MITSUBISHI OUTLANDER LS

$ 38,990 DRIVE- AWAY 1 7. 5 POINTS

VALUE

The Outlander in this guise is a burger with the lot — a seven-seat SUV with decent off-road ability, full-size spare, dual-zone aircon and auto lights and wipers. The national drive-away price makes it great value (though this vehicle has been around for a while). Any colour other than white adds $590. The five-year/ 100,000km warranty and 12 month/15,000km service intervals are better than many and the first three services will cost $840.

DESIGN

The facelift in 2016 aligned the exterior with the company’s latest looks. The interior upgrades were bigger still, including new but not supportive-enough seats, soft-touch plastics and improved connectivity. Take up all seven seats and there’s only 128L of cargo space; fold the second and third rows and that grows to 1608L. Outward vision is good for an SUV of this size.

ENGINE

The 2.4-litre four-cylinder (124kW/220Nm) has no turbo, so it needs to rev and even then response is sedate with four or more bodies on board. The claimed 7.2L/100km is good for its size but expect more like 9L-plus in regular urban driving. A continuously variable transmission sends power to all four wheels.

SAFETY

Blind spot and lane departure warnings are standard, along with adaptive cruise control and autonomous emergency braking. ANCAP rated the Outlander at 35.58/37 when it was tested in 2015. Seven airbags are standard but the curtain bags don’t extend to the third row of seats.

DRIVING

A plush ride makes for comfortable family transport. It doesn’t do corners at pace but is consistent and predictable. Off-road prowess is limited only by the 190mm ride height. The steering won’t win awards for feedback or precision but the lightness of the tiller — and a hatch-like 10.6m turning circle — make it easy to manoeuvre. Petrol Outlanders tow up to 1600kg.