Private Fleet Car Review: 2016 Mitsubishi Outlander XLS.

Mitsubishi’s medium sized SUV has grown considerably since it was released back in the mid noughties. Now looking nothing like the original donor car, the Lancer, it’s gone from a smallish, angular, almost “runt of the litter” look, (with a paltry four speed auto underneath), to a rounded off, handsome, male oriented look with its most recent update.

A Wheel Thing was bookmarked for the top of the range Exceed diesel, however a minor scheduling hiccup (ok, Mitsubishi needed it more than I did), saw a transfer into the mid range seven seater, the XLS, complete with 2.4L four cylinder petrol engine.

Normally we’d look at the engine first, however the most notable changes have been to the exterior so:

The Suit.
The changes are not insubstantial but are limited to the nose cone and tail light clusters. At the rear, the lights now spread across into the (non power operated) tail gate whilst the design has been modified slightly from before, sporting a “neon light” effect, plus a new chrome strip joins the two assemblies. The rear bumper has also been refined, with exhaust tips now integrated into the fairing for the top model, with the XLS retaining a single right hand exhaust underneath the redesigned bumper.

At the front, the bulbous and blobby look has been replaced; there’s chromework aplenty (a Japanese style change as Mitsubishi’s competitors have also gone the bright work look) contrasting with a blackout treatment between the now sharper edged headlights. The XLS sports LED driving lights around the reduced area and more angular cluster.

The bumper itself now has a sharper delineation horizontally, with two thickish chrome strips (rsembling a C on the left and mirror imaged on the driver’s side) bracketing a two bar grille and a centre aligned blackout. The outer edges have been reprofiled, holding onto the globelit driving lights there.
It’s more edgy and male oriented, it seems, tying in with the advertising.

In profile, there’s not much else to set the 2016 model apart from its immediate predecessor, apart, perhaps, from some too subtle to be noticed sheetmetal changes, however there’s a alloy look strip added to the lower extremities of the doors. Down below, there’s some attractive alloys, 18 inch diameter with 225/55 tyres, with a full sized spare available.

Powersource.
It’s Mitsubishi’s well proven 2.4L petrol four cylinder, with 124 kW and 220 metres of Mr Newton’s torque, at a high-ish 4200 revs. That rev point is crucial, as we’ll discuss later. Gearbox wise, it’s a CVT, with the now almost mandatory six program points. Power is put down through all four wheels and the car has a lockable centre differential should you choose to do a bit of off roading.

There’s a 60 litre tank for the donk to drink from and it’ll take almost any unleaded you can throw at it. Economy is rated by Mitsubishi as 7.2L per 100 kilometres on a combined cycle.

On The Inside.
Anyone having the 2013/14/15 model will immediately feel at home on the inside. A Mitsubishi strength has been ergonomics and there’s little to not like here. There’s the normal, chunky but not too chunky, steering wheel, the same design layout for the buttons for audio and Bluetooth, the dash with its full colour screen in between the dials and a piano black surround for the navitainment screen.

That sits atop the wonderfully simple layout for the aircon controls, a long standing highlight for the Outlander. Comprised of two round rocker switches for the driver and passenger’s zone for temperature, one for the fan speed and separate buttons for the rest, it’s a delight in its simplicity and utterly useful.

Mitsubishi’s website claims the XLS (and Exceed) have DAB (digital radio), I don’t recall seeing that on the screen. Navigation usage is simple, and best done when a vehicle is stationary, as certain required fields can’t be accessed with a vehicle in motion.

There’s seven seats, five for the main intended usage and two strap operated fold up/down seats in the rear, which doubles as a cargo area. With the rear seats up, there’s a mere 128 L; down, there’s 477 L. With the middle row folded flat, that jumps to 1608 L.

Plastics are of a somewhat more refined look and feel, with a general feeling of being a little higher class than before. The seats themselves have, in the XLS, a different cloth weave, however still feeling lacking is bolstering, side support, with lateral grip applied by the weave and not the cushions.
Ignition is key operated, in the XLS, with the Exceed getting keyless start and behind the tiller are paddle shifts.

On The Road.
Two very noticeable situations with the XLS in the week it was with A Wheel Thing. The torque the 2.4L generates may be fine with a hydraulic gearbox, offering reasonable if not scintillating, performance. That’s further dulled by the CVT, with overtaking on straights requiring a lot of prior planning and hoping another vehicle wouldn’t suddenly appear coming the other way. The other was the surprising amount of lack of front end grip on damp roads.

