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By EWAN
KENNEDY
12 October 2009
Earlier
this year Mitsubishi unveiled a striking SUV called the Outlander
GT Prototype at the New York Auto Show. We loved the shape, but
doubted whether it would every reach production, fearing that the
Japanese company would get cold feet and back off the GT concept
to a more mainstream shape.
That didn’t happen and we have just stepped out of a full
day’s testing of the latest Mitsubishi Outlander during its
introduction to the Australian motoring media in northern NSW.
Believe it or not, the new Mitsubishi Outlander really does have
some elements of the hot Evo X in its frontal styling. As well as
the huge radiator grille, there has been a redesign of all the
visible panels in front of the windscreen and of the headlights.
There are reshaped door mirrors, the side sills have been revised
and there are fresh designs of the rear bumper and taillights.
In reality the Outlander has received nothing more than a midlife
facelift, but it’s a facelift like no other we have ever seen.
Congratulations to the guys and gals at Mitsubishi for having the
nerve to stick with their bold new idea and give us this striking
new shape.
But it's not all good news. Because that bold frontal styling
makes the big grille incredibly vulnerable to damage. You won't
have to go off road and rub a branch or rock to distort the lovely
shape, a mere nudge in a car park – either your mistake or
someone else’s – is likely to set your bank balance back
somewhere on the wrong side of a thousand dollars...
It's not only the outside of the 2010 Mitsubishi that has received
a revamp, the interior has been given a working over as well,
though not to anything like the same extent. The trim colours and
materials have been revised, leather is standard on the upmarket
variants, and all variants have received interesting new shapes
and lighting effects in the instrumentation. Some models even get
race-style drilled pedals of the type you would normally only find
on an Evo.
The powertrain is as before, with a 2.4-litre four-cylinder engine
or a 3.0-litre V6. Both engines have been revised to give them a
little more power and torque, while at the same time reducing
their fuel consumption and emissions.
The four-cylinder produces 125 kW of power, and 226 Newton metres
of torque at 4100 rpm. It's mated to a five-speed manual gearbox
or a continuously variable transmission. The latter has preset
ratios should you feel some manual control suits specific
circumstances.
Mitsubishi’s sturdy V6 has 169 kW, and 291 Nm at 3750 revs. It
sits beside a conventional six-speed automatic transmission that
can be controlled manually by way of paddles should the
need/desire strike you. There's no full manual option with the V6
engine.
Interestingly, we actually preferred the feel of the four-cylinder
to that of the six-cylinder. The four carries less weight in the
nose to provide better balance, and doesn't lag all that far
behind in the performance stakes. Mind you, we were running with
only two people in the cabin and we both had light luggage. A
family driver with a tribe and lots of gear on board may be better
off with the 3.0-litre six.
Talking of the tribe, a third row of seats is offered on selected
models. It might be an idea to quiz your local Mitsubishi dealer
on details of this, and a wide range of other options. The latter
include satellite navigation, Bluetooth and MP3/iPod connectivity,
a Rockford Fosgate audio system. As well as a revised colour
palette for the body paint.
We tested the new Outlander models not only in their natural
territory – on sealed roads around town, but also in the dream
territory of most buyers of SUVs – in off-road driving. We used
some of the gentler stages of a pretty rough (with pretty views at
the top) series of serious off-road climbs, slippery descents and
water crossings.
Though the tracks had been intended for the Mitsubishi Triton that
was launched at the same times as the facelifted Outlander, and
consisted of stretches that normally are tackled by vehicles such
as Tritons with a dual-range transfer case, the Outlander coped
pretty well and a 4WD trained weekend explorer could take the
Mitsubishi to places where some others would fear to tread.
On road, the 2010 Mitsubishi Outlander feels even quieter and more
refined than its honourable ancestor. Detailed work in the NVH
department has further added quality to the ride and feel of the
vehicle that was already good.
The complete 2010 Mitsubishi Outlander range with prices
(excluding government and dealer charges) is:
Outlander LS 2.4-litre five-seater: $33,240 (manual), $35,740
(automatic)
Outlander LS 2.4-litre seven-seater: $37,690 (automatic)
Outlander XLS 2.4-litre five-seater: $40,490 (automatic)
Outlander VR 3.0-litre five-seater: $40,990 (automatic)
Outlander VRX 3.0-litre five-seater: $51,990 (automatic)
© Copyright
Marque Publishing Company
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