Mitsubishi Outlander 2009 Review

Mitsubishi Outlander XLS and VRX

Road Test

Price Guide (recommended price before statutory and delivery charges): $40,490 (XLS), $51,990 (VRX)
Options fitted to test car (not included in above price): Luxury Pack $7500 (XLS only) and metallic paint $450
Crash rating: Five-star (ANCAP)
Fuel: 91 RON ULP
Claimed fuel economy (L/100km): 9.3 (XLS), 10.4 (VRX)
CO2 emissions (g/km): 222 (XLS), 247 (VRX)
Also consider: Mazda CX-7, Renault Koleos, Subaru Forester, Suzuki Grand Vitara, Toyota RAV4, Volkswagen Tiguan

About our ratings

Mitsubishi's Outlander faces a lot more competition in the VFACTS Compact SUV market segment than it did on its release as the ZG model back in 2006. Toyota has released a V6 version of the RAV4, Subaru has introduced a very capable and relatively frugal Forester range and Suzuki's Grand Vitara has also been given a good going-over.

Then there are the altogether new competitors in the segment -- cars such as the Renault Koleos and the Volkswagen Tiguan. We can't help wondering too, how the facelifted ZH Outlander will shape up in the market against the Peugeot 4007: the same car as the Outlander, with Peugeot styling cues and a diesel drivetrain.

The latest version of the Mitsubishi, which has gained frontal styling from the Lancer, was tested by the Carsales Network in two variants, the V6-engined Outlander VRX (pictured) and the four-cylinder/CVT-equipped Outlander XLS. While the latter was a conventional compact SUV with reasonable ride and practicality, the VRX left us a little puzzled by its tarmac-oriented dynamics and performance. This is not really a vehicle you would take offroad, frankly, and if you wanted this sort of on-road capability combined with SUV packaging, may we suggest a Skoda Octavia RS for a considerably lower purchase price? [Ed; not to mention ride height...]

And if you absolutely have to have all-wheel drive and can handle the extra bulk, you can buy a mid-range Ford Territory TX with drive to all four wheels for marginally less than the cost of the Outlander VRX.

For the right sort of buyer though (whoever that may be?), the Outlander VRX offers an interesting combination of specifications and dynamics. Starting with its V6 engine, the VRX is quite peaky, but provides plenty of midrange grunt also. From 4500rpm up, it delivers a real 'bi-modal' bark and hauls hard. This is an engine that covers a lot of bases.

At idle it's virtually inaudible; around 1500rpm it sounds typically six-cylinder woofy. Above that speed it drones a little, as you might expect from a V6 in an SUV, but from 4500rpm up, all hell breaks loose. It suddenly becomes very willing and revvy -- a real screamer. Fuel economy over a mixed run of freeway, urban and performance driving yielded an average figure of 13.1L/100km.

The six-speed automatic transmission accepted drive from the V6 in a smooth and mostly responsive fashion, but the paddle shifters for sequential shifting were fixed and didn't rotate with the steering wheel, so there may be occasions when the driver can't immediately grab a lower gear -- or a higher one.

Being an 'on demand' part-time four-wheel drive, the Outlander drove through the front wheels only, until such time as the final drive detected slip. Thus, there were occasions when torque steer was detected even in dry conditions.

Bridgestone Dueller H/T tyres held on, but were noisy on even smoother roads and presumably contributed to the Outlander VRX's firm ride. The Outlander has remarkable grip and can be flogged surprisingly hard on fast, flowing bitumen. There's none of your archetypal SUV body roll in this car.

Steering was not up to the level of, say, Volkswagen's Tiguan for feedback, but it was well above the mean for compact SUVs generally. It would be interesting to compare this vehicle with Mazda's upgraded CX-7 -- the Mazda probably maintaining the edge.

Turn-in for the Outlander VRX was predictable and responsive. Even with some provocation, the Mitsubishi remained impressively stable. Body control was much better than one would expect from a compact SUV.

Seats were comfortable and supportive, but there was a slight problem with the driving position for this reviewer. The pedals seemed too close for longer journeys and, while the seats could be adjusted further back to suit, the telescopic adjustment for the steering wheel couldn't. Rake adjustment for the steering column was good, however.