The XLS was showcased by taking it south of Sydney to the beautiful seaside town of Kiama for a weekend. There were two trips further south to Nowra, accessed by the Pacific Highway, with some stunning views and long sweeping curves. As, at the time of review, Sydney had been inundated with constant rain, the roads were wet, to say the least. In areas where the roads were signposted at a certain speed, there was unexpected understeer, to the point that velocities were reduced to levels under what would normally have been expected. This, from all four corners being driven and all three AWD modes being selected, just in case.
The actual steering ratio feels to be between 3.5 to 4 turns, lock to lock.

On dry roads, that understeer all but disappeared, leading to speculation that the tyres weren’t in harmony with the steering under the wet circumstances. The dry weight of the car is 1535 kg, towing capacity is 1600 kg; with four aboard plus fuel let’s call it two tonnes to haul around. Peak torque at over 4000 revs just doesn’t suit the CVT and the XLS’ intended usage, I certainly don’t believe any exuberant off road work would…well, work.

Ride quality was taut, without being jolting, with just the right balance of compliance before tightening up. It’s a flat ride, for the most part, minimal body roll with dive and rear end squat under acceleration invisible. Acceleration itself, with four aboard and not really a great deal of luggage, was spartan in its appeal. Full pedal movement had the Outlander under way with a leisurely stride, with no real hurry to see the needle move around the dial. Braking, on the other hand, started with one of the best balanced and modulated pedals around, with a bite, enough to give confidence, as soon as the pedal was pushed and stayed progressive through its travel.

The Wrap.
The Outlander range certainly has the appearance of having lost weight, visually, by reducing the roundness front and rear. The sharper edges to the headlights, to the front trim and the extension of the rear lights into the tailgate give a semblance of flattening the Outlander and providing a more assertive look.

The interior is still a delight in its ergonomic usefulness, it’s certainly corfortable enough (lack of side support, not withstanding) and on dry roads grips like a limpet. The wet drive performance in corners, well….and that lacklustre engine dull down the experience too much.
Pricing will vary depending on your location and insurer, according to Mitsubishi’s online price calculator but figure on around the $40K mark driveaway. It will be interesting to finally sample the diesel but from previous experience we don’t anticipate the dearth of life the 2.4L petrol has.

Go here: http://www.mitsubishi-motors.com.au/vehicles/outlander/specifications/outlander-2-4l for details on the 2.4L range.

The Car.
Engine: 2.4L, four cylinder.
Fuel: 90RON unleaded and above.
Power/Torque: 124 kW/220 Nm @ 6000/4200 rpm.
Transmission: Constant Variable Transmission, with six preprogrammed ratios.
Economy: 7.6L/100 km (no other figures available).
Seating: seven, two rear fold down, 60/40 split fold middle row.
Dimensions (L x W X H in mm): 4695 x 1810 x 1640.
Wheelbase/Ride Height: 2670 mm/ 190 mm (unladen).
Weight (dry): 1535 kg.
Cargo: 128L/477L/1608L depending on seating configuration.
Service/Warranty: refer to the Mitsubishi website for terms and conditions. http://credit-n.ru/offers-zaim/mgnovennye-zaimy-na-kartu-bez-otkazov-kredito24.html

Off-Road Driving That’s Out Of This World

A lot of us have discovered the joys of off-road driving.  Plenty of modern vehicles come with AWD capacity so you can do a little bit of off-roading of some sort – or so you can get the extra traction that a four-paw provides. There are plenty of very desirable 4x4s out there with all sorts of this and that to help them do better in the rough stuff. But no matter how good your Nissan Pathfinder or your Skoda Yeti  is, there are some vehicles that are a lot snazzier than that.

Good-bye Land Rover , hello Moon Rover.  The Apollo Lunar Rover must be one of the quirkiest and most famous of all the vehicles designed by General Motors (and a handful of others), although you are never, ever going to get to drive one.  Only a handful of people, all from the USA and the former USSR have driven about as far off the road as you can get, going for a wee jaunt about on the surface of the moon before the manned moon landings were scrapped.

So what’s the Lunar Rover like?

The styling of the Lunar Rover is somewhat reminiscent of an old-school farm tractor.  Keeping the weight to a minimum was in the design brief, as was the ability to fold the car up for storage (now there’s an idea we could try to apply more widely to avoid parking problems), so flash-looking body kit was out of the question. Aluminium trim was very much in evidence, however.  There was also no need for climate control – all that was provided by the space suits. You could say that it was designed for maximum visibility and the whole cabin was one big sun roof, moon roof or possibly Earth roof. It did have a seatbelt that used Velcro to overcome the problems that would occur with inertia reels and the like in one-sixth of the earth’s gravity. The Lunar Rover has seating for two, with both seats being fully foldable and with a shared armrest. The steering “wheel” is a multifunction joystick.

