Mitsubishi Outlander ES 2013: Road Test

Price Guide (recommended price before statutory and delivery charges): $31,240
Options fitted (not included in above price): Metallic paint $495
Crash rating: Five-star (ANCAP)
Fuel: 91 RON ULP
Claimed fuel economy (L/100km): 6.6
CO2 emissions (g/km): 153
Also consider: Honda CR-V VTi (from $27,490); Mazda CX-5 Maxx ($27,880); Nissan X-TRAIL ST (from $28,490); Toyota RAV4 GX (from $28,490)

Outlander has been a popular nameplate over the years, but the SUV that wears the name has been consistently outsold in recent times. Subaru's Forester, Nissan X-TRAIL, Toyota's RAV4 and the Mazda CX-5 each accounted for thousands more sales than the Mitsubishi in Australia in 2012.

The new ZJ model arrives in the local market with a true front-wheel drive variant to combat similar faux-wheel drive SUVs from Mitsubishi's principal competitors – and help address the sales gap. And far from answering a question no one asked, the resulting Outlander ES is a more affordable entry-level variant delivering lower running costs thanks to a (smaller) 2.0-litre engine driving through the optional CVT (continuously variable transmission) to the front wheels alone.

From first impressions the Outlander was a discouraging prospect. The styling was bland and certainly less appealing than that of the model it succeeds. And while the interior was functional, and most controls were easily located and operated, the execution was unexciting.

But if the Outlander got off on the wrong foot it made amends over the course of the week. Build quality seemed better than the last generation for a start; the body was certainly very tight and the doors closed securely with a reassuring thud.

In five-seat form (the Outlander can seat seven in all other variants), the overall packaging is quite good. Given the car's footprint, it is spacious inside, with plenty of headroom and legroom in the front and rear seats. In fact, with the rear seat squabs positioned high off the floor, there was plenty of wriggle room under the front seats and above average kneeroom for the Outlander to accommodate four adults in reasonable comfort.

Front seats are cosseting and reasonably supportive too, but the cushioning in the rear left something to be desired. Entering and leaving the Outlander was right on the money for adults of average size, thanks to the SUV's elevated hip point.

In keeping with the earlier ZH Outlander, the five-seat ZJ model provided plenty of useful boot space and a full-size spare mounted below the boot floor (accessible from underneath the car).

From a packaging standpoint, the one safety-related flaw we noted was the Outlander's thick D pillars, which did hinder the field of vision to the rear at times.

As far as comfort was concerned, the lack of eyeball vents in the rear seemed like a strange omission, even in a vehicle costing just over $31,000.

Out on the road, the Outlander's steering response was slow by passenger car standards, but quite acceptable against other SUVs. There was some sneeze factor built into the steering around the straight-ahead, but feedback was pretty good once the car was committed to a change of direction.

At lower speeds the steering was very light and lacked feedback.

Handling was throttle-sensitive, with more push through the corner as the car accelerated out the other side. That said, the Outlander ES could be placed fairly precisely in corners and it displayed surprising levels of grip and feedback through the seat.

There was no likelihood of heading off-road in the front-driven Outlander ES, obviously, but the petrol drivetrain compensated with its acceptable fuel economy, returning around 8.5L/100km on the open road. During 45 minutes of heavy, peak-hour commuting, the Outlander ES occasionally averaged below 10.0L/100km, although closer to 11 was more common, according to the onboard trip computer.

The continuously-variable transmission fitted was quieter than we recently experienced in the Subaru XV and Impreza, and Mitsubishi engineers have done their best to excise the droning syndrome from the box. Alas, it's still there when the engine is working harder.

CVTs are not popular with those who like transmissions to work in the conventional (stepped) way, but if the buyer is not fazed by that, the Outlander's combination of CVT and torquey engine made for a relaxed way to get somewhere. The car just glided everywhere and even on (gentle) slopes the CVT harnessed enough torque to keep the car accelerating.

There's a touch more engine braking than CVT-equipped counterparts.

The 2.0-litre engine develops 110kW and 190Nm at its respective peak points. That sort of output felt lively enough on the move but launching from a standing start was a pretty tame affair.

While the four-cylinder was smooth enough right up to its 6000rpm redline, it was not a sporty sounding engine. To extract any kind of performance from it required shifting the lever into 'Drive-S' or 'Low', which was fine, but there is no sequential-shift facility with this CVT so the driver has to work a bit harder or wait a bit longer for performance to materialise.

More importantly for many buyers, we note that the tyres are moderately noisy on bitumen, up to 100km/h where driveline noise joins in. Alas the combination of those two is overpowered by wind noise.

Up against a couple of obvious competitors the Outlander ES is a little more expensive, but Mitsubishi's five-year warranty might be enough for many buyers to place the Outlander at the top of the shopping list.

LS model images shown

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