by "Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
Published 04/20/2017 at 17:15
by "Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
Published 04/20/2017 at 17:15
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STARS: 1
I’m very happy with my stupidly modified BMW 335xi coupe. But sometimes I can’t help but think about going back to two vehicles like I used to have when I drove both a BMW 135is and a Hemi WK Grand Cherokee, which I got because I am obsessed with limited slip differentials. Enter: the Mitsubishi Outlander GT!
It’s still not very practical for me to have 2 vehicles, because my wife and I have a little townhouse with a 1-car garage and we alternate weeks of who gets to use the garage. That’s why I got down to 1 car in the first place. But sometimes, like when I’m once again crashing over the shittily-maintained road leading up to my office in my lowered BMW, I think, “you know, it would be nice to have a more comfortable vehicle to complement a fun car.”
Which brings us to the Outlander GT. If I went back to a dedicated winter vehicle, I’d want as much capability as possible. But the reality is I’m not an off-roader, and I want half decent mileage, so I’d probably be best served by a crossover as long as it has something an above-average awd system.
When the Outlander GT first came out, it was often mistakenly referred to as having the same awd system as the Lancer Evolution. It doesn’t. But it does have a system that’s nonetheless interesting.
This diagram is of the current 2016 Outlander’s awd system but the only difference with the 2010-12 Outlander GT is it lacks the ECO mode which limits it to fwd, and I’m not positive but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t have electric power steering.
BUT it does have an electronically-controlled center differential that varies the torque split on the fly, an electronically-controlled front differential, and brake-based torque vectoring on the rear differential. It has a snow mode that tweaks the parameters of how the system behaves, and can be locked in a 50/50 split for sticky situations.
Basically, this would be more than capable for my needs, especially when paired with snow tires. Because hey, if it can kick up sand with all 4 wheels, you know it has to be good.
That’s some high quality off-roadiness!
The Outlander GT also has a halfway decent 230 hp V6 that’s at least not a wheezy 4-banger. It technically requires premium but is generally fine without it.
You also get a comically bad 3rd row jumpseat that is literally a piece of cloth stretched over a metal frame, and idiotic plastic flip-up headrests. It only gains anything resembling 3rd row leg room if you slide the 2nd row seat forward.
On the plus side, it has a generally un-fussy interior that classes up a basic plastic dashboard by covering it in stitched vinyl, giant magnesium paddle shifters for all the flappy-paddle shifting you’re likely to do in a 230 hp crossover, a stupid looking Rockford Fosgate subwoofer integrated into the trunk, and this cool tailgate that drops down for you to sit on.
There’s really nothing special about the Outlander GT at all besides its front differential, but I kinda love it for that differential all the same. It would certainly get a lot better mileage than the silly 11 mpg I got in my old Grand Cherokee and overall I think it would be a much more reasonable all-weather practical complement to some other stupid car, if I were to get a hypothetical stupid car. You can find nice lower mileage examples for $12k or less. That leaves plenty of money to get some stupid project car.
Honey, can I go get 2 cars again?
"ZHP Sparky, the 5th" (e30s2k)
04/20/2017 at 17:50, STARS: 1
Dare I say it looks pretty smart and has aged decently well too? 2010 Hyundai Santa Fe for reference.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
04/20/2017 at 18:05, STARS: 1
I agree, I rather like the way it looks. Mitsubishi got lucky that they already had the angular quarter windows when they decided to graft a Lancer-looking front end on it for the mid-cycle refresh.
The GT trim was added as part of the refresh. I think it works.
"AM3R, lost another burner" (am3r17)
04/20/2017 at 18:13, STARS: 0
Mitsubishi SUV’s always just got my attention for some reason.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
04/20/2017 at 18:21, STARS: 0
Same here, I think it’s because they’re kinda like Toyota trucks but without the Toyota premium. I really love the 3rd gen Montero Limited, which has a versatile transfer case with center LSD, and especially the 2001-2002 which has a rear LSD which was replaced in 2003 with traction control and an open diff. But it’s big and slow and gets terrible mileage.
"AM3R, lost another burner" (am3r17)
04/20/2017 at 18:38, STARS: 0
I have a special place in my heart for those, lol. Growing up in suburban NoVa, everyone’s mom had one back in the day. Eventually they’d get handed down as a first car. My friend use to drive us to lacrosse practice in his 200k mile montero that his parents gifted him. It was awesome. All of us drove accords or civics, so whenever we got snow he’d pick all of us up to go mess around in the weather.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
04/20/2017 at 18:43, STARS: 0
I grew up in Rockville. Not sure how old you are but I graduated high school in 2000. I knew a few folks with Monteros but I don’t remember them being overwhelmingly popular. I feel like Isuzu Troopers were the most popular big Japanese SUV and then there were a good number of 80 series Land Cruisers and LX450s.
