I like the feel of the shift paddles on our Outlander GT. There's a pleasing metallic weight to them as you pull back to shift. But I'd like them even more if the transmission was capable of rev-matched downshifts. It's not. So if you're braking and downshifting, the Outlander lurches annoyingly every time a lower gear is engaged.
For most regular vehicles with manual shift control but no paddles, I'm OK if there aren't rev-matched downshifts. But it seems to me that Mitsubishi has made a declaration of performance by adding paddles, so the Outlander should have the goods to back it up.
Brent Romans, Senior Automotive Editor
old_volvo says:
11:16 AM, 08/27/10
Here is a quick summary of next weeks Outlander reports:
Monday - Takahashi - Outlander stole my lunch money and then peed brake fluid on my t-bird. A/C blows luke-warm air on my nether regions making the ride extremely uncomfortable.
Tuesday - none - it was hot and no-one would drive the Outlander, Oldham was supposed to drive it home, but took the bus instead. Bus had nice working A/C.
Wednesday - Brent Romans - After Oldham's complaint about the loose seat, I decided to see for myself. Saw some white marks on the seat and though it was premature wear, turns out it is salt from dried sweat, apparently the A/C still doesn't blow cold...it just blows.
Thursday - Erin Riches - Was supposed to drive the outlander today, ignored it and swapped it for the Mazdaspeed 3 with Kelly Toepke. I now owe her an entire weekend of babysitting.
Thursday - Kelly Toepke - took outlander grocery shopping, I bough ice cream. The outlander's A/C blew hot air on the ice cream until it melted leaving a mess in the back seat.
Friday - Outlanders bottom tailgate won't close and A/C has started cursing at us when we turn it on. Took car to dealer for service, A/C told us to f***-off.
f1ndler says:
11:32 AM, 08/27/10
+1 to old_volvo.
At least it has flappy pedal.
fuhteng says:
02:26 PM, 08/27/10
Ha ha ha. Very nice old_volvo.
hybris says:
07:53 PM, 08/27/10
Again +1 to old_volvo.
ivanz says:
04:05 PM, 08/29/10
I'm sure it doesn't lurch in Europe, where the auto is a twin clutch SST transmission. However, it costs roughly twice the amount it does in the US. For the price, Outlander has a surprising good manual mode, which does what you tell it to do unless you are about to stall or are redlining.
Most Lexus cars, for example, have a manual mode which is more like a suggestion mode. It basically only sets the top most gear the transmission can go to...and that's only up to a certain RPM (not redline). So please don't complain about the manual mode on a car that is half the price and a class or two below.