Mitsubishi Xpander

Mitsubishi has executed a dual-tone black and beige upholstery for the cabin of the Xpander, with layers of light-coloured faux wood on the dashboard and door panels. The cabin, otherwise, looks quite plain, with a tilt-and-telescopic adjustable steering wheel with audio and Bluetooth controls, and a simple-looking instrument console behind it. The centre console also looks pretty decent with a touchscreen infotainment system with satin silver-finished sides at the top, rectangular AC vents below it and normal-looking dials for the climate control in the lower centre console.

Where the Xpander truly shines out is the levels of space and utility management in the cabin. This three-row MPV has an excellent amount of space in all three rows, with a sufficient number of bottle holders, cargo trays and storage spaces in the cabin. The Xpander is decently equipped with essentials like push start-stop button and driver seat height adjustment lever.

The Mitsubishi Xpander was launched as a pure MPV in the beginning, but the midlife facelift that it received brought in some SUV-like elements, which have made it look fresher and more desirable than before. In addition, it retains all the sleek design elements of the pre-facelift version, which make it one of the sleekest-looking MPVs in its category.

At the front, the Mitsubishi Xpander has a sleek fascia, with an edgy-looking front grille having horizontal chrome slats. There are pointy daytime running LEDs stretching on either side of the front grille, from where a wraparound chrome garnish emerges and stretches around the headlamps and fog lamps. The split theme for the vertically-aligned trapezoidal headlamps consists of LED headlamps and turn indicators on the corners of the front bumper. At the bottom of the front bumper, the Xpander gets a silver skid plate with rounded fog lamps neatly integrated into its corners, making the MPV look rugged.

The side profile of the Mitsubishi Xpander looks sleek with a sharp crease flowing through the door handles. The wheel arches get a mildly-flared design with squared arches above them, with the Xpander riding on a nice-looking set of machined alloy wheels. The Xpander also gets door-mounted rear-view mirrors and a chrome-finished window waistline running till the end of the C-pillar. At the back, the Mitsubishi Xpander gets Christmas-tree-like vertically-aligned tail lamps, which now feature revised LED inserts. The design for the boot lid, with a couple of sharp creases, looks muscular. Here at the back too, it gets a silver skid plate in the middle of the rear bumper with a centrally-placed fog lamp.

The overall suspension setup of the Mitsubishi Xpander, which is a combination of McPherson struts at the front and a torsion beam at the rear with coil springs, has been tuned for a softer and calmer ride experience. Staying true to its MPV virtues, the ride quality is impressive, while the compact dimensions of the Xpander make it friendly to drive in urban conditions.

The Mitsubishi Xpander is powered by a 1.5-litre four-cylinder naturally-aspirated petrol engine, which is available with a 4-speed torque converter as standard. This engine produces 105 PS of maximum power and 141 Nm of maximum torque. While the engine scores well in terms of refinement, we would have loved to see more power, especially as the RPMs rise.

The Mitsubishi Xpander gets a very basic set of safety features, which includes dual front airbags, ABS with EBD, reverse parking sensors, reverse camera, cruise control, emergency stop signal, hill start assist and active stability control.

If you are looking out for a practical three-row MPV, which offers decent looks, features and performance and scores well in terms of comfort and ride quality, the Mitsubishi Xpander is one option that you should not miss checking out.