Last night I had the opportunity to drive our Mitsubishi Outlander. I wasn't particularly sold on it during a brief errand last week, but once I read Engineering Editor Jay Kavanagh's glowing praise of it yesterday, I decided to give it another shot. And gol-durn-it, he was right. It's got a very nice ride, and I didn't even feel the typical Conestoga-wagon bouncy SUV ride on the freeway...
I LOVE the paddle shifters. Jay was right. So much more fun. I'm a manual-transmission kind of cat, and whenever I drive a shiftable automatic, I always manual-shift it to check the smoothness. I was really impressed with the Outlander. The only slight complaint is trying to downshift to 1st gear when you're coming to a stop, and I'm talking maybe 0-5 mph. It still feels a bit clunky and noticeable, but even in that respect it's better than most. Good show, Mitsubishi. I look forward to more drives.
Doug Lloyd, Senior Copy Editor, @ 4,804 miles
carlisimo says:
01:05 PM, 05/22/07
I haven't found it easy to shift into 1st in any manual transmission, either. Usually takes a stab of the gas and/or double-clutching.
Glad to hear the Outlander's manumatic is good!
dodo2 says:
01:17 PM, 05/22/07
I don't usually downshift from 2nd to 1st when coming to a stop. The car stops (while in 2nd gear) and then the tranny shifts automatically in 1st. This way I avoid the situation described by you. I only downshift manually when I want to use the engine breake to stop the car in which case it is a bit clunky indeed, but I don't think this is specific to the Outlander.
phinneas519 says:
01:35 PM, 05/22/07
When driving a manual, I usually just roll to the light in neutral (yes, I know, it's a no-no) when I'm about 10 feet away. Then I just start up again in first or second gear. No problems.
funkymunky says:
03:11 PM, 05/22/07
I guess y'all have a point. I never downshift to 1st in a manual until after I've stopped. Point taken. That said, it's a great automanual, fo' sho'.
carlisimo says:
04:07 PM, 05/22/07
I usually roll up to lights in neutral too.
I do downshift into 1st when I'm slowing down but not quite stopping, like before a really bad speed bump, or crawling through a parking lot intersection, or sometimes in stop and go traffic. So it's not irrelevant, I'm just pointing out that it's hard to do in every transmission.
banhugh says:
07:14 PM, 05/22/07
Why is it a no no to cruise in neutral to a red light? I do it all the time, thanks.
SubyTrojan says:
11:37 PM, 05/22/07
banhugh, it's a "no-no" because you're up the creek without a paddle should you need to accelerate for any sort of accident avoidance maneuver. Nevertheless, I'm guilty of the habit of coasting to a standstill for red lights.
mohaji says:
07:52 AM, 05/23/07
kind of off topic, but I used to coast to stop in neutral as well. If I ever need to get out of the way, I already have my foot on clutch, and 1st is a flick of wrist away, and if one is inclined to do so, it's less than a second worth of movement, so I don't buy Suby's argument.(with all due respect). Does anyone have mechanical/electrical reason not to coast?
bimmerjay says:
08:16 AM, 05/23/07
Suby, in the Outlander you're never without a paddle... there's two! ::snicker::
SubyTrojan says:
09:14 AM, 05/23/07
Good one, bimmerjay! That was a poor choice of words on my part. =Þ
mohaji, I don't have a problem with what you said because I consider myself an "offender" as well. Even thought you may be able to depress the clutch pedal and get the car back into 1st as quickly as "The Stig" (from Top Gear) himself, there are still a few tenths of a second that transpire in the time it takes you to do that. In an emergency situation, I would think every moment is precious.
If I'm not in neutral but need to grab first (as happens to me many times every morning crawling along the Santa Monica freeway), it's a pain in the rear to shift into first without double-clutching with the *wonderful* :rolleyes: Subaru 5-speed manual transmission. That would be a few tenths of a second there as well.