At night, the cornering lights didn't activate with indicators, as they do in some other cars fitted with the feature. As a consequence, they didn't effectively light up the inside of the corner as they should. Headlights were very good though; on high beam they cast the light in a usefully broad pattern and were powerful enough on the low-beam setting also. They might have been set a little higher on low beam. That's about the only criticism there.

Satellite navigation in the VRX was not especially fast or easy to use. It took a little while to work out how to set the state for the destination. There's a slight leap required, logically, to navigate from the destination screen to display of the country, from which you select the state. There was much mirth among the younger passengers when the system selected 'Blackbutt, NSW' instead of 'Blackburn, Vic'... Apologies to the good people of Blackbutt.

Priced markedly lower than the VRX, even equipped with the optional Luxury Pack, the Outlander XLS is more like a conventional SUV. It rides better and quieter, without sacrificing that much in performance. For $7500, the Luxury Pack seems expensive, but actually stacks up as pretty good value when you consider it adds: 18-inch alloys; chrome trim; sunroof; Rockford Fosgate audio; rear-seat entertainment system; leather seat trim; satnav; electric adjustment for the driver's seat, front-seat heating; dusk-sensing headlights; rain-sensing wipers; and a reversing camera.

Perhaps the problem with the pricing of the Outlander XLS is the starting point for the vehicle without the Luxury Pack: $40,490. Add $7500 to that figure and you're up to $47,990. The newly updated Mazda CX-7 Luxury Sports approaches that level of specification for $2000 less.

Aurally, the four-cylinder engine powering the Outlander XLS is a quiet unit at both idle and when cruising. It burbles at lower speeds, but sounds tinny and hollow in the midrange, especially when accelerating hard. At higher speeds, it sounds much sportier and it's in the higher rev range -- particularly matched to its Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) as it is -- that the engine shines.

On bitumen, it's not a powerplant that launches off the mark with great vitality, but as is often the way with vehicles driven through stepless transmissions, what it lacks from a standing start, it makes up in the intermediate speed ranges. At engine speeds above 5000rpm, the engine continues to accelerate at a decent rate and the CVT works its magic, constantly adjusting the ratios for a faster road speed as the engine picks up the pace also.

Mitsubishi has done pretty well with this combination. If the engine seems to lack power at lower revs, it is quite torquey all the same, and will keep funnelling drive to the wheels right up to the point where the whole final drive system loses traction and forward momentum in offroad conditions.

Fuel consumption figures varied considerably during the course of the week the Outlander XLS was in our possession. Typically, we were seeing figures of high 12s and up to 13.0L/100km in urban traffic from a cold start, but it could also get down to around 10.0L/100km over a long enough stretch of open road. We don't doubt it would do better on a longer run.

The XLS’ ride is certainly more comfortable, by a large margin, than that in the VRX. It's a good balance in the four-cylinder model, coping well with larger irregularities in the road, but without giving away much in handling and roadholding. If there's one area in which the suspension of the Outlander XLS is compromised, it's the vehicle's offroad ability. Not so much a question of its ride or grip on smoother gravel, the problem lies more in its lack of wheel articulation.

This makes the Outlander XLS less capable off the road, as we found when we attempted some moderately challenging activities in the four-cylinder. Diagonally traversing a dip to reach a steep, unsealed track left one (or two?) wheels off the ground and even with the drive locked and all four wheels driven, the Outlander took a little heavy prompting with the right foot to proceed. It did get there, but its drive system seems less responsive than the Haldex system that some Euro offroaders feature. Those cars also benefit from longer wheel travel too, plainly. We've taken a Tiguan over the same terrain without the same drama.

Approach and departure angles in the Outlander seem up to scratch for a vehicle of its type, but the ground clearance and rampover angles are quickly overstretched. As is often the case with compact SUVs, serious rubber would help the car's offroad ability considerably -- but all the same, you're not going to be able to take the Outlander places you could go in a Suzuki or X-TRAIL.

