DELIVERING the perfect blend of brawn and luxury, the latest Mitsubishi Shogun really does offer the best of both worlds.

With all the technical wizardry one would expect to find in a luxury saloon, the Shogun oozes class and creature comforts can be found at every turn.

But make no mistake, this giant of a vehicle is just as happy getting its tyres dirty and putting in the hours off-road too.

From the outside the Shogun is guaranteed to turn heads with its huge muscular frame, massive 20-inch alloys and tinted windows. The step-up plates are just a hint of how high this vehicle stands.

Inside, the Shogun displays its softer side with heated leather seats, a contrasting cream and black colour scheme, brushed aluminium and wood trim.

There is an efficient sat-nav system, high powered air-con, a massive sunroof that alloys light to flood into the cabin, a leather multi-function steering wheel and even DVD players to keep the back seat passengers occupied on longer journeys.

Other top notch features include Bluetooth connectivity, a colour touchscreen with rear view camera, an amazing 12-speaker sound system with 30GB hard drive that is compatible with all today's music and media devices and plenty more besides.

Passengers, both front and rear, are treated to an abundance of space and luggage requirements are catered for via the generously-sized boot and a number of larger-than-life storage compartments throughout the cabin including a deep chilled box in the central bin. There are even handy document holders that slide out from both sun visors.

The driver benefits from excellent all-round visibility which makes driving in busy city centre traffic a lot safer, although parking this huge vehicle takes some practice, even with the assistance of the parking camera and sensors.

Then out on faster country lanes and motorways, the 3.2-litre diesel engine powers the Shogun into action. Acceleration is deceptively rapid and manoeuvrability equally impressive.

There is quite a lot of cabin noise and a gentle vibration as the vehicle ticks over at the lights, but that aside it's easy to forget that you are driving a model that has driving modes capable of tackling anything Mother Nature should throw in its path.

As one would expect, Mitsubishi has fitted the Shogun with a very comprehensive list of safety features, such as anti-lock brakes, electronic brakeforce distribution, traction control and numerous airbags.