2011 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport SE fwd

[regfootball]

Driven

2011 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport SE fwd babyish blue CVT 24+/- MSRP (including several add on packages primarily with extra trim and stuff)

HIGHS

Excellent front row seats. Great cloth, perfectly shaped, very adjustable, lots of leg, shoulder and hip room.

Great cockpit, great view of gauges, steering wheels falls to hand perfectly, window switches etc.

Large and useful side view mirrors.

Great view out the front.

Nice gauges, simply and easy climate controls with auto temp.

Option package added illumination, cool shift knob, and piano black trim.

Overall interior dash and door plastics and trim are very good.

Nice looking rig, not freakish.

Plastic front fenders.

USB, Bluetooth, Fuse, standard on all trim levels.

Low vehicle weight and great mpg.

CVT works well mostly. Slick paddle shifters and a decent manual mode which can also be done on the shifter. 2500-2600 rpm at 70 mph.

Vehicle is quick once up to speed and going. (not so much out of the gate)

Console, shifter, and 3 cupholders laid out nicely. Good armrest.

Very very good steering. Well weighted, direct, decently quick, feels good, nice wheel, small turning radius.

Aside from initial takeoff getting going, vehicle is quiet to silent in most operation and feels refined. Well done.

Pretty good ride.

Semi-nimble? feel....

Chairlike rear seating, good footspace.

Price can be configured to be a good buy with good warranty 5 yr BTB 7-100 ptrn.

Feels well built, fairly refined, and like a quality piece.

LOWS

POWER, 2.0 engine needs more grunt, mostly at takeoff. If you learn where to put the throttle pedal to make the CVT 'downshift' more, then it improves. SHoulda been a 2.4. Maybe try the manual also.

NOISE AND DRONE when hard accelerating from a stop. Also a bit of that with hard roll on throttle. I bet a bigger engine, this is not a problem.

CVT could respond quicker from a stop (up to like 30 mph). Also, it returns to low rpm quicker than it maybe should (a gas mileage thing no doubt, thanks CAFE).

Radio looks drab and not very exciting controls, of course they want you to get the NAV.

Even though the climate controls work nicely, they look plain.

Rear side and rear visibility could be a little better.

REAR SEAT LEG ROOM is tight, possibly a deal breaker? You cannot adjust the seat foreaft like the larger Outlander.

REAR SEAT BACKREST, no recline adjustment, its a bit upright. The SPortage does not have this issue.

TRUNK SPACE, BORDERLINE not acceptable. Maybe a bit more than the Kia Soul, but less than a Tucson probably. Its trimmed out nice and the rear seat does have a pole pass thru. A nice cover is available.

Tall vehicle will catch wind. But it was a windy day out, must have also been why i heard wind noise on the back doors.

Vehicle is a better buy at lower price levels or without all the looks options packages.

SUMMARY

I would write this as a glowing review except for the rear seat leg room and cargo space issues, and will defer to each shopper to determine if these are deal breakers. No doubt an Escape will have a bigger trunk, a Sportage probably has more back seat leg room. Shop around and see what is important to you. Regarding the engine, I didn't think the power was inadequate, just mildly sluggish at certain throttle inputs. And I will say that there are plenty of vehicles that put out the same adequate power level and please the owners. Especially for this vehicle type. Once past 30 mph or so its actually quite quick. Chevy's new Cruze has acceleration issues also even.

But I do think a 'Ralliart' of this model or even just the 2.4 upgrade is needed for this vehicle. Even as it as once you learn the CVT and play with the paddle shifters too there is enough here to simulate a good time. All while still allowing comfortable quiet cruising when you want it which is most of the time.

The little things like the super seats, great front seat space and comfort, good touch points, nice armrests, great gauges, etc and good plastics go a long way towards making the vehicle feel like a good place to be and worth it. It feels much more sporty than a regular outlander (hence, sport) and has combined the attributes well of a large comfy SUV with a nimble small car. Its really a nice blend of the two. Its a good urban getabout that I also think would handle 2 person road trips equally well. AWD is available with hardly any mpg penalty.

Its a good vehicle, I like it better than the Sorento / Tucson (more refined than them) and it compares well across the board and helps you to believe that this small crossover segment is going to explode.

Just check the back seat and trunk and make sure you are ok with it. Also, make sure the powertrain is ok with you and maybe even try the manual.

I want to give it an A but the power thing and rear leg room and trunk make me keep it a

B+.

