I also own a PajEvo... one of just 87 produced in Passion Red. A couple comments. First, the steering is slower than a rogue car because this is a homologated off-road Daker race vehicle (something you failed to mention), not intended to be a street car. You don't want fast steering when driving 110mph through desolate parts of Africa. This what's designed to do huge speed over bad terrain, not cruise to the grocery store. The aerodynamics of the vehicle were designed to keep it stable at speed. The aerodynamic appendages off the back of the vehicle were designed to create a low pressure zone. I was recently driving mine into Boise Idaho... Speed limit is 80... I was doing significantly more than that and the thing was rock stable. That large dive plane bumper was part of it as well as it forces more air flow over the top of the top of the vehicle. Most high side SUVs have are underneath that creates lift making them feel floaties and unstable at speed. You should talk more about the aero... A Pajero Evolution is a very different animal than all the other vehicles you mentioned in the video. Every one of those vehicles can be purchased with a simple keyword search and an open checkbook. A Pajero Evolution on the other hand requires effort. You need to go FIND one. You need to make concerted effort to land one of these. They do not belong in the same conversation as a Mini JCS BMW 3 series or even a JDM FD RX7. None of those, in standard form are homologated to go when one of the most dauntingon race events on planet earth. Lastly, it would have been nice to hear more about the challenges of maintaining one of these as parts availability is becoming more scarce. Glad to see another one of these on the road and thanks for sharing it with all of us... Please take good care of it because it is a historic vehicle...
Thank you so much for this detailed message. I think the owner knows what he has and will take super good care of it! If you’re ever In the Ogden Utah area please let me know. I would love to see it!
@abikepeddler, I can certainly there is a learning curve to owning a JDM car especially like. I've seen your post on Pajero page with the epic off-road adventure you did with yours, and certainly understand the woes of owning one. I have a number of posts regarding my suspension rebuild and so on, thankfully I haven't needed anything too wild, most things can still be sourced from Japan. Thankfully Very thankfully, this clearly was the developmental baseline for the next gen Pajero/Montero and there are a number of parts that cross back and forth between them. I didn't talk much on the aero, only because I've only read the stories online and put only so much stock in them. But also haven't driven it fast enough to feel it, although I've talked to another Pajero owner who said it was Rock solid stable at 115, so I tend to believe it.
I wonder if people realize how rare this thing is. 1 of 2500 Dakar homologation car chillin in Utah. What a score! You need to take it out to the sand dunes and fly at 100mph!
