlights and jagged grille to its sculpted flanks and saw tooth rear end, this fifth-generation Scenic looks contemporary from every angle.

A highlight is the large Renault diamond logo sitting at the centre of a faux upper grille, surrounded by a multitude of the same elongated hexagon shape as a cool recurring graphic, the pattern merging neatly into the headlights.

Speaking of which, the LED beams can be set to produce an elaborate welcome sequence as you approach the car.

The interior feels slick and screen-rich but not at the expense of user-friendly physical controls for audio, ventilation and other commonly used functions.

Recycled fabric on the dashboard and headliner looks and feels good while doing its bit to suppress cabin noise.

Speaking of which, the Scenic is Renault’s poster child for the use of recycled materials in its construction and end of life recyclability.

Everything from ferrous components consisting of 37 per cent recycled materials to a bonnet and doors made of up to 80 per cent recycled aluminium.

The dashboard cowling is made from kenaf, a plant fibre similar to jute; the steering wheel cover is 51 per cent bio-sourced; the cockpit uses 26 per cent recycled plastic; the storage bins in the door panels are 45 per cent recycled fibre, the floor mats are 54 per cent recycled plastic bottles and the seat upholstery is 100 per cent recycled fabric. The list goes on and on, but you get the idea.

The Pajero Sport is 4825mm long (with a 2800mm wheelbase), 1815mm wide and 1835mm high. It has an official kerb weight of 1980kg.

I don’t mind the styling of the Pajero Sport. It doesn’t look as bulky as many of its rivals and it manages to have a rather contemporary, but comfortably middle of the road, presence.

If you’re that concerned about keeping up appearances, perhaps take a look at a Pajero Sport in the metal, drive it, imagine yourself living with it day to day, then make up your own mind whether you think it suits you or not.

Easy.

In terms of how it all works in practice, at just under 4.5m long, close to 1.9m wide and less than 1.6m tall with a 2785mm wheelbase, the Scenic is more compact than the larger BYD Sealion 7 or Zeekr 7X, for example.

But there’s plenty of breathing room up front, with the centre screen angled towards the driver enhancing the cockpit feel for the one doing the steering.

There are large carpeted bins in the doors with room for bottles and a lidded storage box between the seats doubles as a centre armrest. That lid slides forward by 70mm to cover a small storage cubby under the front of it, which is a handy trick.

Locating the gear selector on the right-hand side of the steering column liberates extra space for a centre cupholder and large console storage bin. There’s a generous glove box and a wireless smartphone charger under the centre screen includes a rubberised base and two lugs to stop devices sliding around. Power and connectivity runs to two USB-C ports and a 12-volt socket.

Moving to the second row, sitting behind my 183cm driving position, while toe room is a little tight (with the driver’s seat set low down), there’s heaps of leg and headroom as well as enough shoulder room (and foot room thanks to a flat floor) for three adults on short to mid-length trips. A pair of adjustable centre air vents is also a welcome inclusion.  

Storage includes door bins (again with room for bottles), large and device-sized pockets on the front seat backs and the pièce de résistance is the evocatively named ‘Ingenious armrest’, which includes a storage area and two cupholders at the base of articulated horizontal arms that allow passengers to mount a phone or tablet at various angles in rubberised slots for joint or solo viewing.

It is, indeed, ingenious and four USB-C plugs (two in the armrest, two near the air vents) mean back-seaters won’t be short of power options.

Boot volume with the rear seats upright is useful at close to 545 litres (VDA), expanding to around 1670L with the 40/20/40 split-fold second row lowered. A power tailgate is standard across the range.

There are bag hooks, tie-down anchors, lighting and a 12-volt socket back there, although for V2L (vehicle to load) functionality you’ll need an accessory adapter to plug into the charge port.

Maximum braked trailer towing capacity is a handy 1100kg, but there’s no spare tyre, only a repair/inflator kit, which isn’t good enough.

The interior has a practical and familiar feel about it. Sure, it’s a bit on the basic side of things – with cloth seats and rubber floor mats – and it certainly lacks the plethora of soft-touch surfaces some of its more expensive rivals may have, but this interior’s life-friendly sense is a bigger positive for it than any posh addition could be.

The front seats are rather supportive, with a real snug feel to them, and are manually adjustable, which is fine with me.

The reach- and height-adjustable steering wheel has paddle shifters for when your driving takes on more of a sense of urgency. 

The dash and 8.0-inch touchscreen media unit has an integrated sense to it. And this cabin’s all-pervasive sense of familiarity continues here with all of the buttons and dials easy to spot on the fly and, more importantly, operate without fumbling around for them.

Driver and front passenger have access to media and aircon controls, among others, as well as cup-holders in between the front seats, a bottle holder in each of the doors, and small spots here and there for your wallet, keys etc.

The second row is suitably comfortable and I sat behind my driving position and there was plenty of head and leg room. It’d be much squeezier for those of us who stand at six-feet (182cm) or beyond.

Second-row passengers have access to a fold-down arm-rest with cup holders, air vents and there are USB charge points and a power socket in the rear of the centre-console. 