"Monkey B" (monkeyb)
04/20/2017 at 18:56, STARS: 0
I worked on one last Friday, along with that 3rd row sweat being comical, so is the build quality and materials.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
04/20/2017 at 18:59, STARS: 0
I had a feeling that might be the case. Only the Montero gets good build quality, I think.
"Monkey B" (monkeyb)
04/20/2017 at 19:38, STARS: 1
I don’t know much about them mechanically, but if they are good in that regard I’d get one as a beater for the right $. Wouldn’t buy new though, you’d lose your shirt as they don’t hold value.
That 3rd row seat though, laughable...I mean I did laugh aloud at it.
"AM3R, lost another burner" (am3r17)
04/21/2017 at 00:02, STARS: 0
I’m a few years younger. I’m down in centreville/fairfax. Very high Korean population here in centreville, Japanese SUV’s have always been very popular. One of my next door neighbors had a beige Isuzu trooper, I used to think it was the coolest thing for some reason.
I wish I could justify an old LX450 or other big SUV, but I just have no need for it. I drove the 335i all year with how little snow we ended up getting.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
04/21/2017 at 00:41, STARS: 0
Rockville, Gaithersburg, Bethesda and Potomac were and still are full of Jews like myself and Asians, among other groups of course. It’s exactly the same as on your side of the river. ;)
The midsize Japanese SUVs like 4Runners, Pathfinders and Rodeos were way more common in the 90s and the big ones like Land Cruisers, Troopers and Monteros were still around but not as prevalent. Isuzu SUVs in general were pretty damn popular at the time.
Plenty of minivans though.
"AM3R, lost another burner" (am3r17)
04/21/2017 at 09:25, STARS: 0
Sounds about right haha. Nowadays, the most common car in the area has gotta be C300/328i’s. I can confidently say that not a day goes by where I don’t see at least 10.
Older cars, I see plenty of 3rd gen 4runners still running around, sadly many of which are starting to rust :(
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
04/21/2017 at 10:34, STARS: 1
I also randomly remembered this morning that Suburbans were very popular among families who could use a minivan but didn’t want to be seen driving one. Basically the same as why 3-row crossovers are so popular now but no such vehicles existed back then.
In the late 80s/early 90s minivans were certainly popular but so were wagons. Ford Taurus & Mercury Sable were the most popular by far, followed by Volvos, Mercedes, and even stuff like the Oldsmobile Cutlass Cruiser, which was a Cutlass Ciera wagon.
Every once in a while you’d see a big old-school Ford County Squire or something similar but as kids we were always like, “what’s this family doing driving this old barge?” Even though they were still being sold, they just seemed ancient compared to a Taurus.
Around the mid 90s when the jellybean Taurus came out, and the jellybean Chrysler minivans that were less ridiculous looking than the Taurus, and fewer other wagons with 3rd rows were available, a lot of folks shifted to the minivans. We did exactly that—my mom’s loaded ’89 Taurus wagon was replaced by a loaded ’96 Town & Country. The first two boxy Mopar minivan generations were popular but the jellybean ones took it to another level.
That’s also when Suburbans started getting super popular because there were the people who just refused to drive a jellybean minivan. I remember my neighbors across the street were very excited about the Suburban (probably about a ’96 or somewhere around there) they special ordered with the exact options they wanted. I was 14 and already very much on the “why the hell would you want to drive that boat instead of a minivan?” bandwagon.
Land Cruisers and Monteros were the same basic idea, but their 3rd rows both took up a lot more of the cargo area than a Suburban. I always thought the Land Cruiser 80 was cool looking, and I liked the way the Land Cruiser & Montero 3rd row seats flipped up to the sides.
I also remember riding in someone’s second gen Montero and being blown away by the little secondary gauge pod on the top of the dash with an altimiter, it was like, “THIS THING CAN DRIVE UP MOUNTAINS, COOL!!!!”
But for rich DC suburbanites who wanted to carry a bunch of crap behind the 3rd row while also not driving a minivan, the Suburban was the move . Because hey, gas was cheap, like less than a dollar a gallon.
"AM3R, lost another burner" (am3r17)
04/21/2017 at 21:39, STARS: 0
Man, you hit the nail right on the head.
Suburbans and tahoes are still crazy popular. It’s funny, because you never know who’s driving it. Is it the rich dude who got his 1999 suburban new and still drives it with 200k? Or is it some teen that got lucky and got his moms tahoe handed down instead of a minivan.
I was golfing at this private course (friend works there, free tee time) and since we’re both pretty decent golfers, we were ahead of pace. We ended up joining this twosome in front of us, and I start chatting cars with one of them as he was wearing a BMW hat. He shows me pictures of his i8, his new F80 M3 competition package, E28 M5, 993 turbo, 991 GT3, and Range Rover SVR. We finish 18 holes, ride out to the parking lot and I’m looking around for one of his cars. He pulls up to this ratty GMT800 suburban and tells me it’s been his daily driver since new, no plans to replace it!