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Red flags go up when the first thing someone wants to tell me about my car is all about the 10-inch Fosgate subwoofer in back. Typically, this means there isn’t much else to recommend. Sort of like boasting that a restaurant has a really neat bank of flat-screen TVs. Plus, for the record, I’m light years from that age...




Red flags go up when the first thing someone wants to tell me about my car is all about the 10-inch Fosgate subwoofer in back. Typically, this means there isn’t much else to recommend. Sort of like boasting that a restaurant has a really neat bank of flat-screen TVs.

View full sizePhoto by James Gaffney/The Times-Picayune

Plus, for the record, I’m light years from that age when I thought pressing amplifier-sized, 710-watt speakers into service in a car’s audio system could never result in hearing loss in later years. (Damn you, Van Halen!)



But I was willing to give the 2011 Mitsubishi Outlander’s top-of-the-line GT the benefit of the doubt. At least until the moment I pulled up the third-row benchseat only to discover it would be cramped even for small children and therefore virtually useless. Mitsubishi likes to tout the Outlander as a seven-passenger SUV. And it is — if the sixth and seventh passengers banished to the dismal third-row benchseat are stick figures.



Mercy, I loathe fake metal alloy trim, especially when it’s used so prominently as it is for the Outlander GT’s shifter plate.



Elsewhere, I went to open the driver’s-side door and heard a resolutely tinny, hollow sound the likes of which I haven’t encountered since slamming shut the door to the ’63 Karmann Ghia a friend once owned some years back.



Oversized, wing-like shifter paddles behind the steering wheel for use in clutchless manual mode partially obscure the diver’s sight line of functions located on the steering column’s left and right arms, respectively.



But the biggest disappointment — and surprise — was the lackluster power behind the 3.0-liter, V-6 engine, mated to a six-speed automatic transmission, which produces 230 horsepower and 215 pound-feet of torque. Not that every compact crossover SUV needs to be acceleration-happy in order to score points with the Rajah of Revs, but the sleepy powerplant’s decided lack of spunk and spirit felt uninspired — no, worse: lazy. (The lower trim ES and SE Outlander models feature a standard inline four-cylinder powerplant with 167 horsepower and 167 pound-feet of torque.)



Cabin noise levels were high enough to render the mellifluous voices of BBC World News broadcasters nearly unintelligible without cranking the volume up well past the midway point. At least here, we learned the real reason for the 10-inch subwoofer.



In this skeptic’s estimation, this top-tier $32,000 vehicle, refreshed in 2010, needed to redeem itself.



View full sizePhoto by James Gaffney/The Times-Picayune

All-terrain prowess

Bodylines style-wise may not make the Outlander among the most handsome SUVs to ever hit the highway, yet this versatile soft-roader packs a surprisingly hifalutin level of bells and whistles making it more than worthy of a second look among consumers in the market for a crossover in this segment and price point. From its Fuse Hands-free Link and Super All-Wheel Control (S-AWC) systems to the active front differential, front-strut tower brace, four-wheel independent suspension, active stability and traction logic controls, you might think the Outlander were sparring with the Jeep Grand Cherokee for bragging rights for all-terrain prowess. Especially if you add the hill-start assist feature, which keeps the car stationary for a few seconds after the brake is released during inclines, and a drive-mode selector that enables the driver to choose from tarmac, snow and lock positions, depending on road conditions.



Not bad.



Add to this the Outlander GT’s flap folding tailgate, 18-inch alloy wheels, Xenon headlamps and LED rear tailli

Tags: Mini, Mitsubishi, is-featured

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REDEMPTION SONG: Outlander GT proves there's always more than meets the eye was originally published by New Orleans Auto Reviews: Mitsubishi. Read the full story by clicking here.