The Lunar Rover was a very early example of an electric vehicle, which does leave one wondering why this technology was pretty much ignored for terrestrial vehicles during the 1980s and 1990s. It was powered by a pair of 36-volt non-rechargeable batteries with a life of 121 ampere-hours each for a total range of 92 km.  The wheels were 23 inch aluminium jobs and the tyres had a chevron tread for extra traction. They weren’t your pneumatic rubber jobs, either: they had a mixture of zinc, steel and aluminium. You could call them the ultimate run-flats.

Performance-wise, the Lunar Rover is no speed freak, with a top design speed of 13 km/h. However, this speed was exceeded by Eugene Cernan of the USA, who holds the current lunar land speed record of 18 km/h.

The handling, however, is excellent.  For a start, the suspension is superb: double horizontal wishbone with upper and lower torsion bars and a damper unit between the chassis and upper wishbone.  The front and rear wheels have separate steering controls, allowing the front and rear wheels to turn in opposite directions for a tighter turning circle, although the driver can select to steer with front or rear wheels only as needed.  Each wheel had its own separate drive unit and each wheel could freewheel if needed. Ground clearance is 36 cm.

Navigation, information and communication systems are also brilliant – modern cars are only just starting to catch up with this 1970s model.  Navigation used a combination of the odometer and a directional gyro, plus a sun/shadow monitor to get the right heading. Communications involved two TV cameras, another camera (with film) and several antennae for communication with the Lunar Module. Display panels inform the driver of the current speed, heading, pitch, and power and temperature.

You can see the Lunar Rover in this clip:

The Lunar Rovers (only four were made) were used on three Apollo lunar missions and were left behind on the moon each time (have a look here to see the exact spots). However, if you’re really, really desperate to drive about as far off the road as you can get, there is still hope, but your window of opportunity is closing rather rapidly, if it’s not too late already. The volunteers for the Mars One one-way trip to Mars will get Martian Rovers to drive in as they spend the rest of their lives on the Red Planet.

I think I’ll stick to off-roading in the other half’s Nissan work ute.

Safe and happy driving,

Megan http://credit-n.ru/offers-zaim/oneclickmoney-zaim-na-kartu.html

New Wheels: What's On The Way For Australia.

Holden and Toyota have released details of what Australia can expect to see in the near future; Toyota with its rebodied and updated (for the interior) Camry whilst Holden has shown off the Euro sourced models, including the all wheel drive Insignia from Opel. Let’s take a look.

Toyota.

It’s the Camry, but not as we know it. Key to the new model, which will be the final Australian built version, is a classy and assertive new look. Design hints have already been seen in the Corolla and Yaris, plus Toyota’s sports car arm, Lexus, with a familiar profile backed at either end with some knife sharp angles for tail and head light enclosures.

The profile looks almost unchanged from the outgoing model, viewed directly side on, however the tail light extends further into the rear quarter panel, not unlike a Lexus design from some years ago. The front end is more dramatic, with a sweeping design for the headlights starting from a teardrop before terminating in a blade like design.

Power from the 2.5L four is 133 kW in the Altise, with a dual exhaust system bumping it to 135 kW in the Atara range. If it’s grunt you want, it may be worth checking the Hybrids; an “Atkinson Cycle” 2.5L engine delivers 151 kW plus the electric motor adds in another 105 kWOne aspect of the front, which is sure to raise eyebrows and provoke discussion, is the whale shark mouth look the new air intake grilles have. Flanked, as they are, by forward leaning vertical LED driving lights, the sloping angles of the outermost parts may be a bit much for sensitive souls.

There’s seven models: Altise, Atara S, SX and SL, with sharper pricing, making it the cheapest  Camry for 18 years, for the American designed Camry, plus three hybrids. Locally, Toyota has sold over thirty thousand hybrids, more than the Prius range.

The Cascada, formerly known as the Astra convertible, lobs with the 1.6L and auto, offers a folding, triple acoustic layered, roof that will close in 17 seconds whilst the car is in motion at speed up to 50 km/h and perforated leather seats for that luxury touch.

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The Perfect Equation: Super Touring Cars and Brands Hatch

Photo taken from: supertcc.com

On any normal occasion the end of the month is a time of relief, happiness and impending financial gain. But this is no average month. On May 24th, the HSCC Super Touring Car Trophy returns to Brands Hatch for the Masters Historic Festival. With an expected bumper grid of over 25 cars, the glory of the 90s will once again flood back to Brands Hatch. After a strong opening race for the field at Donington Park, the excitement builds for Brands. And did I mention that there are two legends of the BTCC competing as well?

