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Travel Torque: Chuck off the stilettos. The new Mitsubishis are here

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The facelifted Outlander.
The facelifted Outlander.

MitsubishiMotors SA has started the year revving with a clutch of new products. Travel Torque’s Melinda Ferguson takes a day out to be pampered in the facelifted Outlander

Since a high percentage of buyers of the Mitsubishi brand in South Africa are women, it was a no brainer why Mitsubishi decided to launch the facelifted Outlander to a group of skirted petrol heads on a “ladies launch” in Muldersdrift last Monday. Thankfully we all left our stilettos in the cubbyhole. In fact MitsubishiMotors SA’s special edition short wheelbase Pajero Legend, assumed by many to be tough dude car, recently recorded an almost perfect 50/50 sales split between male and female buyers.

While Cape Town was melting in 30-plus degree temps, we arrived at Lanseria airport drenched in torrential rain – ideal conditions to put the highly capable on-and-off-road Outlander through its paces. The local arm of the Japanese brand, first established as a shipping company by Yataro Iwasaki, in 1870, has clearly been busy in the first 40 days of 2017 with no less than three product launches under the cambelt – the refreshed crossover ASX, the uber impressive double cab Triton and now the souped up Outlander.

And it’s not like she’s merely gone through a few nips and tucks – there are no fewer than 100 changes to the new Outlander.

At first glance it’s the outsides that are most noticeable. Adopting Mitsubishi’s new design language, which embraces bold and edgy, the distinctive redesigned Mitsubishi badge is all about embracing modernity with an impressive don’t mess with me frontal shield. Two swathes of chrome lead from the outside edges of the LED headlights to create a more refined and luxurious effect.

Specced to the hilt, the facelifted Outlander embraces comfort and luxury with a full colour touch screen, a trendy glass panoramic sunroof, a gorgeous leather steering wheel, electric leather seats, a totally kick-ass Rockford Fosgate sound system and a roof-mounted DVD player, for restless back seat passengers. Seven seats put the Outlander above the rest and space reigns supreme with a whopping 1400-plus litres of boot space when the third row seats are folded down.

The electric tailgate makes loading shopping and luggage a synch plus the reverse parking camera allows for easy access into even the tightest parking. The Japanese brand has always put safety at the forefront – the new Outlander is no exception with seven airbags, Isofix anchors, ABS, EBD and a host of other off road assistance like hill-start assist and multiple 4WD modes that range from Eco mode to Auto mode, right through to an entirely locked-diff mode. The impressive 5.3-metre turning circle completes the impressive make-over.

The engine, a 2.4-litre naturally aspirated petrol unit, packing 123 KWs of power and a rather mid-range of 222 Nm of torque, remains unchanged. This is the only area of concern if attempting to do any hard core towing if the vehicle's fully loaded with seven people and luggage.

But when it comes to powerful torque, the new 2.4 Di-D.C. 4x4 six-speed Manual Triton DC, which I was lucky enough to test the week before, is far from lacking. With 430 Nm of delicious gravelling pull power, this bakkie is an absolute dream to drive, whether it be in urban settings or on the toughest terrain – the Triton truly shines.

Pricing:

Outlander: R549 900


Triton 2.4 Di-D.C. 4x4 MT: R539 900


Rating: 4 stars

Where the Outlander possibly most impresses is in pricing which comes in at a very reasonable R549 900 which includes a three-year/100 000km warranty and a five-year/90 000km service plan.

The atmosphere at the ladies’ launch proved to be way different to the usual testosterone fuelled race-till-you-drop male-populated events, that we, the lipstick brigade have become accustomed to. Instead of racing around the curvy roads of Muldersdrift, we were sent off in our Outlanders to do a bit of retail therapy at a few handpicked stores in the area.

And just in case that proved to be too tiring, an afternoon of spa treatments was arranged to restore our weary shopper-induced biceps. Tough day at the office, but someone has to do it.



Melinda Ferguson
Motoring journalist
City Press
p:0117139001
w:www.citypress.co.za  e: melindafergusonwriter@gmail.com
      
 
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