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Mitsubushi, like Suburu, is the Japanese brand we pretty much had forgotten until they brought over their wild, World Rally Championship derived model, the Evolution IX. Mitsubishi doesn’t just have a beastly turbocharged boy’s toy but also offer a full range of cars and trucks to suit your needs. Today we’ll look at their competitor in the car-based SUV class (CUV) and see how it stacks up vs. the Big Japanese Three.   The Outlander has a pretty butch, truck look to it – no cuddly CRV here. Visually it is a fairly imposing vehicle and it comes as no real surprise that a third row exists. Inside Mitsubishi has done a fairly good job overall with great feeling and looking materials everywhere – this is the first time in quite a few reviews where I did not notice cheap surfaces somewhere which is pleasant surprise. My only gripe is that the gauges reside in incredibly deep tunnels making it a bit difficult to peer at your speed.   The Outlander’s chassis is modified from the Lancer and offers a great car-like ride with a European feel to the firmness of the suspension I found quite pleasing. It isn’t until you push the gas pedal that things take a turn for the worse for the Outlander. We’ve got the V-6 version on test here folks and even using the manumatic mode of the transmission to force shifts power, if you can call it that, is tepid at best. You’d better plan carefully before attempting to overtake on the highway – in this day of giant horsepower figures I’m disappointed Mitsubishi couldn’t have supplied us with another 20-40 ponies to get this truck moving. I shudder to think just how slow the standard four cylinder must be with 52 less horsepower. Even stranger is that with such modest grunt, torque steer at low speeds was quite noticeable.   Of all the test drives I’ve had the Outlander has the utility side nailed down better than anyone. Logical placement of buttons and controls, easy to use 2nd and 3rd row seats, and a nice split tailgate are just some highlights. I really liked how you can quickly tumble flat the third row of “seats” (for small children ONLY!) and also easily tilt the second row out of the way as well creating a near cavernous cargo space where previously there was room for just a few bags of groceries.   The Outlander doesn’t quite have the cachet of the CRV or RAV4 but it sure is a solid CUV and one that shouldn’t be discounted out of hand. Mitsubishi checked all the practicality boxes on the checklist and gave it rugged styling – something that should appeal to folks who don’t like Honda and Toyota’s softer looking trucks.  Overall Mitsubishi has done a good job, it’s just a bit disappointing when you order an ice cream Sunday and they leave the cherry, or in this case any sort of pickup, off. With another dollop of horsepower I think they’d have a winner on their hands. With a very competitive price and great packaging the Mitsubishi Outlander is a very real alternative to Honda and Toyota, let alone Ford, Kia, and others.  I think I’ve said it enough – Mitsubishi get some power into this truck! Do that and it would be a CUV I would put on my shortlist. Click here to see the rest of the shoot. Score: 3.5/5.0 - Icehawk Special Thanks: Daniel Delarua, Nasef Redwan, Carlos Velez, and all of Lehman Mitsubishi of Kendall. Thanks a bunch. |
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