Mitsubishi Pajero Sport— Two and four-wheel drive modes explained

During regular driving, the vehicle is normally driven in 2H, which is its two-wheel, rear-wheel drive mode.

This mode reduces fuel consumption by just sending torque to the rear wheels and also gives you the flexibility of driving on all surfaces. Unlike some of its competitors, the Pajero Sport can also be driven in 4H mode on all surfaces.

This mode engages the front axle and the car's onboard computer determines how each wheel behaves when torque is being distributed between the axles.

Some vehicles in this segment can't be driven in a four-wheel drive mode on sealed surfaces due to differential lock up.

This occurs when a centre differential is locked to evenly split torque between the front and rear axle.

As a result, when turning, the front and rear axles are moving at different speeds, which causes the centre differential to wind up with tension. The Pajero Sport then has an additional set of features for off-road driving.

It can be put into its low-range four-wheel drive mode, where a low-range gearbox is used as a torque multiplier.

This mode should only be used when off-road. The effect of low-range is lower speed, but more accuracy with torque delivery.

It's suitable for situations off-road where bursts of torque would unsettle the car. Finally, the Pajero Sport has a low-range four-wheel drive mode that also locks the centre differential.

This mode evenly splits torque between the front and rear axle and can be used in combination with the rear differential lock to further increase off-road ability.

Like the centre differential lock, the rear differential lock will split torque between the two rear wheels to ensure they both receive drive, even when one wheel is off the ground. To help demonstrate this, we lined up a tricky hill that features undulations and uneven portions of terrain.

While it may not look difficult, this hill causes the Pajero Sport's all-wheel drive system to continuously shift torque delivery and will ultimately force it to try drive wheels while others are off the ground or have very limited traction.