“People have very strong opinions about CUV’s either for or against. I’ll argue “For” them. The modern CUV is what the SUV should have been. A large percentage of the population doesn’t need large towing capacity and gobs of torque. They want a car-like ride with more space than a wagon with the comfort of AWD for the occasional snowy or rainy conditions. Many CUV’s also look more attractive than wagons or minivans (Nissan Murano, Mazda CX7, Saturn Outlook, Infiniti FX, etc).”

That pretty much describes me. I recently bought my first house…my wife and I both have small sedans, and they just don’t cut it when it comes to cargo space. Trucks guzzle far too much gas to make one my daily driver, and compact trucks with 4-cylinder engines just don’t cut it in size or driveability.

So what’s left? A small SUV that gets decent gas mileage and has ample power to either carry a big load or tow a trailer.

Every car review site with comments brings out all the haters waiting to pounce with their snarky comments…but I think most people need to drive this thing before they make up their mind.

-Too much plastic inside? Have you been in any new cars lately? Ol’ Rav4 has plenty o’ plastic as well. The interior seems nice enough.

-Not enough power? 220 hp seems adequate to me.

-Lowsy performance? Mitsu claims an 8 sec. run to 60 mph, which is probably pushing it, but still, since when is ~8.5 sec. too slow for everyday driving? What were these folks doing 20 years ago when “sports” cars took 10+ sec. to 60?

-Gas mileage? 2WD is rated at 20/27 and 4WD 19/26. Browsing forums, it is apparent that many folks are getting well into the mid-20’s MPG in semi-urban driving. That’s impressive if you ask me. The converse is true for the Rav4…real world MPG seems to be less than EPA ratings for many owners. 6-cyl “compact” (midsize) trucks get V8 gas mileage…not cool if you ask me.

-Road noise? In comparison to what? Lexus RX? Sure, it’s got some noise, but again I’ll ask, what did these people think of cars 10+ years ago? From test drives the interior seemed quite serene for a CUV…definitely quieter than most sedans from a few years back. I sure hope these folks didn’t enter an economy car a decade ago – they’d think they were in the Cave of the Winds.

I’m strongly considering purchasing an Outlander XLS after the first of the year, and after test driving it, my opinion has only gotten stronger. It’s got ample power, impressive real-world MPG reported by owners, and an impressive feature set for the price. Sure, people who don’t own a house or have never bought an item that didn’t fit in their truck don’t understand – but this thing is really the best of both worlds for me as a daily driver. And I happen to think the styling is great – it looks contemporary and upscale, without screaming “I’m a baby SUV!!!” like the Rav4 or “my neighbors think it’s an Acura!!!” like the CR-V.

But I guess there’ll always be haters and folks who want to criticize every vehicle out there, as if only the car they’d choose to drive is sensible. Believe it or not, there’s a large group of folks out there who see the CUV as a viable alternative to larger, gas-guzzling haulers. To me, it seems the logical choice.

What I don’t understand is why people who do not own small SUV’s hate them so much. I live in Canada and from the snow and ice on the roads and from driving cars with RWD for many years I can say I would never go back to owning a car and never go without 4WD ever again.

I have driven 16 hours through a blizzard from Toronto to Northwestern Ontario in my 05 Escape and I can safely say that it was a peice of cake to driving it in a car. I have no doubt this Outlander will make a great replacement for my Escape.

Mitsu has new lancer coming up and has a decent presence worldwide. Not all manufacturers are successful every where but mitsu does sell in just about every country. That in itself is impressive.

Their product portfolio has many good cars. New delica minivan looks butch and “i” microcar has been very successful. Outlander itself is being a hit in many countries. So much so that it outsold rav4 and cr-v in japan for few months and okazaki plant was brought online when mizushima couldnt meet the demand. Their triton pickup which was developed inhouse and has no relation to raider/dakota is an honest pickup. Pajero is also doing well. This speaks well for mitsu in the future.

If only they can get NA operations in order. Until then they will be niche players like Subaru, Suzuki and ahem VW.

Speaking of sube and co, I think they all have good backing from banks and conglomerates. Fuji heavy industries, Mitsu heavy industries and Mitsu bank have huge assets and companies that are very diversified.

