While the Outlander doesn’t feel as refined as competition and the cabin quality isn’t as best either, the chinks in the armour can be forgiven
Published on Aug 31, 2009 07:00:00 AM
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The Outlander comes with a twin-cam 2.4-litre engine. Mitsubishi’s MIVEC (Mitsubishi Innovative Valve-timing Electronic Control) engine is an all-alloy unit and a good performer by itself but the buzzy CVT transmission doesn’t allow it to achieve its full potential. To get the best out of the Outlander, you have to leave it in ‘D’ and keep your foot mashed on the throttle. The electronics and the CVT will figure out how to get you to 100kph in the least time, which is 11.4 seconds. Still, the CR-V, despite its 7bhp disadvantage, beats it to the 100kph mark. This is because of the weird runner-band effect of the Outlander’s CVT transmission which gives you a feeling that the engine is revving without a corresponding increase in speed. There is a delay in response before the Outlander gets going. The extra 50-kilo kerb weight doesn’t help either.
The Outlander is more fun to drive in manual mode by simply tugging on those beautiful paddleshifts. Though a CVT has no fixed gear ratios, the six ‘gears’ are great to play around with. What amazed us were the lightning-quick shifts both up and down through the range. The downside is that the engine sounds thrashy when you extend it and in terms of refinement isn’t the best past 4000rpm. But for the most part, performance is more than adequate and once the CVT picks up, the Outlander surges ahead with ease. The Outlander is a pretty good highway cruiser and canters effortlessly at high speed.
In terms of fuel efficiency, the Outlander returned 7.2kpl on the highway and 9.7kpl in the city.
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