Decent diesel and fair price makes the Grandis an appealing proposition in the sector.

What’s new?Mitsubishi has finally got round to fitting a diesel engine to the elegant Grandis MPV. It’s taken a while because Mitsubishi didn’t have a suitable diesel in-house and needed to broker a supply deal for Volkswagen’s trusty 2.0TDi. There are also minor tweaks to the front suspension and steering.Does the changes work?VW’s diesel engine is a decent enough lump, although in the Grandis it feels marginally less gutsy and refined than in other installations. But overall it makes a better proposition than the petrol version. Changes to the geometry go pretty much unnoticed. There is no automatic option with the diesel, although this is no disaster – the petrol’s four speed auto is hardly the last word in sophistication - and instead there’s a new six-speed manual which is precise if not particularly slick.Should I buy one?Mitsubishi reckons 84 per cent of buyers will, and if that's the case you should start to see a few more examples of the Grandis on the road. Quite right too, the diesel unit makes a fine MPV better. There's a choice of trim levels, from the entry Classic (£19,699) to the luxury Warrior.

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