Mitsubishi Outlander LS 2006 Review

Road Test

Overall rating: 3.0/5.0
Engine/Drivetrain/Chassis: 2.5/5.0
Pricing/Packaging/Practicality: 3.5/5.0
Safety: 2.5/5.0
Behind the wheel: 3.5/5.0
X-factor: 3/5.0

The Outlander test coincided with the shocking December bushfires that hit south-eastern Australia. Helping a friend defend his property from the worst, the Outlander was in the thick of it and returned from a tough and scorching 835km covered in black ash.

When a vehicle can be your only escape or means of bringing in the right equipment under these circumstances, you quickly come away with a sense of what matters in these SUVs once you leave the daily school run behind.

It also explains why an affordable new model like this Outlander drew so much interest in the bush when fuel costs and the drought are really biting. The Outlander repeatedly proved that it has a strong work ethic when the bitumen ends.

The Outlander highlights just how tight the cost cutters have worked to provide this much Japanese-sourced fully imported SUV for just $31,990 with air-conditioning and auto. As was mentioned at the launch, the somber black cabin can feel cheap.

The doors are lined with faux textured plastic sheets suggesting that Mitsubishi may have found a use for all those black proposal folders from the abandoned Daimler-Chrysler tie-up. The seat cloth feels like the stretchy nylon fabric that used to cover a $599 lounge suite. The external door handles clang with the ring of an empty drum after you release your grip.

It would be too easy to walk away from the Outlander at this point and miss the ruggedness and tight body shell, generous carrying and towing capacity and the good performance/economy balance that the high-tech 2.4-litre petrol in-line four and its CVT (constantly variable transmission) deliver.

The front seats are flat but generously proportioned for big Aussies. The lack of aggressive side-contouring makes getting in or out of the Outlander easy, front and rear -- a plus if you are hampered by work gear or ill-health. Driver comfort is good over long distances despite the absence of driver's seat cushion tilt adjustment and steering column reach adjustment (it does tilt). Once inside, the neat lined dashtop storage hopper, twin gloveboxes, bi-level centre armrest bin and driver's foldaway side cupholder in front of the cooling vent are useful even if the unlined top section of the centre bin creates rattles.

The second row seats (a third row is optional) are better than expected for this price range with slide and recline functions and a practical centre armrest with cupholders. The leather-bound steering wheel, selector knob and handbrake handle plus front and rear cabin lighting with front reading lights, CD/MP3 sound system and three 12-volt accessory sockets are not bad for a base model.

The main dash and steering wheel controls and trip computer functions including twin odometers have a welcome simplicity and the overall effect looks pleasing enough. The main drawbacks are the dinky bar graph fuel gauge which can be easily overlooked and the centre dash display which forces you to choose between key trip computer functions and a digital engine temperature gauge.

Like so many new models, the Outlander lifts the main centre controls upwards into the space once reserved for the centre vents. The replacement twin vertical centre vents will deliver a stronger cool breeze to more of your upper body but not before freezing your left hand first. Despite the thick windscreen pillars, the forward view is good when they are more to the side of the driver than directly ahead.

It's in the load area with its standard luggage cover where the Outlander plots its own course.

Through a clever system of spring loading and electrical switching, you can tumble the rear seats forward at the pull of a switch just inside the hatch opening. If you are loading up a bike or something bigger than expected, it's a winner.

And the split drop down tailgate and liftback is far more useful than when it appeared on Honda Civic hatchbacks several generations ago. If the tailgate is left up, it acts as a load stopper. Or, if you close the upper liftback section and drop the lower tail gate open, you can extend the load platform for objects that normally wouldn't fit without leaving a large one-piece liftback waving in the sky. (Ed: Just don't do it if you have a towball fitted! Remember the generations of Aussie utes with dented tailgates.)

As a dust and mud-free seating platform with the opened liftback acting as a sunshade, the drop down tailgate was an ideal meeting place for those who needed to talk about their next moves in the fires.

The load area's extra depth is driven by the tiny space saver spare under the rear floor and is a legacy of the headroom needed for the third-row seat option. Because the twin-section rear access currently won't allow an external spare wheel, the space saver spare could be an issue in remote applications.

None of this matters a hoot if the new Outlander doesn't look the full quid, something that crippled its capable predecessor's local chances. It manages to look bigger and more substantial than its low $30,000 pricetag would suggest and generated more interest on test than expected. It was given a general thumbs-up in looks.

On the road, the Outlander is also better than expected given that its 2.4-litre engine is hauling 1580kg compared to its much lighter Lancer wagon stablemate of the same capacity. Because the Outlander engine has extra grunt and a CVT which keeps the engine whirring away quietly and almost seamlessly at relatively low revs, fuel consumption often dipped under 9.0lt/100km on rural roads despite the smoke and heat. This will soon increase to 12.0lt/100km in stop-start traffic as you would expect.

The sequential shift mode manually accesses six speed ranges but it is not as crisp as some. This is one case where the auto is clever enough to be left to its own devices.

The Active Select AWD system is also better than most. It offers a choice of front drive only for low drag and better fuel economy, all-wheel drive on demand for variable conditions and a centre-locking function that replicates a proper 4WD.

When on-demand AWD is selected, you can feel the extra drag but on wet or slippery roads it reacts so quickly that it's almost impossible to detect slip in the front wheels before the torque is transferred to the rear wheels. The ability to also lock it into a fixed 50:50 front to rear torque split is a big plus if you need to maintain momentum over sand and other loose surfaces.

The stock suspension with the standard LS 16-inch wheels achieves a good compromise between a firm, controlled ride and relatively tight body control with little sway. While the driver has a commanding view, the Outlander avoids the sitting on a flagpole effect of some SUVs.

The 2.4-litre engine is so compact and set well back in the engine bay that the Outlander seems better balanced front to rear than most of its type. It is quite a neutral handler and the four-wheel disc brakes are more than adequate. The Outlander is another new Mitsubishi where the turning circle is tighter than expected.

And that sums up the Outlander. Even if it has a cabin that might be too downmarket for some showroom shoppers, it is quietly impressive in the areas that matter when it does a better job away from town and in the rough than you would expect from a vehicle costing just $31,990.