SsangYong Musso Latest updates make high-value pick-up better than ever

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.

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 fi gures you can do something with is a combined fi gure of 33.8mpg for vehicles fi tted 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 refi nement 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

The 2.2-litre diesel engine has been revised and now produces 202bhp and 325lbf.ft while returning 31.5mpg. Saracen models gain new black alloys – complete with lower-profile tyres than the rest of the range, so this might not be the one you’d choose for off-roading. You’d certainly choose it for carrying rear-seat passengers, though – with its Rexton-derived cabin, the Musso has space here to put the rest of the market to shame

the leaves you see on every other pick-up, but they still have to be able to carry a tonne so they’ll never settle completely when unladen) but in the main it feels hefty, planted and positive. It steers well, too, and body control is nice and taut in corners so you can hustle it along without ever feeling like it’s going to go ragged on you.

You wouldn’t choose the Saracen model tested here for a steady diet of off-road work, because it’s on 18” tyres rather than the 17” jobs you get elsewhere in the range, but it still acquits itself very capably even in this chromed-for-the-street form. The suspension works well to keep all four wheels in meaningful contact with the ground and even when one or more lift, you’ve got a barrage of electronics to keep you moving.

For customers looking to put their truck to work, it’s also relevant to note SsangYong’s oft-stated boast that the Musso, uniquely in the pick-up sector, can carry a 1000kg payload and tow aa 3500kg trailer at the same time. A gross train weight of 6750kg sees to this; we’d imagine it wouldn’t feel quite so lively when loaded to the gunwales like this, and its fuel economy would definitely drop, but you won’t get taken off the road by mole from the ministry. This is in auto form, at least; the manual loses a little towing weight and posts a GTW of 6450kg, which is still quite well into monster territory, but if you want every last scrap of capacity you know what you must do.

Doing it will cost you from £23,610 plus VAT on the road. This gets you the base-spec EX, itself no slouch in terms of spec, while the Saracen tested here lists at £30,665 (£37,158 with the dreaded). Definitely not the rock-bottom prices SsangYong used to be known for, but then it’s not making rock-bottom trucks any more. And a 7-year, 150,000mile warranty lobs a good bit of value on top, too.

So does the vehicle’s spec, of course. You get Nappa leather seats, for starters, and they’re heated, ventilated and 8-way power adjustable. Those in the back are heated, too. Further kit includes cruise control, all-round parking sensors, dual-zone climate and a 9.2” media screen running TomTom nav, Android/ CarPlay, Bluetooth and DAB. This also turns into one of the sharpest, highest-definition rear-view cameras in the game.

As this demonstrates, it’s not just kit you get with the Musso – it’s good kit. And even without any of it, this is the most SUV-like pick-up on the market thanks to an interior derived straight from the Rexton. The dash design is that of an SUV, the trim materials are those of an SUV – and the space in the rear seats is absolutely that of an SUV. If you want to carry your family in a double-cab, or you regularly carry a crew of big blokes on the way to work, you ignore this truck at your peril.

Yet people do still ignore it, simply because of its funny sounding name. There are whispers doing the rounds that SsangYong may soon be getting a new title, because the company is, as we speak, in the process of changing hands and its new owners are said to be keen on a change – but for now, parking your Musso next to a Hilux or Ranger is still likely to give you an attack of small man syndrome for that reason alone.

Change comes slowly even when change comes fast, so this latest round of upgrades won’t result in a deluge of new customers – not even with the black grille and alloys that make the Saracen model look meaner than ever. What it will do, however, is keep on pushing more and more people towards the point where their prejudices are no longer enough to prevent them from seeing what’s staring them in the face.

And with the new-look Musso staring you in the face, you’re definitely dealing with a truck to take seriously. It ticks every box there is to be ticked, then it draws some more boxes and ticks them too. It might still sound like something you order with a side of egg fried rice, but sneer at SsangYong and, more than ever before, the joke’s on you.