On a side note, Check out the following links if you got time on your hand
http://www.mitsubishi-motors.tv/outlander.html
http://www.mitsubishi-motors.tv/

to those who are digital A/C phobic. the issue with digital screens and buttons for a/c is that those bulky knobs on previous generation cars looked really alien. they didn`t match in any paragraph to the stereo system above.the stereo system needs to be blended into ac, still be easy to digest and operate.and when you can regulate temperatures for driver and passenger seperately, makes it pleasant and value-wise.

you see, gadgetry gives impression of value, of price. and of course it`s more complex, because there are motors that actuate valve positions for each mode, while a knob has a long screw directly connected to the main valve.look how nicely look a/c controls in buick lucerne, with nice buttons with chrome rims and a digital screen amidst. ditto the otlook, big SUvs etc..

serious companies have always stressed their top-dog versions with digital screens. for example mitsubishi 3000gt, in cheaper non-turbo versions it had shift knobs, while the turbo beast had nicely laid out digital screen with buttons.

gizmos in cars are not always for usage( how many times have you used power mirrors?), but they represent the image of value and priciness of the car. so it is a hook on which many customers get caught.and it`s a nice one.

ditto the chrome accents. if the door from inside has a black plastic handle or a chromed one, it doesn`t have any difference in usage, still it gives the impression of detailing and attitude. the times, when you could just stamp a colourless emblem within a steering whhel soft plastic, is gone. today you Must put a seperate emblem! what for? again- the image of value…….

Yeah, they do. That Dakota rebadge. According to the chart Geotpf provided on Frank W’s latest editorial, there’s a 128 day supply of the things. Shocking.

That’s not all. The Outlander’s big brother, the Endeavor, has a fat $4000 factory rebate.

Hmmm… who would miss Mitsubishi?

Folks who hope, just once, for a Mitsubishi Eclipse that is as fun to drive as the early 90’s generation.

Deadbeats who are looking for just one more opportunity for zero dollars, with zero down until the next calendar year.

That GM robot from the Super Bowl who is now employed by Hertz as a ‘checkout manager’. Hey, the Galant’s kinda reminds me of a Picasso meets Roboto combination.

Mitsubishi died about five years ago from a combination of bad financial management and excessive blandness. What we’re seeing now is little more than a footnote before the fade into obscurity.

Does anyone here actually know that Mitsubishi makes a pickup truck?

Toyota
Honda
Nissan
Kia
Hyundai
GM
Ford
Chrysler
Suzuki
Mitsubishi

Out of all those manufactuers, Suzuki and Mitsubishi are the most expendable.

Neither one has a single vehicle that leads the class in… well… anything.

The only area where Mitsubishi has any hope of enduring is in the rental fleet market. The same goes for Suzuki.

not to ramble, but you know, years ago in the synthesizer world people threw out their old analogs with a gazillion knobs and replaced them with whizzy digital things with three buttons and an lcd. 15 years later they realized the knobs were a much better UI and brought back knobs controlling whizzy digital stuff under the hood. maybe the next generation of cars will have all that obnoxious wizardry but it will just be hooked up to a knob that says FUN on one side and SAFE on the other. or WARM/COLD. or COMMUTE/TRACK.

Outlander and Rav4 are nice and compact. Outlander has 182 inches of length (one foot shorter than many sedans) and 71 inches width to accommodate parents/inlaws along with baby seat. Rear seats recline along with ability to slide back. Price wise, outlander has rav4 and crv beat but you get what you pay for.

I am sure Rav4 is a tad bit refined and more powerful. cr-v is more fuel efficient. Also, resale wise rav4 and cr-v have outlander beat.

However, for many folks, price of XLS outlander itself is a stretch and in canada, equivalent rav4 limited is full $6k more. Difference grows when you include interest charges and tax. I also noticed that mitsu dealers are more willing to give you a fair deal than HonYota dealers. You can negotiate (hard) and get a lot more for your trade-in, while knocking couple grand off MSRP. This puts outlander in the same league as camry v6 except you get all the benefits of awd wagon “on stilts”.