The steering system in the Outlander XLS was impressive for its feel. In fact, we liked the feedback from the 'luxury' Outlander more than in its V6-powered sporty counterpart. Whether it was different tyres or a different type of assistance, the four-cylinder Outlander seemed significantly more communicative -- and the VRX wasn't that bad anyway!

Turn-in was quite consistent in both cars. There's good body control at speed and the Outlander is undeniably one of the more 'connected' compact SUVs for on-road driving.

Seats in the Outlander XLS were plenty supportive under the thighs and held the driver in place laterally, without being difficult to vacate. They seemed slightly flatter and harder in the cushion than would be ideal in an offroader, but would be up to snuff on a longer open-road journey.

Wind noise overpowered drivetrain and tyre noise at freeway speeds. The tyres could be a little noisy on coarse-grade bitumen, but basically behaved themselves.

As in the VRX, the Outlander XLS provided a generally good driving position and both cars featured a wide footrest, a nice thickness of steering wheel rim and a clear view of the instruments. Possibly as a consequence of the different seats fitted, the Outlander XLS didn't place the driver as close to the pedals as the VRX did. The interior design for both vehicles was stylish enough and the Luxury Pack-specific MMCS (Mitsubishi Multi Communication System) lent the centre fascia in the Outlander XLS an uncluttered look. MMCS bundled all the communications and entertainment functions in a simple-to-use touch screen system, although the comments applicable to the Outlander VRX satnav also apply to the unit in the Outlander XLS.

Once again, the shift paddles in the Outlander XLS were fixed in place -- a minor concern for those drivers who shift sequentially -- and the steering wheel lacked reach adjustment too, but kudos to Mitsubishi for an otherwise properly packaged interior.

The HVAC controls were simple to use and were the only comfort or convenience feature switchgear not controlled from the MMCS -- those comprising audio/visual controls, satnav settings and Bluetooth connectivity.

In the Outlander XLS, the Bluetooth phone was paired to the car by means of the touchscreen, rather than via voice commands. Frankly, that worked easier than the voice control system in the Outlander VRX, but distracted the driver's attention from the road when it was necessary to dial someone -- an operation that would be clearly safer if it could be executed easily by means of voice control.

Both satnav and Bluetooth functions were restricted if the car was in motion and that's right and proper for sure, but -- and it's a complaint we've made in the past too -- the front-seat passenger is not permitted to set a destination either.

The DVD screen for rear-seat entertainment doesn't hang down so low that it obstructs the field of vision to the rear, as was the case with another SUV tested recently. If you have kids, the rear screen is a real saviour, although unlike some SUVs offering similar features, with the Outlander you can't isolate the audio for the DVD from the audio for radio or CD. In other words, if the kids want to watch their favourite 'Pokemon' DVD, you get to share in that experience -- whether you like it or not.

Overall, packaging in both Outlander variants proved impressive. Even with the sunroof fitted, there was adult-level headroom in the rear seat, which reclined and slid fore and aft for optimum knee and legroom too. For a relatively compact vehicle, the Outlander offered decent levels of room in the rear.

Better still, those rear seats (a 60/40 split-fold unit) could be folded up flat against the front seats to enhance the car's luggage capacity. Although the rear seats unlatched and folded up automatically from release handles in the luggage compartment -- either side of the tailgate -- they could only be locked in place up against the front seats while the user was leaning in through the side doors. They also tipped forward with some force and abruptness. It's not a completely ideal way to handle the reconfiguration of the interior for maximum volume, but it frees up a lot of box-shaped space for transporting goods and only suffers in comparison with slightly more adept systems such as that of the Mazda6 wagon.

The drop-down section of the tailgate is a handy feature and needs little further explanation as to why, but here's a couple of reasons: It's just plain easier to slide heavier items into the luggage compartment over the lower tailgate section, for one thing, and the upper section of the tailgate is lighter and shorter for raising in compact spaces.

Finishing up with the tailgate leaves us with this conclusion: There are some features of the Outlander -- in both variants -- that are simply outstanding. Very little about either car warrants strong censure; not even the Outlander's offroad competence. For us, it's the Mitsubishi's pricing that principally works against it.

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