I test drove the new 2022 Nissan Outlander

[Dirk Diggler]

While I was waiting for the service center to do f&ck all in terms of honoring their warranty and fixing my stereo I had a chance to test drive the new SEL Nissan Outlander!!! It fell short of my expectations but I'd still rather have it than a Nissan Rogue.

Pros:
The interior was extremely nice, with a very supportive seat, soft touch materials, a nice center armrest console, all the tech was nice and withing easy reach. This is the nicest interior Mitsubishi has ever done IMO.

The drive was nice and quite and power felt like a Ferrari compared to my Mirage.

It's a good looking car up close and at a distance, with striking wheels. If you squint you'd think it was a Landrover.

Cons:
It is cramped inside! It is not as big as it looks in commercials or online articles. I kid you not, I have more rear legroom in our G4 than in this and this is after I slid the rear seat all the way back.

3rd row seating is uncomfortable, tiny, and really hinders rear vision.

Massive blind-spot that isn't helped even when I folded the 3 row seating down. You definitely want blind spot monitoring in this.

No spare tire, which is a huge safety issue that should be illegal. You can't even get an option for a spare tire because there's no space for it. The useless 3rd row head rests go where the spare tire should be. All other Mitsubishi vehicles come with a spare tire.

Cargo volume room without 3rd row seating isn't impressive and about the same as in an Outlander Sport.

All in all folks I'd get an Eclipse Cross or Sport before I'd get the new Outlander by far.

[7milesout]

Is it a Nissan or a Mitsubishi?

[Dirk Diggler]

Is it a Nissan or a Mitsubishi?

It's 100% Nissan under the hood, so where it counts. The suspension, interior styling, and AWC is Mitsubishi IIRC. If I had the money I'd just wait until the new PHEV Outlander comes out, that will be 100% Mitsubishi and IMO much much more reliable than an ICE Outlander with a Nissan programmed Xtronic CVT in it. Of course I'm assuming its Xtronic programmed just because it'd make sense from a manufacturing point of view to streamline the process as much as possible, but I very well could be wrong. I just figure Nissan engine, a Nissan spec version of the JATCO CVT8, so wouldn't it be cheaper to just keep the Xtronic programming?

[Dirk Diggler]

I say "Nissan Outlander" tongue and cheek.

[Ares]

Thanks for the review.

I wish I'd gotten the 2.4 Outlander PHEV before the supply crisis started..

[Dirk Diggler]

Thanks for the review.

I wish I'd gotten the 2.4 Outlander PHEV before the supply crisis started..

Yeah I think the current Outlander PHEV is the most cutting edge thing Mitsubishi has put out since the 3000GT. I just feel like hybrids have demonstrated better reliability than traditional ICE vehicles since the Prius came out 20 years ago. That's just my opinion though, I have zero experience in mechanical or engineering. One of the Wizards on here could speak to that a lot better than I could.