Seldom does a review/editorial offer such a comprehensive summation in the first sentence of the first paragraph. Thank-you, Sajeev.

“In fact, the Outlander is a modern day station wagon…”.

Last paragraph, first sentence. Again, Sajeev, thank-you for your cut-to-the-chase review of aforementioned station wagon.

End of story.

Honey, can you pass the salt? This meatloaf tastes a little bland….

An ideal vehicle (for me) would be something like a Mazda5 with a bit more pep and optional AWD.

The only thing Xenon lights accomplish is blinding the other driver coming in the opposite direction. If any driver has trouble seeing with halogen lights, they should either get their vision corrected or don’t drive at night…

Unless you are talking wagons of yore like the Caprice they just don’t compete with CUV’s. My families previous two vehicles where a Subaru Outback and a Nissan Murano. I had a great deal more space in my Murano than my wife did in her Outback. The back seat in the wagon is cramped and storage behind was reasonable. The back seat in the Murano was huge and the storage was a bit tighter. Even being shorter in length behind the rear seats I could fit more in my Murano’s hatch than in the Outback; seats down it was no contest.

On to the Outlander; I was able to get in one at the local autoshow and found it to be quite nice. I liked the paddle shifter and trick tailgate. The 3rd row seats are a joke but there is the “well I’ll never need them but just in case I do they are there” line of thinking.

If for some reason I needed to go back to a family vehicle I’d look at the Outlander and Mazda CX7, the Murano has just gotten too pricey for me and I don’t trust CVT transmissions. If the Dodge Magnum didn’t have a crappy interior design I might look at that as well (it’s a good sized wagon but not as much room as many CUV’s). Alas I can get away with not having the family hauler as the DD and am happy for it.

Stuff it with content, price it right, hard to argue with the effort. I would like to see Mitsu return as a serious contender in the US, and this vehicle may not get them there, but it’s a step in the right direction – if they square up their sedan offerings and de-porkify the Eclipse, shore up their reliability, they just might do it.

P.S.
I agree – digital AC is a drawback to me – yet almost unavoidable on some of our purchases. I will confess to having a fondness for variable speed fan control (why only 4 or 5 settings? It’s just a potentiometer, right? – make it like a volume control for that *just* right setting) and as of late, dual climate control – for the driver and passenger.

But having to go through the NAV screen to get to it, or using a digital control…bah humbug.

In South Florida, I want MAX COLD – now, without waiting for something to boot.

Michael, I agree with you, but the Toyota marketing jocks don’t…

5 door and a hatch? Let’s see…E-class wagon, all audi wagons, subaru legacy, dodge magnum. All those are great wagons for people who have 2 kids or less and carry lots of stuff. If you have 3+ kids, then yes, the SUV/CUV becomes a valid alternative to the dreaded minivan.

As for the rest, this website has generally been a strong supporter of hot hatches (A3, GTI, Mazda3,…)
I can’t wait to test-drive the Volvo C30 and the BMW 1-series 3 doors.

Hmmm… well, last time I checked, anything higher than 200hp engine was unnecessary (unless you’re towing). And how often do you use ABS or airbags? Do you always have all the seats occupied in your car? Here are some really ridiculous things found in cars: leather, sunroofs, navigation systems (just buy a map for $5, right?), heated steering wheel, keyless start. But you don’t see people railing against cars that have those things.

My dad always said “It’s better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it.” That one time a year where AWD or off-road capability might save you time, money, or even your life, I think is well worth it. And evidently millions of people agree by using their money to purchase a CUV/SUV. For a person or family who needs or can only afford one vehicle, the CUV genre offers them an option that will probably be able to handle nearly any situation they encounter.

YES. I have yet to find automatic climate control and rain-sensing wipers to suit me. Give me one knob that has pictures of my windshield, my face, and my feet; one knob that goes from 0 to 4 or 5, and one knob that goes from blue to red. I’ll take care of the rest.

I’ll accept sliders, but I prefer knobs.

I would much rather pay $25K for a simple car that is bullet proof than have one with all the latest gadgets (and associated future hassles)