Mitsubishi Outlander Juro Review & Road Test (2010)

Mitsubishi Outlander Juro Review Part 1

The Mitsubishi Outlander has always been a bit of a difficult car to pigeon-hole. It’s really too big to be considered a realistic option against some of the softroaders like the Kuga or the Tiguan. But it tries. It has proper four wheel drive on demand and offers more space – and certainly more off-road ability – than the current crop of softroaders can muster.

Mind you, Mitsubishi has never managed to offer an Outlander that really competes head-on with the lower-end offerings from the softroaders, with the Outlander now coming in at £25k plus. Still, Mitsubishi has made the most of things and has sensibly persevered with the Outlander. After all, Mitsubishi has a great name for off-road vehicles and the Outlander is a properly good, compact SUV.

But now there’s a new Mitsubishi model starting to hit the roads – the Mitsubishi ASX – which is designed to take the fight to the likes of the Kuga and Tiguan and ix35 and…, so the Outlander can grow up a little bit and stop having to play with the children to make its living.

The latest facelift gives the Outlander the aggressive family nose and a few other minor cosmetic tweaks to make it seem fresh. The engine stays pretty much the same with the very able – if somewhat ubiquitous – 2.2 litre diesel also found in the Freelander 2, with the big news on the oily bits being the SST gearbox.

What does confuse us a bit is that Mitsubishi is now wanting to reposition the Outlander as a Crossover. Which seems odd. We can understand it in this fluffy-bunny eco-world, but do Mitsubishi want to go out and play with the Crossovers? Surely the strenght of the Outlander is that it is a proper SUV, not a pretend SUV or a Crossover.

But there is some sense in the Crossover tag as the Outlander is a really versatile vehicle, with its on-demand four wheel drive and seven seats – which can all be used. Not for long journeys for proper grown-ups in the back seats, but for short journeys they are good enough.

Still, we see the Outlander as probably the only proper competition the Land Rover Freelander 2 has and it seems an odd marketing decision to align the Outlander as a jacked-up car crossover when it is a true SUV. But at least Mitsubishi’s decision to bolt the Mitsubishi car face on to the Outlander instead of aligning it with the looks of the Shogun make their intent clear.

So the 2011 Mitsubishi Outlander is a bit of a confused soul – at least from a marketing perspective - but what’s it like to live with and drive, and is the new SST ‘box up to much?

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By Cars UK