Gillman Mitsubishi of San Antonio

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Driving Impressions

The Mitsubishi Outlander with the V6 engine is noticeably smooth and steady at high speeds, which it negotiates with little effort. It's quiet at 80 miles per hour with the windows up; tire noise is kept under the car. It feels almost long-legged, because the engine loses some of its confidence, and gains some harshness, under hard acceleration up to, say, 60 mph. But maybe the important thing is that the acceleration is actively there when you need it. Definitely not lacking with your foot down.

Engineers have improved the SOHC V6 (with MIVEC electronic valve timing) by increasing intake efficiency and compression ratio, now making 230 horsepower and 215 pound-feet of torque at 3750 rpm. No fuel mileage has been lost, it gets an EPA-estimated 19/25 mpg City/Highway. Premium fuel is recommended but not required. (Likely, it makes more power and may get better fuel economy with Premium.)

The Outlander ES and SE models come with the 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine, which gets an EPA-rated 21/27 mpg. Regular unleaded is the recommended fuel. We like this engine and suggest that the best Outlander value might be the Outlander ES 4WD, not only for the four-wheel-drive but also for the six-step manual mode with the CVT (continuously variable transmission). The dual overhead cam four-cylinder engine, with the MIVEC electronic valve timing, same system as the V6, makes 168 horsepower, good enough to keep up on the freeway.

With 4WD, the four-cylinder gets an EPA-estimated 21/25 mpg. And the manually-switched 4WD system, although less versatile than the automatic S-AWC system of the V6-powered Outlander GT, might get you up that snowy hill just as well. Our GT test model cost nearly $10,000 more than while getting 4 mpg less on premium fuel. It doesn't beat the ES by that amount, unless you simply must have that luxury.

Conversely, the S-AWC all-wheel-drive system in the Outlander GT uses an Active Front Differential and electronically controlled center differential. One method Mitsubishi uses to test this system is to drive up a hill with the left wheels on pavement and right wheels on ice. The system is not fooled, it adjusts. We tested the S-AWC Super All-Wheel Control on a sand dune, and our GT eagerly blasted to the top. There's a dial on the console with three positions: Tarmac, Snow and Lock.

Another advanced feature in the GT is called Idle Neutral Logic, which puts the transmission into neutral when the vehicle comes to a stop, using less fuel at a redlight. The driver never feels it.

We found ride quality in the Outlander okay, not harsh but not like silk. Road jiggles and vibrations can be felt in the wheels. They seem to dance, a million tiny steps.

However, we sprinted through one 30-minute section of mountain curves, using the throttle, brakes and six-speed Sportronic transmission hard. We can report that the Outlander GT accepts being driven inappropriately, without trying to buck you off at every turn. If it was Super All-Wheel Control at work, the intervention was undetectable. We're not saying it hugged the road and loved it, just that it didn't get squirrelly. But it's still pretty darn good for an SUV like this to perform like that.

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