We?d say that two people can ride in reasonable comfort on the Mighty Max bench seat. Officially, there?s room for three, but both transmissions have a floor-mounted shift lever so the center occupant?s lot will not be a happy one. Driver and a single passenger will do fine, although the comfort level certainly won?t remind you of your living room sofa.
There aren?t any passive restraints in this truck. Mitsubishi didn?t make the investment because the company plans to discontinue this truck entirely before the government requires that there be airbags in pickups. There are, however, side-impact door beams.
The interior of our Mighty Max test truck was pretty plain fare. Fabrics and plastics appear to have been chosen for their durability, not flash quotient.
A rectangular box just in front of the driver holds the speedometer, fuel and temperature gauges, and secondary controls such as headlights, wipers and turn signals are operated by familiar control stalks.
The sole luxury touch - if you don?t add the optional CD player or air conditioning - is a tilt stering wheel.
For a practical truck, though, the Mighty Max is comfortable enough. Power steering is recommended, even though the little Mitsubishi is relatively light. However, as is the case with all pickups, most of the weight is riding on the front wheels, which can make parking lot maneuvers a bit heavy.
Although it?s a bit of a stretch to rate the Mighty Max as a fun truck to drive, it?s certainly easy to operate. Whether you?re delivering a few pizzas or 1000 lb. of Parmesan cheese, the Mighty Max is nimble in traffic, takes corners handily and is a breeze to park.
You should pay close attention, though, when driving an unladen Mighty Max in wet weather. There?s no anti-lock feature available for the Max?s brake system, which makes it a little too easy to lock the rear brakes on slick surfaces. And when that happens, it?s probably anybody?s guess as to which end of the truck will go first.
As we noted earlier, the Mighty Max won?t press you back against the seat with its acceleration, but it?s a stout little load-hauler. Our Mighty Max test truck reminded us of the little engine that could - it just kept chugging and snorting and got the job done.
About the only proviso is the Max?s 3500-lb. towing limit. Like a good many other compact trucks. This is an ambitius limit. If your trailer nudges much over 2000 lb., you?ll probably want more power than the Max can deliver.