THERE is one word that crops up regularly when discussing the Mitsubishi Shogun. The word is serious.

With looks that would not be out of place in a war zone, the square-jawed Shogun is one of motoring’s big boys.

Weighing in at about the three-tonne mark, the Shogun is a muscular contender in the heavyweight hauler stakes.

Yet the revised model is the strongest, quietest and safest Shogun so far. It has cleaner styling, a smarter interior and still has the ability to go anywhere.

Changes this year have given the Shogun’s grunty 3.2-litre, four-cylinder, 197 horsepower turbodiesel engine best-in-class CO2 emissions, while also delivering improvements in economy, power and torque.

Make no mistake, the rugged Shogun is aimed at true off-road drivers who want a comprehensively-equipped and cost-effective vehicle with proven go-anywhere ability. A separate lever sitting next to the gearshift allows the quick choice of four driving modes – covering everything from straightforward rear-wheel drive for smooth tarmac, to a full-on, locked-up 4x4 mode for extreme low-ratio off-road work.

Priced from about £26,500 to about £38,000, the Shogun range offers a choice of three-door short and five-door long wheelbase models, with standard specification that includes everything from stability and traction control, to climate control and heated front seats.

So though the Shogun is starting to feel its age, you are not exactly roughing it. And move up the range to the Elegance and Diamond models and the standard equipment includes the likes of a 30GB hard disk drive navigation system with Rockford Fosgate 860W 12-speaker premium audio system, complete with colour touchscreen and rear view camera, high-intensity discharge headlights with washers and automatic levelling and rear air conditioning.

Nice as all this hi-tech comfort equipment is, the statistics more likely to impress most Shogun owners will be its 70cm wading depth and its towing capacity, that rises this year from 2,800kg to 3,000kg for short wheelbase models and from 3,300kg to 3,500kg for the long wheelbase.

A new standard Shogun feature, activated only in low range when first gear is selected and the driver’s foot is off the brake pedal, automatically brakes the car as soon as it detects when a wheel is losing traction, allowing for a slow, safe and controlled descent.

And if you want to share the Shogun experience, the long wheelbase version also comes with seven-seat versatility, with seats that fold out from the boot floor to create a third row of seats, complete with integrated head rests.

The fact that every model also comes fitted with a barometer and altimeter quietly makes the point that this is a vehicle truly designed to mix the really rough with the seriously smooth.