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By
EWAN KENNEDY
26 December 2005
Continuing the market fightback that Mitsubishi is spearheading with its
new 380 family car, the Adelaide based company has introduced a special
version of its Outlander off-roader.
Starting with the big selling Outlander LS,
Mitsubishi Australia has called the limited edition model the
Outlander Activ. It comes with $2000 worth of extra features, yet
still sells for a recommended retail price of $32,490. Included in
that $2000 is a free-fuel voucher for $500 from any BP service
station.
As well as the free petrol, the Outlander Activ
also comes with a good-looking front nudge bar made out of alloy.
Just the thing for pushing through long grass in the bush, though
it’s more likely to be there to look after the paintwork on the
nose of the Mitsubishi.
On the subject of the front of the Outlander, we
have always liked the protruding nose that’s almost like a
concept car in its bold looks. However, there are still some who
are coming to grips with this styling feature and this is probably
slowing down sales.
Outlander is competing in one of the hardest
fought of all market segments in Australia at the moment. Midway
through 2005 it received a new engine with variable valve timing
to fatten out its torque. This has given it a livelier feel and
has received favourable comments from many critics.
Performance, especially on steep hills is still
not great. One reason for that is that the Outlander is designed
as a reasonably serious 4WD so carries the extra mass needed to
toughen up the body. The Outlander has good ground clearance and
is able to cope with light to medium off-road conditions all day
long without complaining, or the feeling that you might be putting
too much strain on the vehicle.
Interestingly, Mitsubishi Outlander is only
offered with an automatic transmission, and a four-speed one at
that, albeit with a good degree of manual control by way of a
tiptronic-type override system.
Get in quickly if you are interested in buying
one of these Mitsubishi Outlander Activs as only 500 are being
imported and demand in the early days of summer season is already
looking strong.
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Marque Publishing Company
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