Pajero Owners Club of South Africa

I like the Aisin transmission. My Touareg has a 6-speed Aisin Auto box, and it is a great unit.

I really like the Garmin SatNav system!

The increased engine output is a small bonus too, although the 'old' Di-D had quite enough go.

"The Dakar halo might be gone but with improved power, proper onboard navigation/infotainment and the absence of electronic ride-height control systems to go wrong in the bush, Pajero remains the thinking man’s luxury overlanding SUV".

This is the best part of the review

4ePajero wrote:I like the Aisin transmission. My Touareg has a 6-speed Aisin Auto box, and it is a great unit.

Both Jatco and Aisin manufacture excellent, modern technology transmissions. I am always fascinated by the details of the various co-operation agreements between Japanese automotive companies.

Jatco (Japanese Automatic Transmission Company) is an affiliate of Nissan that was created in 1999 by spinning off their automatic transmission/CVT development and production capabilities. As far as I know, Nissan is the majority shareholder, but Mitsubishi also holds a significant number of shares in Jatco.

Mitsubishi did a similar thing by spinning off Diamondmatic (their automatic transmission capability), but this company was promptly acquired by Jatco in 2003. This meant that the Gen 3 Pajero's transmission, that was developed by Mitsubishi, came to be built by Jatco.

Jatco has supplied transmissions to the likes of BMW, VW (Lupo, Polo, Golf, Sharan), Jaguar (X-Type), Land Rover (Freelander), Subaru (Legacy), Mazda (RX-8) and Ford (Mondeo).

Aisin is also an independent company, like Jatco, but with links to Toyota. They produce automatic transmissions, but also many other drivetrain and chassis components. Up to 1996 they supplied Toyota exclusively, but now count Daimler Chrysler, Isuzu, Mazda, Nissan, Mitsubishi, GM, Honda, Porsche, VW, Audi and Hyundai among their clients.