SA Roadtests
South Africa
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This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. I drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under real-world South African conditions. Many of the vehicles driven are world cars as well, so what you read here possibly applies to the models you get where you live.
My most recent drive is on the home page. Archived reviews and opinion pieces are in the active list down the left side. Hover your cursor over a heading or manufacturer's name and search through the drop-down menu that appears.
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Pics by author
First posted: December 14, 2007
The Outlander is Mitsubishi's entrant in the hotly-contested crossover SUV class of semi-recreational people- and cargo movers. So what is a crossover SUV and how is it different from a station wagon or a minivan?
The term "station wagon" has fallen out of favour because they are perceived to be "boring, bourgeois, suburban and uncomfortable," the "minivan" or "MPV" is seen as a hulking too-tall tank that handles like a pig on a skateboard and guzzles fuel, while early SUVs are seen as minivans with or without some off-road capability. In other words, they possess as much finesse as normal pickups ("bakkies" in South African) but without much dirt-cred.
Wikipedia defines the crossover SUV as: "an automobile with a sport utility vehicle appearance, but built upon a more economical and fuel-efficient unibody construction." It goes on to say that the words "CUV" or "Crossover" are not ubiquitous and are primarily used by people in the automobile industry.
So what we have is a station wagon with a van-like silhouette and some off road capability, all built on a car platform. In this instance the car platform is that of the rally-proven Mitsubishi Lancer. Another item borrowed from the rally car is Mitsubishi's sophisticated six-speed constantly variable transmission (CVT), which gives owners the option of driving just the front wheels, all four in an electronically controlled setup which decides for you just how much power to deliver to the rear, or 4x4 locked, which delivers power equally between front and rear.
CVT is a revolutionary new invention, right? Sorry, folks, it was used by Dutch manufacturer DAF in a little 1100cc car in the late '60s and early '70s. Mitsubishi has taken the idea and developed it further. Instead of normal gear ratios, selected by a manual gear lever or by the torque converter in a traditional automatic gearbox, the system uses two opposing cones coupled to a torque converter.
The driven cone transfers its power to the second one by means of a drive chain in the case of the Mitsubishi (DAF used a belt). As speed increases or decreases, the chain moves up or down the driven cone and in the opposite direction on the other, maintaining constant tension, but different "gearing."
What this means to you is that as you accelerate steadily, the rev counter remains pretty much constant, while speed just climbs. The advantage is that when accelerating briskly, the engine maintains peak torque all the time, without having to build up power again when revs reduce each time you change up in a normal gearbox. It also means that once you have attained your chosen momentum, at whatever rpm, it is more easily maintained, resulting in better fuel efficiency. In practical terms, this scribe was able to maintain 120 km/h on a level freeway at about 2300 rpm and 60 km/h in town at about 1500 rpm.
The system appears to work: "Car" magazine's fuel index for this vehicle is 9,03 l/100 km, which for a tall 2,4 litre vehicle weighing 1581 kg and fitted with automatic transmission, is not bad at all. Top speed is given as 187 km/h and the 0 to 100 km/hr sprint is quoted at 10,15 seconds.
For those with hooligan blood in their veins, the 'box is also operable in sport mode with 6 electronically-determined ratios selected by means of a Tiptronic-style lever. This scribe admits to such tendencies and had great fun pushing the car through some tighter sections on a private road. Bearing in mind that the Outlander is taller and higher off the tar than your standard little oriental shopping trolley, handling was confident and controlled.
Four by four capabilities: Mitsubishi describes the Outlander as an "urban 4x4" or what journalists usually call a "soft roader." In bike terms, think "trail bike" rather than "scrambler." In practical terms, you would subject the car to milder challenges, while leaving the serious boulder climbing antics to the main "manne" of the 4x4 world.
To gain an idea of how the Outlander would fare on the road to your chosen farm, I selected one of the many roads leading to Currie's Post - a mix of what we farm boys call "good" dirt, pretty smooth but littered with potholes, and some rough tar sections. The car's suspension is supple and compliant, soaking up all but the worst holes comfortably and maintaining a steady course.
Styling is modern, edgy and purposeful. Whether you like it or not, is up to you. Body-wise, you get sufficient width to sit comfortably and enough cabin length that six-footers can sit comfortably behind other six-footers. The rear seats can be adjusted fore and aft within a 120mm range and the seat backs can also be adjusted within the constraints placed on them by said fore and aft adjustment and the bar separating them from the cargo area. While you can't transform them into recliners, you do have more adjustment than one usually finds in back seats.
The back seats can also be tumbled forward, in 60/40 configuration, to extend the rear load area by a further 370 mm.
Expressed as capacity, the load area is transformable within the range 376 to 1384 cu. dm. by sliding and tumbling the rear seats in various ways. The split tail gate has its own party trick, too. After lifting the upper door, one can put the lower part down to make the flat cargo bed even longer for extended loads or for sitting on while watching polo, or the teens at school sports, perhaps? As a security measure, the release catch for the space saver spare's under body cradle can only be reached when the lower part of the tailgate has been lowered in this way.
Modern conveniences include two glove boxes, one chilled by means of the automatic air conditioner, five cup holders, four bottle holders and more little storage areas than you probably need. The radio and CD player is a nine-speaker, 650 watt unit provided by the kings of ICE, Rockford Fosgate. The test car fleet manager joked that, if hijacked, it would possibly be for the sound system. Luckily, I did not have to find out.
For the family seeking a five-person transporter with decent load area, class-leading fuel economy and 4x4 capability when needed, the Mitsubishi Outlander at R299 900 (at time of writing) is worth considering.
Test unit from Chrysler-Mitsubishi SA press fleet
The bare facts:
Engine: 2359 cc inline four-cylinder
Power: 125 kW at 6000 rpm
Torque: 225 Nm at 4100 rpm
0-100 km/h: 10.14 seconds
Top speed: 187 km/h
Fuel consumption Index: 9.9 l/100 km
Tank: 60 litres
Luggage: 376 - 1384 cu.dm
Warranty: 2 years or 100 000km
Maintenance plan: 3 years/60 000 km.
This is a one-man show, which means that every car reviewed is given my personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.
Every test car goes through real world driving; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads or goat tracks as well. As a result, my test cars do occasionally get dirty. It's all part of the reviewing process.
I do my best to include relevant information like real life fuel economy or a close mathematical calculation, boot size or luggage space, whether the space is both usable and accessible, whether life-sized people can use the back seat (where that applies), basic specs of the vehicle and performance figures if they are published. In the case of clearly identified launch reports, fuel figures are of necessity the laboratory numbers provided with the release material.
If ever I place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with a very similar vehicle already, so you will be able to find what you want in another report under the same manufacturer's heading in the menu on the left.
Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. There are no advertisers and no “editorial policy” rules. I add bylines to acknowledge sponsored launch functions and the manufacturers or dealerships that provide the test vehicles. And, as quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so you can see I do actually exist.
Comments or questions?
Want to ask a question, comment or just tell me you completely disagree with what I say? If you want advice or have a genuine concern, I will be happy to hear from you. All I ask is that you write something in the subject line so I know which vehicle you're talking about.
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SA Roadtests
South Africa
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