MY2019 Outlander PHEV 2.4 4H - My Test Drive Weekend.

its a great diary, i am loving it, lets see what is your final decision.

bounderboy said:

While i remember i looked at the USB socket in the rear seats and is totally misaligned so no way anything could be plugged in.. Sure just a manufacturing error. Wish there was 12v socket too as we have an plug invertor the kids liked to use.. Probably more useful than a USB port anyway..

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There is a 12v outlet & USB socket in my 2014 car arm rest between the front seats.

greendwarf said:

bounderboy said:

While i remember i looked at the USB socket in the rear seats and is totally misaligned so no way anything could be plugged in.. Sure just a manufacturing error. Wish there was 12v socket too as we have an plug invertor the kids liked to use.. Probably more useful than a USB port anyway..

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There is a 12v outlet & USB socket in my 2014 car arm rest between the front seats.

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Yes they have removed both of these - the USB and 12v socket is in the Dashboard - next to the Heated steering wheel/blindspot buttons..

ThudnBlundr said:

EchoVictor said:

bounderboy said:

noticed that there is no way to isolate vents on each side of the cabin - my wife used to shut them off on her side as she gets colder before i do .. obviously can redirect them..
.

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Might be different on your shiny new one but on my 2015 just push the vent all the way to one side and it clicks closed. Have a play and you’ll see what I mean.

Enjoying the reports.

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On our 2015 4hs, you can have split a/c with a different temperature for the passenger if you adjust the passenger side

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Yes the 4H has this too but missus never seems to want to mess with them - never does on the BMW which has dual zone controls too.. the flip to close worked so that is fine anyway...

robdickinson said:

Had my (2014) since january and I'm still loving it.

Its not such a premium interior, compromise has to be made somewhere I guess, I feel its pretending its in a class higher than it is, certainly a decent all round motor but not in bmw/audi teritory.

But unless you spend 3-4 times the cost its the only game in town for a phev 4wd for now!

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Totally agree and has the weekend has gone on I have just got over myself a little and kept in mind always that this is a direct rival as such and pretty sure it does come close...

Regulo said:

Loving this write up, bounderboy. It pretty much mirrors what I went through when deciding if it was the car for me. Almost 4 years on, I made the right choice. For all it's niggly little faults, it's still a great car, as far as I'm concerned. I just love the whole experience. There are things you can do to mitigate a lot of the bongs, usually involves unplugging various sounders (naughty, naughty)! And as with all cars, you just have to accept some compromises from your own ideals. I've never had a car that had everything exactly as I wanted it, and I don't suppose I ever will.

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Excellent glad it has been worth writing and not just me that find some of the faults niggly. I have tried to be thorough throughout and hoped it hasn't come across as moany! I think the X3 is pretty much perfect for me - actually that isn't true the manual gearbox is horrid and also it isn't because it sucks my income more than is worth it - hence this experiment.

Thanks to all that have enjoyed my ramblings... and apologies for lack of structure to them!..

Day 4: A business trip

Well what did today hold - a business trip of around 130miles. Now in my BMW this would of course be light work without thinking about Diesel, however if I was claiming my expenses back i would actually lose money on the allowed mileage rates (11p for under 2000cc Diesel) as it normally averages around 34MPG. My company lets me offset this to make sure I am not out of pocket. However it is worth noting with the 2.4 petrol engine that the allowed rate is double (22p/mile.) which means I would probably be in profit on trips.. which is always nice..

So I put way too much petrol in so I tried my best to use some on this trip. I did charge overnight so first 30miles or so was on electric and i did mess with the charge/save then got bored of that and left on normal. Was interesting to see that the power was always there and did flick back to electric when slow moving. I honestly find the engine almost in perceptible and actually only annoying because it is costing me money and reducing my range :-D

I noticed on "Trip A" that my MPG was showing 55mpg at the end of the trip today. I am not sure if that was my whole trip since picking up Friday or just today's ride.. Think it is everything.. To be honest i could/should have been more vigilant but to be honest it would still be cheaper even if it used twice as much petrol than I get now... but it won't - taking into account BiK savings.. The only time the engine really became noticeable was probably when I was really pushing the car and there was no battery supply left - it revved to it's maximum output to supply enough power. But again it will be rare i use this.. While I remember I did hit a series of bends faster than I normally would.. it got a little out of shape/uneasy - nothing dangerous at all but again was trying to see how it would do it..

On the trip I had one of my colleagues with me and she found it all fine.. she said she found it quite quick from passenger seat.. I managed to get up to about 90 mph and it seemed happy. It really feels at all speeds that it can change speed quite easily. So not sure how the 60mph mark can be so slow... sure in real world it's no slouch in comparison..