I'll just add that today also I test drove the Tiguan and I liked this better than the Tiguan. Also my review I think is very consistent with most reviews I have read on this model. A caliber likely blows chunks compared to this.

I may look at actually replacing my Cobalt with this, or that Kizashi I drove last week, sometime down the road.

Edited November 6, 2010 by regfootball

[pow]

I don't know... there's just nothing about the car that's remotely interesting to me. How's the quality? The normal Outlander I've been in seemed pretty cheap. Nasty headliner, shiny dash plastics, etc.

Speaking of Mitsubishi, a rebadged 508 would make a nice Galant... I mean, they already make a version of the iMiev for Peugeot...

[regfootball]

the plastics in the sport are revised, they have a nice grain and are semi soft.

the price is close to 20k, the interior plastics are much better than a 20k vehicle.....

[ocnblu]

"How are the plastics?"

[ocnblu]

Local dealer has three of these. They look dorky.

[regfootball]

sampled a manual ES today.

Very much likey.

Did not like the steel wheels and "Geolander" tires combo.

Really though for a small CUV it handles nice and has steering feel, the interior layout is very spacious and convenient.

Those interested in a CUV with manual will find on the OS that the clutch is light and easy. Very smooth to use. Glides. Almost as easy as a toggle switch.

The shifter is the same way. Only a 5 speed (grrrrr), but the thing shifts like butter and is up there with some of the best shifters. The shifter is tall so it makes the throws long, but its like butter. Again, like a toggle switch. Good like the the better VW and Honda shifters.

The personality of the vehicle is different when matched to the stick. The engine is smooth and is tractable. Spunky at times, it had good power. It's probably not much if any slower than that Tiguan. My Cobalt doesn't really feel too much, if any, faster. In town stop to stop driving its a very easy drive. Revs nicely. Just goes about its business. Super easy butter lite clutch and shifter. No surprises.

But, a 2.4 with more power of course would be welcome. What is really missing here is the sixth gear. It is darn close to epic fail to not add that 6th gear since it would improve things so much. The gear spacing seems wide on the thing. Not a problem, but the rpm is pretty high at 60, 65, 70+ mph. I believe 65mph was around 2750 rpm. You'd probably be at 3k rpm near 75 mph. The CVT versions allows the revs to get lower at those speeds by a noticeable amount.

Subsequently, with the manual, the vehicle just gets louder. Not really any louder than the CObalt I drove in with. But the engine is smooth, you just don't think the sound level should get that high. It never sounds strained or rough, it's not a foul sound, it just has a high amount of sound. Some sound attenuation is needed to cut down on the boom.

For in town driving its not an issue. Long interstate trips may force you into the CVT which is way quieter at that 70 mph speed.

Repeat impressions, nice steering feel and steering wheel. Nice seat comfort, wide butts will like it. Ergonomics really nice except the manual does not get the sliding armrest that the others so. I -really- like the driving position. The interior is nicely done at this price point. Front row comfort and space is more like a midsize or large car, and the backseat has ok space too. It's not luxury, but the plastics are good....simple controls. TO me its an almost perfect setup.

Its a nice combination of being able to have the tall hatchback with the nice comfortable driving position and ground clearance and still the vehicle seems carlike. It does not feel large and heavy like the Tiguan.

For an urban runner / errand hopper, for someone who wants a compact, tall hatch CUV (when lightly optioned) when mated to the stick it's a decent rig. TO me at least, makes more sense than a sedan of the same kit since you could fold down the rear seats and have more cargo area. More ground clearance, too.

A 240hp turbo Ralliart with 6 speed man and AWD with quicker steering and some more tightness in the suspension would be quite the fun getabout actually.

Even if they just had put the 2.4 in here with the 6 speed, alone that would be a nice package.

As it is the only gripes I have aside from needing the extra 6th gear here for me to enjoy it in base form would be just to get alum wheels and some better tires on it. I'd get the sliding armrest and get a little more sound deadener in there.

The 6th gear alone would do wonders, in town its not an issue but on trips I would need to want it.

At higher price levels, the value equation is not there....once you add the glass roof, and some of the other stuff. And, the competition in the segment is pretty stiff now as the new Sportage and Tucson are both good. I thought the Sportage felt cheaper in terms of interior materials and it had a slightly cheap and loose feel to it that is not present here. I prefer the OS to the Sportage myself although i foresee the Sportage being far more popular.

Edited January 18, 2011 by regfootball