First Test: 2011 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport SE AWD
Is Value Enough To Replace Performance?
Mitsubishi isn't a name you hear much, but the new 2011 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport could change that. We recently sampled the new compact crossover and came away impressed. Now, we've had a chance to put one through the paces on our test track and see how it really stacks up against the competition.
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As we noted in our First Drive, the Outlander Sport's 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine isn't especially impressive on paper. Offering 148 horsepower and 145 pound-feet of torque, it's down a minimum of 20 horsepower against every other vehicle in its competitive set. Our tester was equipped with a continuously variable automatic (a five-speed manual is optional) and Mitsubishi's Super-All Wheel Control all-wheel drive system (front-wheel drive is standard). While it isn't deal-breaking on the road, the test track tells a different story.
In fact, it's a rather predictable story. Down on power, the Outlander Sport needs 10.1 seconds to reach 60 mph despite its competitive 3362-pound curb weight. That puts the Mitsubishi at the back of the pack, a full second or more behind its competition. The quarter-mile requires 17.1 seconds and is dispatched at 79.4 mph, again well behind the pack.
Things get better when you add a curve or two. On the skid pad, the S-AWC takes over and spits out a respectable 0.76 g average, on the low end of the class but still competitive. It's the same story on the figure eight, where the Outlander Sport pulls off a 28.9-second lap at 0.56 g average, again on the low side but still a match for the competition. The story is a bit better in the braking test, where the Mitsubishi finishes mid-pack, stopping in 125 feet from 60 mph.
Luckily, raw performance isn't the Outlander Sport's selling point. Mitsubishi is instead aiming at value shoppers, offering a lot of content for a little money. Standard features include Bluetooth, USB audio inputs, a tilting and telescoping steering wheel, air conditioning, power everything, and Fuse, a Ford Sync-like voice-control technology. Options include navigation, a monster Rockford Fosgate stereo with satellite radio, a panoramic sunroof, HID headlights, and heated front seats.
The value proposition comes in the pricing. Though not finalized, the base Outlander Sport is expected to come in under $19,000, putting it ahead of most of the competitive set. Up-market SE models like our tester should start under $23,000 and a fully loaded model is expected to top out at $26,500, just $2500 more than a base Volkswagen Tiguan. Are the savings and features enough to make up for the lackluster performance? We'll have to have a comparison test and find out.
Were you one of those kids who taught themselves to identify cars at night by their headlights and taillights? I was. I was also one of those kids with a huge box of Hot Wheels and impressive collection of home-made Lego hot rods. I asked my parents for a Power Wheels Porsche 911 for Christmas for years, though the best I got was a pedal-powered tractor. I drove the wheels off it. I used to tell my friends I’d own a “slug bug” one day. When I was 15, my dad told me he would get me a car on the condition that I had to maintain it. He came back with a rough-around-the-edges 1967 Volkswagen Beetle he’d picked up for something like $600. I drove the wheels off that thing, too, even though it was only slightly faster than the tractor. When I got tired of chasing electrical gremlins (none of which were related to my bitchin’ self-installed stereo, thank you very much), I thought I’d move on to something more sensible. I bought a 1986 Pontiac Fiero GT and got my first speeding ticket in that car during the test drive. Not my first-ever ticket, mind you. That came behind the wheel of a Geo Metro hatchback I delivered pizza in during high school. I never planned to have this job. I was actually an aerospace engineering major in college, but calculus and I had a bad breakup. Considering how much better my English grades were than my calculus grades, I decided to stick to my strengths and write instead. When I made the switch, people kept asking me what I wanted to do with my life. I told them I’d like to write for a car magazine someday, not expecting it to actually happen. I figured I’d be in newspapers, maybe a magazine if I was lucky. Then this happened, which was slightly awkward because I grew up reading Car & Driver, but convenient since I don’t live in Michigan. Now I just try to make it through the day without adding any more names to the list of people who want to kill me and take my job.
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