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I CAN’T
think of anything to best describe the Outlander, except
to say that in its genre, no one can outfox this
Mitsubishi wolf.
The
Outlander can outlast, if not outwit, anything trying to
challenge it.
Arlan
Reyes found this out himself one day when he was on his
way to an errand onboard the Outlander he was driving.
“A rival
car in the same class as mine wanted to overtake me with
all its might,” said the soft-spoken Reyes, who is noted
for his calm demeanor. “I let him take command.
Meaning, I let him pass.”
Mitsubishi "wolf"
The Outlander
is hard to beat.
But
after rethinking about his decision, Arlan felt it
proper to overtake the foe. Suddenly, the urge to race
hit him.
It was,
anyway, his duty to do it because, by doing so, he
thought he’d be giving justice to the vehicle.
Not only
that. He felt he lost some pride when the rival car sped
past him unchallenged and, in effect, he thought he was
thoroughly embarrassed.
Rightly
so.
He was a
Mitsubishi man. It would not look good for him, for his
boss, if he didn’t do anything to correct the mistake.
He had
to make amends.
In
short, he needed to be vindicated.
So,
after taking a deep breath, Arlan next stepped on the
gas and, in no time, he whizzed by his tormentor.
“Oh,
yeah, my foe gave up the fight,” Arlan said. “He fought
well but, in the end, my Outlander prevailed. And with
much ease. What a feeling!”
The
Outlander, a stylish, 21st-generation speedster, is a
compact SUV with paddle shifters à la Formula One car.
So how
can you beat a road rascal that has virtually the
features of Michael Schumacher’s winning Formula One
demon?
The
paddle shifters, placed on each side just below the
steering wheel, allow you to shift up or down without
taking your hands off the wheel.
The
material used in this new Mitsubishi technology is
magnesium, a high-grade, super-expensive produce of
Mother Nature.
This
feature beats the entire field as Mitsubishi takes the
lead in steering-wheel/gear mode.
But if
you think the paddle shifters are the stuff that make a
vehicle stand out today from the rest of the pack,
Mitsubishi’s Mivec is a feature that should make the
Outlander a runaway bestseller.
The
Outlander’s Mivec (Mitsubishi Innovative Valve Timing
and Lift Electronic Control) is an exclusive technology
that adjusts intake timing for optimal performance
across the rev range. At low ranges, Mivec provides
on-demand acceleration for quicker starts, while higher
ranges receive an impressive boost of power.
The
3.0-liter Outlander uses a lightweight aluminum block
for optimum performance as it puts out 223 ps at 6,250
rpm to take control of city streets and open highways
alike. It has a maximum torque of 277 Nm at 4,000 rpm.
The
Mivec provides optimal valve timing at both low- and
high-rev ranges, giving the driver the most out of every
curve and straightaway.
 For
maximum safety measure, the Outlander also has the Rise
(Reinforced Impact Safety Evolution) technology wherein
the body of the vehicle has a developed rigid ladder
frame, side-impact bars and collision-absorbing joints
needed when an accident happens.
Who says
Mitsubishi isn’t safety-conscious?
With
every new technology introduced, it follows that safety
concerns are not far behind.
For
cabin convenience, the “Wolf” has 60-40
splitting/folding/sliding and reclining bench seats with
one-touch fold-and-tumble button.
While
most from the opposition have single glove compartments,
making it difficult to stuff in important documents, the
Outlander boasts of upper and lower glove boxes.
I like
that very much as I always carry with me lots of stuff,
from poetry books to golf documents, from an iPod to
reporter’s notebooks.
If you
have a road monster (GLS Sport) with a six-speed Invecs-II
Sportstronic model such as the Outlander, talk not about
power and speed because it has both. Instead, deal with
the scent of flowers and the cool breeze in the country.
Why, Baguio goes down to as low as 11 degrees these
days. If that’s not a Siberian chiller to the Pinoy,
what is?
So
spacious is the inside that a threesome huddled at the
back can probably play tong-its with ease—even if the
trip would take them from Laoag to Laguna.
For only
P1.688 million, that’s a bargain for Arlan’s toy of an
Outlander. |
