A noble British lord was on a rant the other day about big expensive 4x4 vehicles doing school runs and shopping trips, and not the work they were really meant to be doing.
It's hardly original: just about everybody has been saying the same thing for years. But poor Lord Lichfield was lamenting the fact that away back in 1970 when he had the very first Range Rover, he was able to hose down not just the exterior but the interior as well. As well as being a well-known photographer, he has an estate where he muddies boots and wheels a lot and now he can't give his latter-day vehicles an interior shampoo, such is the luxury and opulence of the internal furnishings.
Why anyway, do car manufacturers offer heavy, sophisticated and expensive 4WD transmissions that few customers will use? If they built something that looked like a mud-munching warrior but had a modest engine and simple transmission, think just how much cheaper it could be. The interior could have washable materials too. Buyers could have the image they crave at a substantial discount and short of crawling underneath, no one need know the difference.
There's a simple conclusion: we, the customers and consumers, are to blame. If people are mug enough to pay large sums for mechanicals they don't need and don't understand, the manufacturers can be hardly blamed for supplying them. The fact that highly specialised technology can be assembled to create an item of fashion outside the schools and shops is proof of today's marketing power.
All this is by way of an introduction to our road test subject. Mitsubishi's Outlander which carries this slightly intriguing "crossover" tag. "Crossovers" are relatively new in motoring nomenclature: they reverse a long-established tradition by retaining some all-wheel-drive off-road capability while offering more car-like performance on tarmac. It could be said too, that they are a recognition of just how little rough and tough stuff most 4x4 drivers actually experience. Others in this fold include Volvo's XC70, Subaru's Forester, Audi's Allroad and Honda's CR-V.
It may not be a diehard 4x4 like its most famous sibling, the Pajero, but Outlander does offer a strong visual impact with big wheels, flared wheelarches and roof rails. There can't be any doubt about its identity either because the famous three diamond logo has been greatly magnified and it gleams in the nose area.
The only engine and transmission available in the Irish model offering is the 2.4 litre 158bhp four-cylinder petrol unit with the permanent 4WD system controlled through a four-speed computer-controlled automatic gearbox. Both are flexible and smooth but with 158bhp in a 1,565kg shell, the Outlander is no flying machine and to make good progress, we found ourselves constantly using second and third in the auto box. It's easy and slick: the only problem is that the extra revs extracted from the engine, have a fuel consumption downside. Our best consumption effort, using about 50 miles of our latest M1 motorway, provided 27.2 mpg.
The very predictable question has to be, why no turbodiesel? The turbo's extra punch would certainly fill out the mid-range and do so economically. Outlander apparently evolved out of a Japanese engineered vehicle called Airtrek and since its mechanicals were already well on their way to production in Japan-where no diesel option was planned-it was too late to engineer one. Nevertheless, Mitsubishi's lack of marketing savvy about diesel business in Europe, seems astonishing. Incidentally, the Outlander's arch rival, the Subaru Forester is similarly afflicted.
On the road, there's no doubt about the sort of the crossover that the Outlander is. It drives well in a quiet easygoing way. At low speeds, the ride is on the firm side but once we got going along winding roads, this translated into reassuring body control. The steering offered a surprising amount of feel and the overall impression is of a vehicle that is far more agile than its looks might suggest.
The Outlander's high stance makes it easy to access and the view from the driving seat is commanding. Interior fit and finish are of a high order and the most noticeable element of the cabin is just how uncluttered it is. We though the dashes of silver-effect trim around the air vents and dials looked upmarket but at least one of our passengers thought it cheap. There are cubby holes in convenient places and the central storage bin is massive.
The rear seats fold flat and although the load area in this configuration does seem cavernous, it doesn't match that of the Forester which is 546 litres ahead of the Outlander's 1,049 litres. As for the seats, they do provide plenty of under-thigh support as well as generous bolstering at the sides.
During our test, we actually did something very unusual with the Outlander. We subjected it to a brief trip on an off-road course and we are able to report that it will eagerly climb slippery slopes.
lt wouldn't, however, tackle those steeper ascents reserved for the latest Pajeros and their ilk: they are equipped with the latest active traction control and stability programmes. But then the Pajero would be nowhere near as agile on the road, what with the enormous weight of its wheels and all that 4WD paraphernalia. The Outlander is not without some interesting credentials, carrying as its underpinnings the basic platform and most of the 4WD transmission from the Lancer Evo VIII homologation rally special, probably the marque's biggest image builder.
What then is the Outlander in a nutshell? We see it as an intelligent compromise solution for those looking for the flexibility of an estate without its rather prosaic image, and the go-anywhere versatility of an all-wheel drive without having to deal with its large dimensions or cumbersome on-road dynamics.
Ultimately, we see it as a smart fashion item masquerading as a very butch 4x4 with an aggressive profile. Sadly the lack of a diesel is likely to inhibit its appeal, even on shopping trips and school runs.