The 2015 BTCC season has already proven that it is fast returning to its status as one of the best race series anywhere in the world. The NGTC regulations have left other championships reeling in jealousy; cost-effective and ultra competitive make for some of the most entertaining races you will see. The combination of the modern championship with the returning HSCC Super Touring Car Trophy creates a beautifully poetic message about the timeless strength of touring cars as the best race category on the planet.

If the current BTCC represents everything forward thinking and fan-orientated about the modern era, then the glitz, glamour and excess that characterized the 1990s is perfectly epitomized in the Super Touring era of the championship. Big names, big budgets and titanic battles dominated proceedings throughout that time. The circuits may have changed and teams may have come and gone, but it was the iconic machinery that truly represented the golden age of touring car racing. When the HSCC announced it would run the Super Touring Cars, I was returned to my excitable years of innocence when as a child I would be glued to the television every time the BTCC was on. In an instant I was a child again, filled with wondrous joy and reveling in the beauty of Super Touring noise.

And Muller takes Cleland! Oh wait, its not 1998.. Photo taken from: supertcc.com

Last year, the Masters Historic Festival at Brands Hatch produced some beastly action from the F1 cars of days gone by, including a tear-jerking tribute to Jack Brabham. However, the Super Tourers were somewhat of a disappointment for those who had come to celebrate the height of the BTCC. After promises of large fields and intense action of a rumoured 30 cars, 7 turned up to the Brands Hatch meeting. In the case of one of the races, one car did not make the finish which did therefore mean there were only 6 cars that crossed the line. I have not seen a touring car race so embarrassing since the opening round of the 2001 season.

The event fell close however to the prestigious Silverstone Classic, which did present a considerable conundrum to the teams. The touring cars of the 1990s were so highly engineered and so specialist that one cannot wander into a mechanic and pick up some spare parts on a whim. There will likely come a time when the tyres that were made for the Super Touring cars will simply run out altogether. So in some ways, the increased television coverage and bigger crowds explains why many drivers chose to not enter the Brands rounds. Not only that, any touring car race at Brands Hatch is never without incident (ask John Cleland about 1995, I dare you), and the bill for repairing one of these BTCC icons will take more than your pocket money that’s for sure.

This year however, the time difference between the two is great enough that the full grid is expected to take to the tarmac. Just to add to the excitement, touring car legends John Cleland and Patrick Watts return once more with their ex-BTCC Vauxhall and Peugeot. They may be in their later years but lost their determination and skill they most definitely have not. On top of this, highly experienced historic racers James Dodd in his Nissan Primera and Stewart Whyte in his Honda Accord have been showing they have what it takes to fight it out at the top. The field itself consists of cars from across the full spectrum of BTCC history, including a Ford Sierra RS500, a Ford Escort Mk 2, BMWs from across the 1990s, the fearsome Renault Laguna, Ford Mondeos, Nissan Primeras (including the ex-Team Dynamics car of Matt Neal) and new for this year Audi A4s.

Multi-generations of Nissans: The beast is back! Photo taken from: supertcc.com

The first round at Donington Park saw a massive grid of 27 cars take on the track, with honours shared between Patrick Watts and Stewart Whyte. Moving forward, the rounds at Brands Hatch are expected to be something truly memorable. The sweet combination of BTCC and Brands Hatch has always created an electric atmosphere both on and off track. The elevation changes, overtaking opportunities, daunting corners and high speed straights make for one of the best circuits you will find anywhere in the world.

To name some of the historic touring car moments from Brands Hatch would take a lifetime. But who can forget the Reid – Rydell battle that ended in a post-race scuffle, or Simoni in 1994 who managed to barely keep his Alfa Romeo in a straight line while his team mate Tarquini powered to victory or perhaps more recently when Andy Jordan proved exactly why he deserved to be 2013 champion in the rain soaked final race of the year?

So many wonderful memories.. Photo taken from: supertcc.com

With such a packed grid, expect action from lights to flag as some of the most iconic racing machinery in the world come together to transport you back in time to reignite a fire long extinguished. Who needs Doctor Who and his Tardis when you have the Super Touring championship? The championship itself is fast gaining more support and recognition; it would not surprise me if in a few years time it becomes a regular support to the BTCC package itself. To describe me as excited would be a colossal understatement; my life is touring cars and those of the 1990s truly epitomize everything I love about tin top racing. If I could change anything, all I would want is the addition of some Volvo’s on the grid, lining up alongside some Rouse-prepared cars such as the ’92 Toyota or the Kaliber Sierra. And at that moment, my life may well just be complete.

I hope to see you there on May 24th. 

They’re back, and better than ever. 

You won’t want to miss this.

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @lewisglynn69 

Keep Driving People!

Peace and Love!

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