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2010 Mitsubishi Outlander
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Comments
My lease is up in October (July if I wanted another mitsu) but I may have to consider some other manufacturer. A beige interior is available for lesser models, but not the top of the line? Does that make sense? You would think top of the line means a pick of all the available options. I mean, it’s not like they are custom making a new interior, just installing one that is currently available on the XLS or SE. What could the costs be? They could even charge a premium for the color like a few other manufacturers do, but no. Wow, I think Mitsubishi has really outdone themselves this year to screw this up.
I bought a '10 GT last month and so far have very few nits to pick. The black interior was not my first choice either, coming from a Galant with a beige interior. But I'm hoping the tinted windows are adequate to keep the seats from hating up too much in summer. If not, well, mine is garage-kept at home & I can get partial shade at work so it won't heat up all the time.
The other thought is that perhaps sales experience favors black interiors much like it favors automatics over manuals. I don't know.
How's the new GT? I was told, not that I believe it, that they added more sound deadening. Is it quieter than the previous years and do the doors sound less tinny when you slam them? (I kick the tires too, by the way). Less torque steer around slippery corners??
I had only test-driven the '09 once back in July so I can't say for sure if it's quieter. But it's quiet to me. The 6 cyl is really smooth and there's very little wind noise. A little road noise now and again but nothing obtrusive. I don't think the doors sound tinny at all. There's a little noise freom the cargo area; I think it's the 3rd row seats not fully down, but I haven't bothered yet to isolate it.
I bough on December 5 and have already made use of the AWD (Chicago area snow storms), expanded cargo capacity (hauling lots of xmas presents & luggage to the airport), and increased seating (6 adults). With 1100 miles I'm getting about 20MPG overall on winter blend gas so fuel economy is about where I'd expect it to be, especially since I'm leaving the climate control on full auto and that runs the AC for defogging.
You might just want to call Mitsu @ 1-888-MITSU2010. It should net you a faster response than writing a letter.
I did use the “snow” mode and together with my Yokohama Geolandar A/T-S tires the driven was more than impressive. Some parts of the road had more than 2’ of snow and the car never skidded or behaved unpredictably. The entire event was a rewarding experience indeed. The heated seats were great. The automatic screen wiper was great, and the xenon lights were great.
A couple of times I heard some short strange noises when the vehicle was brought to still when braking unexpectedly when in “snow” mode (automatic). It appears that the action of braking was faster than the automatic to down grade the gears to cope with the action of braking.
Although the stalk switch (steering lighting) has a scribble/icon to indicate that the facility of headlight (low beam) exist in the vehicle the dashboard doesn’t show any illuminated icon to show that the headlight (low beam) is indeed ON. The low beam is only obvious when the xenon light illuminates the road. The dashboard only show when activated the following 3-icons are visible: High beam indicator (blue), front fog light, and position indicator. The stalk switch has 4-icons scribbled on it.
I am also getting 20 miles per gallon. Road noises are similar to those reached in the Outlander XLS. The Outlander is perhaps above average road noise. However, when the engine is warm and still the engine noise hardly can be heard. I haven’t noticed any vibration.
Sounds like you picked a less-than-stellar time to travel but at least you got to test the Outlander's capabilities.
I've also found snow mode to be very handy so far.
With a couple of bass-heavy songs I've had the stereo up to 42; any more and I'm not sure my ears could take it.
I remember with my previous 2008 Outlander XLS with more than 10,000 miles the vehicle had a similar infrequent and not synchronized automatic behavior (which I thought was normal). In spite of the fact that the accelerator was pressed down the automatic didn’t change the gear up and it took a relatively long time to change until a technician from a Mitsubishi garage in New York identified it and said that he needed to load some of the latest software (or patch) into the vehicle computer so it could regain normality (i.e. smooth automatic) which he did. The problem was solved.
I think I have also got a slight warp tire noise at slow speed. I have had the tires rebalanced and rotated with the intention that the warp noises may eventually go. No success. I wonder if the new Yokohama tires start to develop this phenomenon. I don’t think -when I tested the brand new vehicle with the Good Year stock tires- I felt this slightly distorted (up/down) noise.
Comments appreciate it.
My '99 Galant, which I replaced with the '10 GT, had the occasional 1-2 shift flare but it never developed into a daily problem or led to a major issue. That car had a couple of recalls but IIRC none were powertrain-related.
