Mitsubishi Outlander 2004 Review

As the legend goes, our hapless stick insect found physical relief in a gym well-stocked with elephant juice and returned to the beach to conquer Muscle Man and win back the girl.

Mitsubishi is also back on the beach with more beef for its previously simpering Outlander.

The mid-size soft-roader wagon – which competes with the highly successful Mazda Tribute, Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4 – gets the engine it should have been born with for zesty performance to put a smile on the driver's face.

Now, at least in the performance stakes, it is competitive. Without the extra oomph it simply couldn't match its rivals.

The power boost comes from a variable-valve engine that changes the duration of the opening and/or closing of the valves. Open the valves for a longer time and the cylinder gets more fuel and air, and therefore more power. A short valve duration saves fuel.

This valve action depends on the revs and requires no driver intervention. But the result is a more flexible engine to better suit all driving conditions that is 20kW more powerful than its predecessor. There's also more torque.

The Outlander comes only as an automatic so the extra oomph is more important to the wagon's performance.

It is now faster off the mark, quicker at overtaking and seems to haul more cargo without running out of breath.

In shoehorning a new heart, Mitsubishi also added four-wheel disc brakes – deleting the previous disc/drum set-up – and cleaned up the wagon's styling.

There's a new tailgate (engineered in Australia), a grille now shared with European models, projector-style headlights and a bee-sting radio aerial.

The changes to the base-model LS tested include standard ABS brakes with EBD, roof rails, white-faced dials in the instrument panel and the incorporation of the central locking buttons within the key – not in a second fob.

Dual airbags, airconditioning, electric windows and mirrors, cruise control and a CD player are standard LS fare.

The Outlander has a constant all-wheel-drive system that allows it to traverse firm sand or gravel tracks. It is not intended as a 4WD and should not be seen as such, unless you're peculiarly adept at digging out vehicles on the beach.

It is a very simple and easy machine to punt around, though the power steering is very light and the foot-operated parking brake unnecessarily more complex than a traditional hand lever.

More luxury is available in the $36,390 XLS model, and a bit of a sporty look in the recently released VR-X version that costs $37,990.