Over the break, I spent a total of 1,315 miles behind the 2007 Mitsubishi Outlander's wheel on my way to the final 24 Hours of LeMons race of 2007. That's a long haul spent largely on the exceedingly dull Interstate 5 between Los Angeles and Willows, CA. Long enough to pick some nits with the steering wheel.
First, the buttons on the wheel, while largish and well-placed, sit flush with the silver plastic on the spokes. This makes them difficult to distinguish by feel alone...
Also, a few times I wished the wheel had a telescoping function. I have to sit a bit closer to the pedals than I'd like in order to have a comfortable reach to the wheel. And I'm one of those "long torso, short legs" kind of guys, so I'm usually not as sensitive to this as others.
Average fuel economy during the trip: 20.2 mpg, which includes spirited cruising and plenty of foot-to-floor passing.
Jason Kavanagh, Engineering Editor @ 19,484 miles
thebigal says:
04:30 PM, 01/ 2/08
Aww... that wonderful stretch of nothingness that is I-5.... Maybe we passed each other somewhere along the way. I made that same trip only I went from Medford, OR all the way to Phoenix AZ. I went double the number of miles. and I would have much prefered it in something like the Outlander...
dougtheeng says:
05:24 PM, 01/ 2/08
if thats the same wheel as on my 08 lancer gts, which it seems to be, then some of the buttons have the brail-bump things on them. That, and some practice with the car (ie driving every day), seem to make the system easy enough for me.
opfreak says:
05:53 PM, 01/ 2/08
wow this little car got gas milage about as good the enclave.
altimadude00 says:
11:02 PM, 01/ 2/08
...or as bad as the Enclave. (Good for Buick, bad for Mitsu.)
ahightower says:
08:01 AM, 01/ 3/08
I'm with you, Altimadude. I was thinking "as bad as the Enclave". In fact, it's as bas as my Yukon XL (although I think 20 mpg is pretty good for a heavy truck with five people and a ton of stuff on board). I probably drive a lot slower than Jason's "spirited cruising", but still would have expected a little better from the Outlander.
ahightower says:
08:06 AM, 01/ 3/08
Also, I agree that Mitsu needs a telescoping wheel. The awkward driving position was one of the things that kept me from buying a Lancer a few weeks ago. Just couldn't get a comfortable driving position, and I knew it would annoy me every day.
dodo2 says:
10:32 AM, 01/ 3/08
The key in Jason's comment is "plenty of foot-to-floor passing" which would hurt fuel economy more than the "spirited cruising".
20+ mpg under the stated driving conditions sounds pretty good to me.
I usually average 21-22 mpg in my regular driving (which is spirited but not extreme), which to me is good enough for this vehicle type.
I got 26+ mpg on highway trips with the car loaded, A/C on, averaging 70 mph, some inclines and I got 13+ mpg hopping between stores, most under 1 mile apart, in cold weather, while Christmas shopping. I guess "your mileage may vary" applies here.
As for the Enclave comparison, unless you test two vehicles under IDENTICAL conditions you cannot really make a meaningful comparison.
qqt414 says:
10:02 PM, 01/ 3/08
Keep in mind that the enclave is only the two wheel drive version as oppose to the 4wd equipment on the outlander. the added size and weight of the enclave in general make it kind of a wash, but the 4wd enclave will most definitely go down a few mpg. i average around 22 mpg with my outlander which is normally 40/60 city highway driving. I hope mitsu bumps the output of the V6 engine now that the 2.4 liter 4 is in the mix. i think cars like the Rav-4 V6 get better mileage because the v6 doesn't have to try hard while cruising, but the v6 in the mitsu can feel slightly anemic in cruising rpm between 1500-3000rpm. Just some thoughts from a Outlander owner.
jriz says:
09:26 AM, 01/ 4/08
EPA combined fuel economy for the Outlander 4WD with V6 is 20 mpg. Combined for the Enclave FWD is 19 mpg.
dodo2 says:
10:03 AM, 01/ 4/08
Judging buy the new EPA numbers for the Outlander and my own experience, they went on the pessimistic side. Perhaps they would like you to have a pleasant surprise when you get better numbers in the real world.