The seat-backs have map pockets and the doors each have a bottle holder.

The second row is equipped with three child-seat top-tether points, and two ISOFIX points. It is a 60:40 split-fold configuration.

Passengers in the third-row seat have access to cup-holders and air vents, but that’s little compensation because the space back here is on the wrong side of tight. 

The third row is a 50:50 split-fold configuration.

In terms of packability, the rear cargo area’s volume is listed as 131 litres when all three rows are being used as seating; 502 litres when two rows are in use; and 1488 when the second and third rows are stowed away. 

Annoyingly, the third row is a real bugger to stow away and doesn’t fold flat into the floor. Maybe I’m missing a trick but this third-row strife was a source of more than a bit of frustration for the photographer and I – and we’re both experienced vehicle-based travellers.

The rear cargo area is equipped with power sockets and tie-down points. There is a shallow underfloor storage box back there as well.

Our test vehicle – a Mitsubishi Pajero Sport GLS 2WD seven-seater – has a manufacturer suggested retail price of $49,190 (before on-road costs).

But our wagon had a stack of accessories, which included alloy front protection bar ($3879), towbar kit ($1386), towball cover ($7), rear cargo liner ($205), and carpet mat set ($230). That total accessories cost of $5707 (price includes recommended dealer fitment cost) brings this vehicle’s as-tested price to $54,897.

There is a 2WD GLX spec, a five-seater, which is slightly cheaper than our test vehicle, with an MSRP of $44,440.

The standard features list on the GLS is generous and includes an 8.0-inch touchscreen multimedia unit (with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and satellite navigation), dual-zone climate control air conditioning, a power tailgate, privacy glass, automatic rain-sensing wipers and dusk-sensing headlights and, of course, seven seats.

I’ve mentioned the accessories above – and there are lot more of a variety of those available from Mitsubishi as well as from Australia’s bloody awesome aftermarket industry – so let’s get cracking with the yarn proper.

Like its Megane E-Tech sibling, the Scenic E-Tech uses an excited synchronous motor which Renault says is more efficient than the more commonly used permanent magnet type, with the bonus that it uses no rare earth materials.

The entry-level Scenic E-Tech Techno's fitted with a 60kWh NMC battery. Its electric motor transfers 125kW and 280Nm to the front wheels and Renault claims a 0-100km/h time of 8.6 seconds.

The Techno Long Range and top-spec Esprit Alpine pack an 87kWh battery and a more powerful motor, raising outputs to 160kW/300Nm and lowering the 0-100kmh sprint time to 7.9 seconds.

The Pajero Sport has a 2.4-litre, four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine, which produces 133kW at 3500rpm and 430Nm at 2500rpm, and it has an eight-speed automatic transmission.

This 2WD variant does not have Mitsubishi’s impressive Super-Select II 4WD system, of which I’m a big fan, and that absence is a substantial negative against it, I reckon. But more about that very soon…

Official energy consumption numbers for the combined (urban/extra-urban) cycle are close between the two powertrains at 16.3kWh/100km for the Techno and 16.8kWh/100km for the Techno Long Range and Esprit Alpine, which are bang on average for the class.

Range for the standard Techno is 430km, which is at the lower end of expectations for a medium electric SUV but adding the bigger battery pushes that number out to 625km, which is much healthier and useful day-to-day.

On the launch drive program, which took in some urban but mostly rural B-road running, we saw an average consumption figure of 17.1kWh/100km in the Esprit Alpine, which is pretty good in those conditions.

The car’s 400V electrical architecture allows for DC charging at up to 130kW for the entry model and 150kW for the bigger-battery variants.

At that speed, claimed 15-80 per cent charge times are 32 and 37 minutes, respectively. Not the best, not the worst. AC charge capability is 11kW on all models and a Mode 3 charging cable is included.

The 2WD Pajero Sport has an offical fuel consumption of 8.0L/100km on a combined cycle. 

On our test, which included a stint of dirt-road driving, we recorded fuel consumption from fill to fill of 9.2L/100km.

It has a 68-litre fuel tank so, with that sort of fuel-consumption figure, you can reasonably expect a driving range of approximately 690km from a full tank, but that’s factoring in a safe-distance buffer of 50km.

Renault says the entry-grade Scenic Techno will accelerate from 0-100km/h in 8.6 seconds with the more powerful Techno Long Range and Esprit Alpine lowering that number to 7.9sec. So, it’s quick without being scary fast.

It’s certainly nippy in traffic and at the risk of stating the bleeding obvious, quiet. Even in the context of premium EVs the Scenic is quiet and refined.

Suspension is strut front, multi-link rear and the car feels super planted. The launch drive took in some reasonably rapid twisting corners and there’s no hint of lateral movement in the car. Body roll is minimal, too.

Tyres are energy-efficient Michelin e.Primacy (Techno - 205/55x19 / Esprit Alpine - 235/45x20) and the steering is quick with a relatively low number of turns lock-to-lock. It’s never jerky or too sharp. Rather, it means the car starts to turn into a corner the instant you apply steering lock.

