It’s all well and good to test a car from A-B back and forth for a week or so, but when you really find out how they go with the full family treatment, and that’s what we’ve given the new 2022 Mitsubishi Outlander Exceed – a Family holiday.
Packed with four huge suitcases and five humans, we pushed the capacity of the Outlander to its limits. Frankly, with a 10, 11 and 15 year old, I wouldn’t want to spend more than an hour with them in the back-seat – it’s nothing more than a reminder of how annoying my brother and sister and I must have been to mum all those years ago.
Fortunately, there’s a third row of seats stashed under the floor in the boot.
Unfortunately, it’s pretty bloody useless. My 10 year old endured the space just to get distance from his siblings. But it required pushing the middle row side seat forward, and moving my own driving position a touch forward, less than ideal, but we did it for a week and coped well. I frankly doubt my taller 11 year old daughter could have endured the space.
The boot is big though, we crammed four large suitcases in, so a genuine family holiday is possible here.
As far as looking at this as a family car, those are the most important observations – don’t consider this a true seven seater, test the third row out with people in the second and front row – just so you really know what you’re getting into.
Aside from that, hot damn, this is a great car. Stunning looks, I mean, I feel like Mitsubishi had a little rest on the design front for a decade and are now back with a bang.
I don’t think there’s a bad angle for this.
The tall bold grill really gives it an aggressive stance, while the rear quarter view is slick with great angles.
Side on, front on, rear on – all good. The Dark Blue we tested is also a great pick to be frank.
On the inside, it’s like nothing I’ve seen before from Mitsubishi. To think, 5 or so years ago, to get a large touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay, a fully digital instrument cluster, head-up display along with electric seats and all the bells and whistles – you’d be looking at a Euro model like Audi, and even then a top tier one.
This is remarkable. Oh, and it’s under $50,000. $47,990 or so, plus on-roads. For a bigger mid-sized SUV, with all the tech, including Wireless Charging and Wireless Apple CarPlay, I was not left wanting – at all.
My only technical hitch was the climate control. I’m normally a 22-23 degree guy, but in this I found myself up at 25 or 26 and even still then getting blasts of cold air. Strange, but I reckon I’d learn to live with it and understand it after more than a week.
On the road, it was a delight. We did probably half city and country driving and half freeway across the course of the week.
Strangely, my wife felt a little car-sick, something I’ve never heard before from her, and I’m really unsure why. I wonder if it’s something about the advanced suspension which attempts to give you a more steady ride on the road. It didn’t feel too floaty to me, but there was a sense of a drift along the freeway smoothing out bumps. Certainly nothing that felt bad behind the wheel, in fact it was one of the nicest rides I’ve had in a while. I wouldn’t describe it as sporty or luxurious, but simple as a great smooth ride.
Power and performance were more than adequate and I really don’t see how you’d have much to complain about if you managed to snag a Mitsubishi Outlander Exceed in the current cycle of high demand short supply car-market woes.
My only guidance is the check the space if those seven seats are important, I think it’s really a five seat plus option as opposed to being a true seven seater.
Regardless, for me it’s an indication Mitsubishi is back in the game. Their tech is first class, including both driver aides and passenger comforts.
Well worth a look.
