I know, all this sounds very nice, but what's it like to drive?
Well, let me put it this way...I'm not going to compare it to these vehicles, that wouldn't be fair, but it did put me in mind of the Mazda CX7, and the Acura RDX. To be fair, that was maybe because the interior of the Outlander tends to resemble them in many ways.
The all new 220 hp V6 model, which I tested, certainly moved, and the suspension setup had definitely been designed to handle that performance.
Being honest, I did notice one or two squeaks and rattles, but then again, I've managed to find a few of those on some big ticket items in the past, especially whilst pushing them through the twists and turns at speed.
This brings me to another plus-point for the vehicle. The Outlander has an aluminum roof panel which lowers the centre of gravity of the vehicle.
The Outlander also boasts extremely high levels of body rigidity. In fact, when compared with the CRV, it is 26% better in Torsional Rigidity and a whopping 139% better in Flexural Rigidity.
This maybe accounts for the handling characteristics of the vehicle, and possibly even the squeaks and rattles. After all, it is hard to make a vehicle perform, be comfortable, and quiet all at the same time, unless of course you put "big bucks" into it.
That is where I'm going to end my story...on the price. At the end of the day, we all choose vehicles according to what we "want", and what we "can afford". I'm not going to tell you that this is "the best little SUV on the planet". What I will say, is that "if you're in the market for a small SUV, and your name's not Rockefeller, then you have to check out the Mitsubishi Outlander".
photo:Kevin Corrigan
Well, let me put it this way...I'm not going to compare it to these vehicles, that wouldn't be fair, but it did put me in mind of the Mazda CX7, and the Acura RDX. To be fair, that was maybe because the interior of the Outlander tends to resemble them in many ways.
The all new 220 hp V6 model, which I tested, certainly moved, and the suspension setup had definitely been designed to handle that performance.
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| The 220 hp 3.0L MIVEC V6 is potent to say the least. |
Being honest, I did notice one or two squeaks and rattles, but then again, I've managed to find a few of those on some big ticket items in the past, especially whilst pushing them through the twists and turns at speed.
This brings me to another plus-point for the vehicle. The Outlander has an aluminum roof panel which lowers the centre of gravity of the vehicle.
The Outlander also boasts extremely high levels of body rigidity. In fact, when compared with the CRV, it is 26% better in Torsional Rigidity and a whopping 139% better in Flexural Rigidity.
This maybe accounts for the handling characteristics of the vehicle, and possibly even the squeaks and rattles. After all, it is hard to make a vehicle perform, be comfortable, and quiet all at the same time, unless of course you put "big bucks" into it.
That is where I'm going to end my story...on the price. At the end of the day, we all choose vehicles according to what we "want", and what we "can afford". I'm not going to tell you that this is "the best little SUV on the planet". What I will say, is that "if you're in the market for a small SUV, and your name's not Rockefeller, then you have to check out the Mitsubishi Outlander".
photo:Kevin Corrigan
2007 Mitsubishi Outlander LS 4WD
2007 Mitsubishi Outlander LS 4WD
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