Mitsubishi keeps the off-road dream alive with fabulous marketing techniques.
Don't you just love marketing? It tailors a campaign, not a product in order to attract a market. The product, good or bad, remains the same. Only the campaign changes. And so it is with car marketers selling the spirit of adventure.
As if to compensate for any lack of off-road ability in the great outdoors, marketers simply give the car a great ourdoorsy name.
So we end up with vehicles like the Mitsubishi Outlander that has, at best, a rice paper-thin relationship with anything outdoors.
This may not surprise, but the Outlander is selling its socks off and is Australia's fourth top-seller in the compact SUV segment.
So, clearly, I know nothing about marketing. But I do appreciate a good all-wheel-drive wagon.
The Outlander is a well-built, trimly proportioned and attractive five or seven-seater wagon with a choice of two engines and a competitive price.
It is built on the same platform as the upcoming Lancer sedan, here later this month and hence its impotent ability to survive a trip into the outdoors.
But what it can do is become the caravan for your children's excesses, the conveyance for your kayak or mountain bike, the carriage for Sunday picnics and the transport for work and school. It does all these things very well because the Outlander is a very simple vehicle.
The V6 in the Outlander VRX tested may seem a bit excessive in terms of power and fuel use. But that's only because you haven't driven the alternative a 2.4-litre, four-cylinder that is pleasantly competent with one person aboard, but asthmatic and noisy when loaded. The three-litre V6 has been shared around the Mitsubishi model range and still stacks up as a responsive unit.
Mated to a six-speed automatic gearbox, it's also not as thirsty as you may think.
The test route included a bit of gravel, some highway and lots of city work, and used a commendable 11.7 litres/100km. Country touring should snip that back to about 10 litres/100km which gives a range of 600km, a bit too short for an SUV.
It handles the roads with ease, thanks to an all-wheel-drive system that allocates power to the axles depending on demand.
As such, it rates high in the safety stakes. The VRX version enforces that with electronic stability control, ABS brakes and six airbags.
The Outlander has a default to front-wheel-drive and will drive all wheels only when it senses a loss of traction or when the driver engages 4WD via a dashboard switch.
The 4WD system can also be locked for low-speed work. The cabin is attractive with a clean dash layout, a fantastic array of storage bins and for the VRX a range of features, including a sensational Rockford Fosgate sound system.
It seats five, though there is a seven-seat option that will accommodate two children, but take up most of the boot.
The cargo area can be extended by folding down the rear seats and while spacious, is narrower than most rivals.
This is a good car. The V6 costs about $6000 more than the four-cylinder version, but is the better choice.