If the tire balancing doesn't work, you can consider rotating the tires to see if the problem sound follows it. If it does then you've a bad tire. If not, there could be a suspension piece that's gotten bent (perhaps from hitting a bad pothole).
The only technical issue I've got so far is the headlights .. not really a problem for me but the default setting of 0 on the load leveler has them very close to intruding on the interior of cars in front of me. I'm debating making 1 my normal setting to be polite to others.
I'm in the Chicago suburbs so I've been using a mix of Tarmac & Snow modes. Snow proved it's worth in my first week of ownership.
I ordered through my local Mitsubishi an extra alloy wheel Part# 4250B368 for my Outlander GT and to my very disappointment the wheel although it looks the same as the Japanese original the transverse surface has circumferential grooves. These circumferential cross sections of the wheel (where wheel weight are attached) don’t allow attaching wheel weight transversally because the area is not flat. The dealer explained that after querying to MMNA he was told that few parts are manufactured for the Japanese market only, e.g. wheels, oil filter, jacks, etc. The final result of this is that the 5th alloy wheel doesn’t have flat transversal surface (where wheal weights are attached) and indeed it is not equal to its other 4-siblings. Some of my friend has criticized for buying a alloy wheel (extra) but I have my personal reasons.
The curious thing of the whole occasion was that the technician that put the Yokohama tire on this wheel attached 16 wheel weights of ¼ ounces each circumferentially (15-pieces in one edge and 1 piece in the other edge). This was weird. This was the first time in my life I saw so many wheel weights in only one wheel. The dealer charged me $25 per each wheel tire assembly.
Talking with other tire specialists they told me that the number of wheel weights can be reduce significantly if the tire/rubber is rotate in relation to the wheel that sustains it. So this is what I am going to do next.
(It's an interesting introduction, but is there a followup where they actually try to get stuck?) Gotta be a part 2 that's coming. I understand that it 's probably difficult to show the new S-AWC is better while not making the older system look bad, but I'll be curious to see what they demo comparing the 2.
I have inflated the 4-tires (Yokohama Geolandar A/T-S) to 37 psi from 32 psi (recommended by the manufacturer) and to my happy surprise the fluctuating tire noise simply has gone.
The ride now is pleasant. I thought that increasing the tire pressure the ride would become a bit harsh and I will be able to feel all the imperfection of the road but this didn’t occur.
The solution has worked for me but it may depend on the make and manufacture of the tire.
Cigarpro
After washing my car a few weeks ago I felt nauseous when I saw 100 to 200 little paint chips (spots) caused by a combination of little stones flying from the front tires to the rear of the car and the little stones flying in opposite direction from the rear tires. The result was paint chips precisely located at the bottom of both rear doors and back panels (next message will follow with photo).
My previous 2008 Outlander XLS came with some transparent protection film exactly located in the same place where my GT got the paint chips. Mitsubishi engineers got it wrong again by thinking that a wider mud guard in the front tires and extra chrome extension than runs just under the doors (front and rear) will prevent paint chips on the car. Yes it prevented paint chips at the bottom of the front doors but unfortunately they didn’t put on the protective transparent plastic film on the bottom of the rear doors close to the rear wheel arches.
I wonder if I can put a claim (warranty) for re-painting both areas. Reading previous forum members complaints it appears some dealers were willing to repaint it and others refused to do it. Will some members comment on this? I was told that the District manager or Mitsubishi District (Zone or Area) manager usually visits dealerships only one time per month and that I have to wait 20-days because the manager was in this particular dealership one week ago for his monthly visit! I have also been told that a reputable body shop will commonly charge $3000 to $4000 for a re-paint to eliminate the hundreds of little pain chips in both rear doors at the bottom side of the vehicle.
I have collapsed the second-row of seats in order to have a temporary extra cargo space. To my disquiet, after the car started to move, the effect of having the rear seats collapsed produced an indescribable number of rattles (at least 3 different sources of noises) from only the event of collapsing the seats. The noises stopped after the seats were put back in their normal and usual seating position.
Will some members of this forum do a similar experiment of collapsing the seats and report in this forum a similar experience if any?