So in the next hour i will be dropping it back... one final ride.. I will have a reflection later on where i think I am in my decision. I did make contact with my Sales rep to arrange drop off and he did apologise for his no show and he mentioned he did get a roasting from his Manager. So feel a little guilty and I think there maybe a genuine reason for it but said we will discuss later. I will also go through some figures with them potentially which will obviously affect my decision and if I can actually afford it. I am hoping to get in on 36mth rather than 48mth deal this time. I feel in 4years this car will be seriously out of date so being able to swap in 3yrs will be much more beneficial. With my X3 48mths was preferable as changing is a bit of pain..

Anyway till later...

Good luck. I don't lease but I can see that for cash purchases there are some good deals around - c. 20% discount off list.

https://www.uk-car-discount.co.uk/new-cars/mitsubishi/outlander/petrol_plugin_elec_hybrid/4x4

gobiman said:

Good luck. I don't lease but I can see that for cash purchases there are some good deals around - c. 20% discount off list.

https://www.uk-car-discount.co.uk/new-cars/mitsubishi/outlander/petrol_plugin_elec_hybrid/4x4

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Thanks.. good to see anyone have any hints where dealers will be doing best deals.. when is reg plate change? Is it towards end of month?

Day 4: Final Update

Well I picked up my current steed - so question is what was it like to drive home after 4 days with the Outlander. Well I opened the boot and it opened quickly with out a beep or delay Got in front seat and too me a while to arrange my feet to find pedals. When ever I swtich back from an Auto it takes me a while. Although I never notice really the pedals are a little offset.. On the move I didn't get beeped for my seatbelt straight away which was nice... but the car felt heavy. Solid heavy - but heavy. When I entered the roundabout it felt a lot slower. Being a Turbo diesel it does take a little time to wind up and then when it does a gear change is necessary. So tick to the Outlander.. The rest was as I remembered it. I am more convinced after test drive that the slight reservations are liveable with and the money savings I can spend on beer to cloud the memory further So assuming i can get figures right on the Lease I think this will be my choice.. If anyone knows a good place to get cheap deals I am all ears.. The Main dealer says they will try and beat any like for like so want to get some good quotes in. Nationwide Vehicle Contracts seem to have good uns but price changes daily it seems...

Oh and I need to choose a colour! Was on Atlantic Grey.. but not sure if to go for a black.. Dealer said he loves Ruby Black.. I am not sure on that one..

Anyway thanks for listening all..

bounderboy said:

gobiman said:

Good luck. I don't lease but I can see that for cash purchases there are some good deals around - c. 20% discount off list.

https://www.uk-car-discount.co.uk/new-cars/mitsubishi/outlander/petrol_plugin_elec_hybrid/4x4

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Thanks.. good to see anyone have any hints where dealers will be doing best deals.. when is reg plate change? Is it towards end of month?

Day 4: Final Update

Well I picked up my current steed - so question is what was it like to drive home after 4 days with the Outlander. Well I opened the boot and it opened quickly with out a beep or delay Got in front seat and too me a while to arrange my feet to find pedals. When ever I swtich back from an Auto it takes me a while. Although I never notice really the pedals are a little offset.. On the move I didn't get beeped for my seatbelt straight away which was nice... but the car felt heavy. Solid heavy - but heavy. When I entered the roundabout it felt a lot slower. Being a Turbo diesel it does take a little time to wind up and then when it does a gear change is necessary. So tick to the Outlander.. The rest was as I remembered it. I am more convinced after test drive that the slight reservations are liveable with and the money savings I can spend on beer to cloud the memory further So assuming i can get figures right on the Lease I think this will be my choice.. If anyone knows a good place to get cheap deals I am all ears.. The Main dealer says they will try and beat any like for like so want to get some good quotes in. Nationwide Vehicle Contracts seem to have good uns but price changes daily it seems...

Oh and I need to choose a colour! Was on Atlantic Grey.. but not sure if to go for a black.. Dealer said he loves Ruby Black.. I am not sure on that one..

Anyway thanks for listening all..

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Tough call... for me it's between Atlantic Grey and White Pearl, Ruby Black is nice but hard to keep clean and cool (perhaps dealers are more lenient towards black color since they always have a service that cleans the for-sale vehicles)

When buying ours, I found a solid black one at a decent price, but the dealership hadn't prepped it. When I brought SWMBO back to look at it again, they'd detailed it and all we could see were loads of tiny marks on the paintwork. No real scratches as such, but it looked awful in the sunlight. We'd gone there to buy it, but walked away.

And we have a white car which looks good straight after it's been cleaned, but dirty again as soon as it's driven.

I was going to suggest Glacier Blue, but I see there's only Red, unless you like black, white or shades of grey. I really like my blue, it just doesn't seem to show the dirt, even after three months without a clean. I know I should be ashamed of myself, but I really didn't notice the dirt - until I washed it!

Test drive report made very interesting reading, thanks. In my experience Atlantic Grey is also fairly forgiving when it comes to showing the dirt.

Good report.

As to the acceleration, my experience is German manufacturers tend to be 'optimistic' whilst Japanese and Korean manufacturers pessimistic about their figures, preferring to give a global worst case number.

