Outlander prompts sticker shock, in a good way

A menu of Mark Glover’s AutoGlo car reviews can be seen on the Business page of The Sacramento Bee’s website – www.sacbee.com/news/business/article4005306.html

Sacramento, California – Another week, another sport-utility vehicle.  And you might be asking yourself: Why would I want a 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander?

A good, long look at the window sticker should answer your question.

I was stunned at the myriad standard perks on the tested 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander 2.4 SEL S-AWC. They went on forever.  They were listed in small type because, best as I could tell, they would have needed a SECOND sticker to get them all in there in standard-size type.

Let’s see, there were heated, power side exterior mirrors; halogen headlights; a windshield wiper de-icer (the wipers are rain-sensing); heated front seats; leather appointments; a 7-inch touchscreen with smartphone link capability; steering wheel voice controls and on and on.

Throw in the exceptional safety equipment and a $3,000 SEL Touring Package of extras (that included adaptive cruise control, a heated steering wheel and a lane departure warning system), and the bottom line on the tester still came to only $32,260.

And did I mention the max federal government overall safety rating of five stars?

How about the admirable gas mileage of 24 miles per gallon in the city and 29 mpg on the highway?

Yes, this is a loaded up three-row, seven-seater with a genuine bargain of a price.

With a 2.4-liter, four-cylinder engine rated at 166 horsepower, it was not a flaming hot rod, but my Outlander responded well, cruised smoothly on freeways and handled downtown gridlock with plentiful agility.  It’s equipped with a continuously variable transmission.

I also found that I could load it up with lots of cargo, such were the spaces and angles available to me when the seats were folded.

Mitsubishi Motors touts the Outlander as its top-selling model, and given all that comes in the package, that’s certainly no mystery.

I walked up to the Outlander not expecting much that was special and came away a week later with the conviction that anyone considering a seven-passenger SUV would be a fool not to have the Outlander on their priority list.

It’s a great compromise between discount, moderately-equipped crossovers and lavishly priced sport-utes.