It appears that a numbers of parts for the Outlander sold in the USA don’t match those of the Japanese market (site where the cars are manufactured) and MMNA doesn’t bring those parts because MMNA thinks that those parts can be covered with products locally made in the USA by USA companies or subsidiaries. The results are, for example, leather color mismatch, inside wheel design mismatch, oil filter mismatch, jack mismatch, etc.
I have asked the dealer to take the original seat cover to a reputable upholster to re-stitch it and put it back on my car.
Furthermore, the bezel leather combination meter one edge protrudes out because the fastener clip will not clip properly as there is too much leather at this edge. The technician cannot put it right (the end finish doesn’t look right). It appears when the car was in Japan the driver right air vent edges and the leather bezel combination meter edges don’t fit evenly producing an ugly look that I wasn’t aware when I bought the car. The Dealer has asked for a new bezel combination meter cover. However I am afraid that the USA color may not match the original (charcoal) color of my car.
Thankfully no rocks chipped that area, but I went to my local clear film specialist. He added some nice rear quarter panel protection there. BTW, I do not have mud guards.
In regards to the 3rd row, the rattles do go away if you have something moderately heavy on top of them. I have some folded up blankets back there.
As to the navi screen, I have no idea if it was upgraded or not. It can get a little washed out but so far hasn't been a problem for me. But then my first months of ownership have been through a somewhat dreary winter; ask me again in July.
IIRC there is a brightness control for the nav screen; I seem to recall seeing that in the first days of ownership. If the screen does wash out I'll have to see if it can compensate. There just aren't that may screens that can overcome daylight so it may not be able to.
When the trip computer drops below 30 miles remaining, it changes from the number to "---" which I think is TC-speak for "too close to call". A couple of miles later the TC put forth a rather large orange "Refuel" warning and the pump icon on the gas gauge started blinking.
About 4 miles later I fulled up & was able to put in 13.6 gallons. AWD Outlanders have a 15.8 gallon tank (it's larger for FWD versions). So when the Refuel warning pops up you've just over 2 gallons left.
Normally I fill up when it drops around a quarter tank but it's nice to know there's plenty of headroom if I have to go longer.
Still averaging right at 20MPG. I'm tracking every expense for the moment so I can track not only the MPG but the cost/mile, cost/day, etc.over the car's life.
I imagine with 2 gallons left there's not much risk but if you really run it down the pump could behave some potential for overheating. Not sure if it's much of a risk or not as while I've heard of pump failures I've never heard of them overheating.
Other factors like the outside temp could matter as well; 90 degree summer with minimal gas in the tank probably nets a hotter pump than 30 degree winter with the same amount of gas.
I think you're fine to drive to the warning but shouldn't push it much beyond that if possible.
I have also a Lexus SC300 and I can hardly see scratches in the same areas as the Outlander. What is true is a $ 10K difference in price. The learning of this is that there is a tradeoff between quality of the interior and price. The higher the price the better interior finish may be the answer when engine hardware, suspension, number of differentials and other things are similar when comparing similar make models.
Although I usually do the service of my cars there are some times that I take the car to some of these “expert” garages. With the like of Wal-Mart, Pepboys, etc. Recently I have problems with the staff at Pepboys. I took my Outlander for a simple change of oil where I took my own oil container, gasket and filter. The young technician struggled so much taking the old filter out that I thought he was doing something wrong with it. The young lad came to me to tell me that the gasket doesn’t fit in the filter. So this technician couldn’t tell that the gasket was for the drain plug. After this he took the oil container and dropped the 5-quarters of oil into the engine. After I paid for the service he returned the car to me. When I checked outside their premise the level of the engine oil I found that it was over full and flooded with oil. The amount of oil for a V6 engine is 4-quarters + ¼ quarter. He persisted in telling me that I shouldn’t worry, that everything was OK until I complained to his boss who after an elaborated check found out that indeed the engine was flooded with oil. The young lad wanted to drain the oil through the drain plug and I had to ask then boss to use an oil extractor, which he did and instructed the lad to do the job. The lad took the extractor but didn’t know how to use it. He didn’t suck anything for 15 minutes until I approached the lad to ask him to call his boss to teach him how to use it. Eventually the boss had to do it himself.
