Well, these are two pretty similar cars we have here! It's only details that could potentially make the difference. Considering they both belong to the suv segment and utilize the same 5-door suv body style and the 4 x 4 wheel drive system, it all comes up to the specific petrol engine choice they offer. The first one has a Suzuki-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 6-cylinder, 24-valves 184hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 6-cylinder, 24-valves 250hp engine designed by Mitsubishi.

The fact that the Suzuki got tested by the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), while the other contender didn't, offers a slight advantage, as the 4-star rating is better than none. Still, apart from the official crash test results there are other things we need to be aware of. Both vehicles belong to the suv segment, which is generally a very good thing safety-wise, but that fact doesn't break the tie between the two cars. On the other hand, taking kerb weight as an important factor into account, Pajero offers a potentially life-saving difference of 32% more metal.

I don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem that Suzuki as a brand displays somewhat better results, at least on all of the models level. That's the official data, while our visitors describe reliability of Suzuki with an average rating of 4.5, and models under the Mitsubishi badge with 4.6 out of 5. Independent research findings rank Grand Vitara as average reliability-wise, and Pajero is more or less at the same level.Above it all, drivers of cars with the same engine as Grand Vitara rank it on average as 5.0 out of 5, exactly the same as the other one.

Suzuki is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 1.1 seconds less than its competitor. Still, it lacks the power to win the top speed competition, topping at 182 kilometers per hour, 18km/h less than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy an obvious choice would be Grand Vitara, averaging around 10.5 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (27 mpg), in combined cycle. That's 29% difference compared to Pajero!

Suzuki appears just a bit more reliable, although the difference is truly marginal. The most important thing when deciding between any two vehicles should always be safety, both passive and active. In my opinion, everything taken into account, Grand Vitara offers slightly better overall protection and takes the lead. It all continues in the same direction, with Suzuki being considerably quicker, thus putting more smile on driver's face. To make things even better, it consumps less fuel! All together, there's not much more to say, in this case I wouldn't even consider anything but Suzuki. In any case that's my personal view, built upon all the data available to me. What should decide here though is the way you feel about the two vehicles, and I hope you'll find my guidelines useful in the process. Also, you could use the oportunity to find out which car, everything taken into account, would be the perfect choice for you in the eyes of the virtual adviser™, out of 12.000+ vehicles we currently have in our database.