DRIVEN
SSANGYONG MUSSO SARACEN After a mini-facelift this time last year, the Musso returns with a broaded set of updates – including a revised engine to give it the power its assertive new look demands
IT’S BEEN FOUR YEARS NOW since SsangYong replaced the dire old Musso with an all-new model based on our former 4x4 of the Year, the Rexton. In that time, it’s won four consecutive Best Value titles in the Pick-Up of the Year awards – but, while SsangYong certainly does still trade on offering lots of kit and a huge warranty for less money than the rest, the Korean giant has been moving the vehicle ever upwards.
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The latest step in the Musso’s seemingly never-ending evolution sees its 2.2-litre diesel engine revised to achieve greater output while using less fuel. The e-XDi220 unit now produces 202bhp at 3800rpm and 325lbf.ft from 1600-2600rpm. These are increases of 12% and 5% respectively, and fuel economy has been improved by 7% across the range. What the latter means in figures you can do something with is a combined figure of 33.8mpg for vehicles fitted with a manual box. Upgrade to the sixspeed auto option, and this goes down to 31.5mpg. It’s the auto that’s in the Musso we’re testing here. An Aisin unit, it does its job well, very rarely shifting with anything other than imperceptible smoothness, whether you’re tickling it around in town or punching it up to speed on the motorway. Or, indeed, pushing several tons of water in front of you on your way through a deep water crossing. The same smoothness is there in the Musso’s general refinement level, too. We remember the days when SsangYongs rode like a trampoline and sounded like a wounded elk, but that’s all changed now. The company called in Pininfarina to tune the vehicle’s NVH, and the Italian specialist didn’t let its fellow Mahindra subsidiary down – there’s very little in the way of cabin noise or drivetrain harshness in any driving scenario, on or off the road. Similarly, there’s little to criticise in the way it rides. Broken surfaces around town do upset its rear springs at times (they’re coils, as opposed to
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