Review of the 2013 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport

This is a review on the Mitsubishi Outlander Sport by my husband, Will.

The 2013 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport is one from that androgynous breed where you can’t quite figure… Is it a car? Is it a SUV, a mini-van? No, that doesn’t make sense. After I pulled a U-turn barreling over the road-dividing, curb-style median that separates traffic, I figured out that this is at very least an SUV and quite possibly a time machine.

At the touch of a button, I roll back the giant moon roof that extends over the front and back seats… oooh. Another button illuminates the strand of blue LED lights around  the perimeter of the moon roof… aaah. This must be the future? A touch screen console acts as the control interface for the stereo which offered an inconsistent Bluetooth connection to my phone. I had to disconnect because in the middle of every conversation I was interrupted by whatever was on the Sirius “Hip Hop” station, and the last  thing my mom needs to hear through her phone is, “I’m gonna pop some tags…” before I scramble to turn it off.

Luckily, the Mitsubishi Outlander Sport is built solely to house the absolutely awesome stereo system. Look in the trunk; it’s a ten-inch sub woofer! I’m back in 1990 pimping out my parents’ Volvo station wagon listening to a cassette of “Back to Boom.” Five-year-old Nathan asks for a “boom boom song,” and all the kids love getting a back massage from the bass vibrations of the Beastie Boys “Sabotage.” One day I heard seven-year-old Willy singing to himself, “I got twenty dollars in my pocket…” Time to send the car back.

One feature most new cars seem to have is “ECO.” This is a piece of technology that controls the engine so as to maximize fuel economy. Great idea if you don’t want to get through that light before it turns red.

In many vehicles the ECO option can be deactivation by a button allowing the driver to control the power output with the gas pedal of all things. I finally figured out how to deactivate the ECO feature in the Mitsubishi Outlander Sport – push the pedal to the floor, and leave it there. After a moment or two then engine receives the message that farmer-style acceleration is not what you’re looking for and shuts off ECO and proceeds to dump gas into the engine as fast as possible.

What is this car good for? Cul-de-sac dance parties, cruising downtown, and maybe a CD release party. While the area inside seems very small, there are plenty of seatbelts – 7 to be exact, but not even I would force 7 people to ride in that car at the same time (a very tight squeeze). I never really got a good listen to the hum, roar, or buzz of the engine due to the incredible sound of the stereo. I imagine that the ECO gerbils powering that thing were pretty tired after a week with me at the wheel, though.

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