The other frustration happened with San Rafael Mitsubishi, CA where under guarantee the driver’s leather seat cover had to be replaced by a new one due to the original having some loose stitches in one end. The new part came in a compact package which as should be expected was full of wrinkles. As it is known the dealer instructs you to wait in the waiting room while the expert changes the cover. The car was given back to me with the leather cover full of wrinkles and the seat padding out of shape. I indeed complained about the wrinkles but I was told that the wrinkles will disappear after a couple of weeks. This didn’t happen. I am not in California now and the Mitsubishi dealer at the other end of the Pacific is telling me to bring the car back to San Rafael.
While I always thought the ride was a bit "rugged," I never thought it was too harsh, but 46 seems crazy. Did the dealer over-inflate to show off handling? I tentatively deflated to 40, but just now took a leap, and all 4 tires are 32, cold.
Is there an "ideal" psi for general road conditions for the Outlander and Goodyear Eagle LS tires?
32 PSI should be a reasonably balanced ride; definitely softer than what you're getting with 46 PSI. However, 36-37 would be a little firmer and provide slightly better fuel economy that 32. 36-37 should be noticeably softer that the 46 you mentioned. Dropping from 46 to either value may reduce your fuel economy a little, but I doubt it would be enough to notice.
The Outlander GT has a total cargo equivalent to seven people and it has undergone a few terrible bashings when hitting unexpected pot holes. Speeds have varied between 5 miles per hour to 50 miles per hour of 5 to 6 hours continuous driving. The car has responded very well on uphill drive on terrains that were a mixture of pot holes, gravel, mud, stones, water channels and sand. In relatively non corrugated road the car managed to maintain speeds of around 50 miles per hour. Corrugated roads were a big problem for the GT.
The masters of these roads were the pickups of all makes. These trucks seem to drive about 50-60 miles per hour regardless of the condition of the unpaved road. However I was told that those pickups don’t last more than 3-4 years on the road.
The car has all terrain tires (225/55R18), the engine oil is Mobil Synthetic 5W-20, and there is also a full size spare wheel/tire. So far I have suffered a puncture going in the direction of Puerto Montt. The full size spare wheel was very useful because it allowed us to continue our adventure until finding a proper tire repair garage.
I haven’t seen any of those expensive SUV, e.g. Toyota Land Cruiser, Rovers, BMW X5, Volkswagen Touareg or Audi Q7/Q5. I saw a few Outlanders old models, Jeeps, Dodges, Subarus, and Fords
Wheel profile seems to be paramount for unpaved road. Of the majority of cars I have seen the tire profile is not less that 70%. The GT is 55%. My opinion is that by increasing the profile of the GT from 55% to 60% the drive will improve on unpaved roads and still be safe. My next set of tires will be 225/60R18.
Two years ago I took my Outlander XLS to Alaska (Dead Horse) and now I am testing the GT on roads worse than those in Alaska. If the GT manages to stand firm in this adventure that will take me to the Atacama Chilean dessert, Bolivia, Peru (Madre de Dios), Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela I will credit this car as one of the best, because it has been tested in real and demanding roads and weathers. The test will be real and not at all [non-permissible content removed].
tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper
Seriously though, if you are documenting your trip with video you should contact the folks at Mitsubishi Motors North America. Your journey would make a terrific Outlander commercial.
This is one point I keep making about current wheel trends. Low profile tires/wheels may look good(current design tastes), but they are out of place on an SUV/CUV that will encounter less than perfect roads. Taken to the extreme there is next to no sidewall on say a 35 series profile tire and it is inviting disaster when it comes to destroying rims on potholes. This is one reason I bought an LS vs an XLS in 2007 (LS has 70 series vs XLS 55 ) and I added back features I wanted, vs paying more for features I didn't (like rear seat). I think all CUV/SUV vehicles mfgrs should think more about practicality and offer low profile as the option tire, not the standard. Low profile is contrary to what these vehicles are intended for considering the broad scope of their use. Now if you are talking something like a Corvette, then having a less squirmy low profile tire becomes more important for more direct steering response, but owners can expect to suffer the consequences on streets that are poorly maintained with potholes.
As for tires and pressures. This all reminds me of many years of experience with bicycle tires. Cyclists will go to great lengths to find the skinniest/lightest tires, only to reduce psi so they can stand the ride. But this defeats the purpose since skinny squishy tires are more prone to flats. Its better to shod fatter tires and inflate to higher psi to get both comfort and handling. Right now I'm messing with psi on 225/55, but I might have better luck finding the sweet spot with 225/60 or 225/65.