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SsangYong's updated Musso pick-up aims to continue to shake up its segment. Jonathan Crouch takes a look
SsangYong's Musso pick-up aims to redefine the value proposition for customers in this segment and provide them with rugged but car-like transport. It's the only model in the sector tough enough to offer a seven year warranty and its combined payload and towing capacity is unmatched in the class. Now it's been further improved with the option of a long wheelbase 'Long-bed' 'Saracen+' variant at the top of the range. If you're buying in this sector, you probably won't have been considering a Musso. Perhaps you should.
What do you want when buying a pick-up? Probably things like rugged practicality, load capacity, towing strength, reliability and cab space. Here's a contender you probably haven't considered that claims to be class-leading in many of these areas at the same time as being one of the most affordable pick-ups in its class to buy. This is the SsangYong Musso, now smartened for the latest model year.. Some background might be useful at this point. After all, since SsangYong pick-ups haven't so far made much headway in our market, you probably don't know much about them. The Korean brand first began to make headway in the pick-up segment with the 'Korando Sports' back in 2012, which was then updated and re-branded with 'Musso' badging in 2016. This current-era 'Q200'-series Musso model was launched in 2018, sharing all its engineering with the third generation version of SsangYong's Rexton luxury SUV (introduced just before). Here, we're looking at the lightly facelifted version of this Musso.
If you're used to driving pick-ups, there'll be one thing that'll immediately strike you as soon as you set off in a Musso. This model's exceptional refinement. SsangYong has put a huge amount of effort into improving this and it's really paid off, especially at higher highway speeds. On urban tarmac, refinement remains excellent but on poorer surfaces, you do start to notice a rather unyielding standard of ride quality. Some have criticised this but we prefer to take into account that this SsangYong offers the highest combined Gross Train Weight in the class. You don't get that without a fairly stiff suspension set-up - which in this case uses rear coils rather than the crude rear leaf springs that still feature in some rivals. Other pick-ups certainly deal with tarmac tears, speed humps and pot holes much better. But they can't carry a one-tonne payload at the same time as pulling along a 3.5-tonne trailer. It all comes down to priorities. What are yours? The figures we've just quoted refer to the automatic gearbox variant that most buyers will choose - it's a well-proven Aisin 6-speed package. A 6-speed manual gearbox is also available at the foot of the range. Either way, the engine beneath the bonnet is the same - a 2.2-litre e-XDi220 SsangYong-developed diesel unit that puts out 202PS and 441Nm of torque. That's enough to breeze you past 60mph in about 11.3s in the manual (11.9s in the auto) on the way to a top speed that's rated at 113mph in the auto model - or 116mph in the manual.
In recent times, the main change made to this 'Q200'-series Musso is the addition of a more striking multi-faceted chrome radiator grille. Otherwise though, things are much as they've always been with this design. Creating a pick-up from a luxury SUV certainly seems like a promising concept. That's what SsangYong set out to do here, the front half of this Musso being quite similar to that of the brand's third generation Rexton model. The result is a muscular stance that in some ways suits this SUV product rather better. Only a Double cab body style is offered in the UK - but that's the one the vast majority of buyers will want, available in a 12-inch-lengthier 'Long Bed' guise with the 'Saracen+' model at the top of the range. Once inside, a glance around reveals interior quality and design that's way better than anything SsangYong has produced in a commercial vehicle in the past and easily a match for mainstream market rivals. Infotainment provision is far better than you might expect it to be too, courtesy of the larger, higher-set HD centre-dash touchscreen that comes as standard providing you avoid entry-level trim. A proper pick-up should have a properly high, commanding driving position - and this one does. The ergonomics are good too. Front three-quarter visibility's excellent, judging where the extremities are is easy and the deep side windows really help at T-junctions and roundabouts. Once on the back seat, there's plenty of room for head, shoulders, knees and feet and the deeply-set windows give a bright, airy feel too.
Previous SsangYong pick-up models have vastly undercut obvious rivals on price - but then arguably that kind of approach isn't too difficult when the product concerned isn't quite as sophisticated as the competition. This 'Q200'-series Musso model was the brand's first really class-competitive pick-up, yet it has still managed to maintain a useful price advantage over its rivals. Prices for mainstream variants of this updated version start from around £30,000 ex VAT. There are four trim levels - 'EX' (only offered with a manual 'box), 'Rebel' and Saracen' (offered only in auto form) and the auto-only extended wheelbase 'Saracen+'. The main body style on offer is the standard Doublecab one - which is what nearly all customers in this segment want - though that top 'Saracen+' variant gets a long wheelbase 'Longbed' body shape if you want a larger cargo bay. That top Musso comes with black 18-inch alloy wheels and black finishing for the door mirrors, beltline and tailgate finisher. All Musso variants get the same mechanical package, a 2.2-litre 202PS e-XDi diesel mated to four wheel drive. If you're shopping in this segment, you'll probably be familiar with the main alternatives. The only rival that can match this Musso's asking prices is Isuzu's D-Max, but if you specified one of those up to match the spec of this SsangYong, you'd probably need the best part of another £1,000. And then you'd still be getting yourself a pick-up with less power and higher running costs.
You'll need to bear in mind that unless you stretch to the top 'Rhino' long bed version of this model, the load area is somewhat shorter than other models in this class (at 1,494mm). If you can stretch to the 'Saracen+' long bed version, that rises to 1,610mm. With either body shape, there's 60mm of load bay height and a load bay width that's a class-leading maximum of 1,570mm, narrowing to 1,110mm between the wheel arches. All Mussos do well in terms of potential payload. Most pick-ups cannot tow a trailer at maximum weight and carry a full payload at the same time, but the Musso is different from most pick-ups. With a class-leading gross train weight of 6450kg (manual), 6750kg (automatic) and 6900kg (Saracen+) this Ssangyong has the highest total load capacity of any pick-up on sale in the UK. It can tow 3.5-tonnes (automatic) concurrently to give the highest total load capacity in the segment. These are stats that really will get the attention of savvy operators. As for running costs, well you won't be expecting a pick-up with a gross vehicle weight of over 3.2-tonnes to be especially frugal, so the return in this case - a quoted 33.8mpg on the WLTP combined cycle for the manual model - may be better than you might have feared. It's 31.5mpg for the auto and 30.8 for the LWB auto. CO2 emissions are WLTP-rated at 220g/km for the manual. Choosing the automatic gearbox doesn't have too much of an effect on these stats (236g/km for the standard auto and 241g/km for the LWB auto). Plus there's a class-leading 7 year / 150,000 mile warranty.
There's a lot to think about when it comes to picking out a pick-up. You're buying one in the first place because you want practical, go-anywhere ruggedness. Yet if at least some of the time, it's got to serve as your only means of transport, then you also need car-like qualities - real refinement, supple suspension and a comfortable cabin. Ideally, you'd want all of this along with a high specification and a price that looks like a misprint. You'd be asking a lot. Yet here, SsangYong has struggled to provide exactly that - and got remarkably close to delivering it. In summary, the word 'Musso' may mean 'rhinoceros' in Korean but what we've found here is a pick-up that can offer more than just tough robustness. True, the resulting package certainly isn't an obvious choice in this segment. In many ways though, it's a rather clever one.
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