That said, the feel between your hands on the wheel and the front tyres on the road is less than intimate.

There are four drive modes - ‘Comfort, ‘Eco’, ‘Sport’ and ‘Custom’. None of them adjust the suspension tune, it’s more about accelerator response and we found Comfort delivers the best blend of right-foot urgency and overall composure.

Most of the braking you’re going to do will be courtesy of the regenerative system and there are five levels, adjustable via steering wheel paddles, including the most aggressive single-pedal mode.

The one-pedal setting pulls the car up nice and progressively and if you do need to use the physical brakes, they’re ventilated discs all around. Some bite on initial application, but even on downhill corner sections, leaning on them quite hard, they perform well without drama.

Under the heading of miscellaneous observations, you can sense the ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) including functions like lane-keeping assist doing their thing occasionally, but it’s all quite subtle, which is a good thing.

The Esprit Alpine’s sports front seats remained grippy and comfortable after a couple of hours behind the wheel. And it’s worth noting the Scenic’s relatively compact 10.9-metre turning circle helps in slow-speed manoeuvring.

Speaking of which, some of the modes in the audio system and external warning sounds for pedestrian safety have been designed by French composer and performer Jean-Michel Jarre, noted for his electronic, ambient-style music. Hats off to Renault for commissioning him.

This is mostly a smooth driving wagon while tackling daily duties on the blacktop and with some highway stretches thrown into the mix. 

Steering has a nice weight to it and the Pajero Sport is a nimble, highly manoeuvrable SUV, with a turning circle of 11.2m, even if it does start to reveal more than a bit of body-roll through more aggressive driving. No surprise and no worries – this is an SUV after all, not a sports car. 

Also, worth noting is the fact that our test vehicle’s alloy bullbar made it heavier at the front end thus affecting its handling somewhat.

Throttle response is sharp and the 2WD Pajero Sport retains the line-up’s punchy turbo-diesel engine and teamed with the eight-speed auto it makes for a quietly effective, rarely stressed working partnership, rather than an energetic match-up.

The suspension set-up here – double wishbones with coil springs and stabiliser bar at the front, and three-link, coil springs and stabiliser bar at the rear – yields a very firm ride and one which can tend towards jarring if you’re traversing chopped-up back-country bitumen or really anything beyond bitumen that's in good nick.

The tyres – Toyo Open Country A32 (265/60R18) – are well-suited to bitumen, not so much to off-roading, which is perfectly reasonable for this 2WD vehicle. Also, this rubber is on the correct side of quiet.

As mentioned earlier, Mitsubishi’s Super-Select II 4WD system is missing from this variant, obviously, as this is a 2WD. And that’s a crying shame because even if you never venture off the road, Super-Select II is very handy. In Pajero Sports equipped with it, you can drive in 4H (4WD high range) even on bitumen or any high-traction surface because 4H in this vehicle means that – and I’m directly quoting Mitsubishi’s offical system explanation here – “all wheels are driven via the transfer case with an open centre differential, this means all four wheels will send power to the ground while still operating independently of one another”.

If you drove like that in most other 4WDs – at speed in 4H on bitumen or the like – you’d risk transmission wind-up, but there’s no danger of that in a 4WD Pajero Sport because its centre diff is open, not locked, when 4H is engaged.

This gives the driver increased traction and so better control and that means it’s a safer all-round driving experience for everyone involved.

Unfortunately, none of those benefits are available in this 2WD variant.

Having said all of that, this Pajero Sport is very drivable, functional and still manages to retain respectable, if not high, levels of refinement.

The Pajero Sport has a five-star ANCAP safety rating based on testing in October, 2015.

Safety gear includes seven airbags (driver’s knee, driver and passenger front, driver and passenger front sides, and curtains) and this Pajero Sport’s suite of active safety and driver-assist tech includes AEB, adaptive cruise control, trailer stability assist, rear view camera and rear parking sensors, but it somehow misses out on blind spot warning and rear cross-traffic alert.

Warranty is five years/100,000km, which is well off the market pace with many competitors at seven, eight and up to 10 years conditional. The battery warranty at eight-year/160,000km matches the market.

Roadside assistance is included for five years, service is recommended every 12 months/30,000km and fixed price servicing is available at a reasonably sharp average of $325 per workshop visit for the first five years.

Renault has 52 dealers across the country covering major cities and key rural areas.

Pajero Sport 2WD is eligible for Mitsubishi's so-called "10/10 Diamond Advantage" package, which includes a 10-year/200,000km warranty and 10 year/150,000km capped price servicing. But you need to ensure you get the vehicle serviced at an authorised Mitsubishi dealer to take advantage of the 10-year warranty plan.

Each capped price servicing extends free roadside assistance by another 12 months.

The servicing schedule and costs per service are: $399 (at 12months/15,000), $399 (24 months/30,000km), $499 (36 months/45,000km), $699 (48 months/60,000km), $499 (60 months/75,000km), $699 (72 months/90,000km), $499 (84 months/105,000km), $999 (96 months/120,000km), $599 (108 months/135,000km), and $699 (120 months/150,000km).