Fuel economy is good: its NRCan official city/hwy/combined rating is 9.7/8.1/9.0. That’s better than the Toyota RAV4 2.5 (10.5/8.2/9.5), Ford Escape 1.6T (10.6/8.0/9.4), and the Hyundai Tucson 1.6T (9.8/8.4/9.0) but not quite as good as the Honda CR-V 2.4 (9.1/7.2/8.3) and Nissan Rogue 2.5 (9.2/7.2/8.3). In mixed city/highway driving, my Outlander was averaging about 9.1 L/100 km, increasing to over 11 in stop-and-go city traffic.

That’s way better than the Outlander V6 which rates 11.9 city/8.5 hwy/10.4 combined, and in which our reviewer averaged 13.0 L/100 km in his week of driving.

While the Outlander V6 has a six-speed automatic transmission, the Outlander’s four comes with a continuously variable transmission (with Sport mode). The primary difference between the two transmissions is that the CVT has no distinct gear changes and sustains engine revs at a high level while accelerating. That said, the Outlander’s engine/CVT combination is relatively quiet and vibration-free especially at low speeds and when cruising on the freeway. At 100 km/h, the engine revs at just 1,800 rpm.

Outlanders equipped with all-wheel drive (which Mitsubishi calls all-wheel control or AWC) vary torque from front to back depending on conditions. In addition, to save a little gas, the AWC system includes a driver-selectable 4WD Eco mode (using a 4WD button on the console) which alters throttle responsiveness and CVT performance to reduce consumption. Frankly, I didn’t find a huge difference in performance between 4WD Eco and 4WD Auto (default) modes. Acceleration is slower in 4WD Eco mode, but if you need to accelerate quickly, a harder push on the accelerator will produce adequate power.

Unlike many of its AWD competitors, the Outlander has a 4WD Lock mode which locks up front:rear torque distribution in a 50/50 split at slower speeds. This can be very handy if you run into unexpectedly deep snow, gravel, ice, mud or other loose traction surfaces. The Outlander also has a decent ground clearance of 215 mm (8.5 in) and a reasonably tight turning circle of 10.6 m (34.8 ft) Our test vehicle came with 225/55R18-inch Toyo all-season tires which are part of the optional Premium Package (16-inch tires are standard).

Pressing the big green ‘Eco’ button on the dash turns 4WD Auto and 4WD Lock modes into Eco mode. I found this rather confusing since there is already a 4WD Eco mode available simply by pressing the 4WD button on the centre console. And I wonder why anyone want to reduce power in 4WD Lock mode if they’re trying to extricate the vehicle from a snowbank? The Eco button seems quite unnecessary.

In addition to the safety benefits of AWC, the Outlander ES AWC has all the usual safety features: ABS, traction control, stability control, electronic brake force distribution, brake assist and Hill Start Assist, the latter to stop it rolling back when starting on a hill. Mitsubishi’s Super All-Wheel Control, which adds side-to-side torque vectoring capabilities to the front wheels, is available only in the top GT S-AWC model, not in four-cylinder models.

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