Although officially 11 seconds (2014 model) someone managed to get an original PHEV to do it in 8.9 seconds from memory. The 2019 with its upgrades should be some what quicker again.

I would avoid Black, to be honest Mitsubishi paint isn't very good, it stone chips badly and Black will show it the worst.

Also don't forget some advantages your BMW can never match, with a PHEV you will never need to scrape windows or get in a cold car in Winter ever again, just switch on the heating with the phone app for a while before going out.

You can race people from the lights without giving any warning as you don't need to sit there noisily revving up ready to go, just sit in silence looking bored, then floor it, sometimes loses initially but without needing to change from 1st to 2nd it often gets a nose ahead. :lol: (childish I know but we all find ourselves in the wrong lane sometimes)

Electronic control of motors is so precise the car's traction is superb, it rarely scrabbles even if your too heavy footed.

Using B5 for maximum regenerative slowing makes stop/start traffic more bearable as you can drive with one pedal in effect and when the traffic speed varies its still always quiet, non of that tiring swapping up and down, up and down between 1st and 2nd gear.

BobEngineer said:

Good report.

As to the acceleration, my experience is German manufacturers tend to be 'optimistic' whilst Japanese and Korean manufacturers pessimistic about their figures, preferring to give a global worst case number.

Although officially 11 seconds (2014 model) someone managed to get an original PHEV to do it in 8.9 seconds from memory. The 2019 with its upgrades should be some what quicker again.

I would avoid Black, to be honest Mitsubishi paint isn't very good, it stone chips badly and Black will show it the worst.

Also don't forget some advantages your BMW can never match, with a PHEV you will never need to scrape windows or get in a cold car in Winter ever again, just switch on the heating with the phone app for a while before going out.

You can race people from the lights without giving any warning as you don't need to sit there noisily revving up ready to go, just sit in silence looking bored, then floor it, sometimes loses initially but without needing to change from 1st to 2nd it often gets a nose ahead. :lol: (childish I know but we all find ourselves in the wrong lane sometimes)

Electronic control of motors is so precise the car's traction is superb, it rarely scrabbles even if your too heavy footed.

Using B5 for maximum regenerative slowing makes stop/start traffic more bearable as you can drive with one pedal in effect and when the traffic speed varies its still always quiet, non of that tiring swapping up and down, up and down between 1st and 2nd gear.

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Thanks to all for the Colour advice.. and great points above. Defo great points and things that I will rapidly come used to quite quickly. Though on my BMW I got used to being be able to turn the engine on and lock the car and let it warm up.. However being able to do it from the window with out killing environment defintely huge tick..

With regards to the performance figures that is interesting too. I did do some accelerations from standstill and counted, so not very accurate lol, but i reckon it was under 10secs in sport mode... However it was the pull from 50-70 that was impressive.. or 40 to 60 or any of the "in gear" figures.. The electric boost makes it almost instant of course..

Really interested in the traction as it is something I found useful on the X3. My parents live at the top of a mountain.. (a very big hill) and when it snows the four wheel drive meant I could get up everytime when other cars just got stuck. I will miss the HDC which was really useful for going down too. Just hope the new SNOW mode means that I can still get up if needed and not get stuck with the other rear wheel BMW drivers I would hope the SAWC would be able to cope at least as well..

Sure a drag race will come up at somepoint so will see ;-)

bounderboy said:

Sure a drag race will come up at somepoint so will see ;-)

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Just for fun. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GZtTRKuE8A

Dunno about today, but back in the early days, black cars didn't have paint on their mirror housings resulting in quick discolloration (is that a word?).

BobEngineer said:

Using B5 for maximum regenerative slowing makes stop/start traffic more bearable as you can drive with one pedal in effect and when the traffic speed varies its still always quiet, non of that tiring swapping up and down, up and down between 1st and 2nd gear.

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This will soon feel outdated as stop-and-go dynamic cruise control eventually proliferates. Since Nissan already has it on the Rogue and Leaf, it's a certainty for the next Outlander phev.

bounderboy said:

Really interested in the traction as it is something I found useful on the X3. My parents live at the top of a mountain.. (a very big hill) and when it snows the four wheel drive meant I could get up everytime when other cars just got stuck. I will miss the HDC which was really useful for going down too. Just hope the new SNOW mode means that I can still get up if needed and not get stuck with the other rear wheel BMW drivers I would hope the SAWC would be able to cope at least as well..

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According to the Car Question tests, Outlander PHEV does well in snow, not so much in sand or diagonal. MY2019 should improve in these tests, but since he's in Canada, we'll have to wait for MY2020 (it does make me wonder whether USA/Canada MY2019 will come with the enhanced traction control and snow/sport modes)

Snow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KirCQ6f4mnY

Sand: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfga7bHUniA&t=209s

Diagonal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WF6BkhlWoO4&t=11s

I found snow traction very good.

But I was as much talking about day to day, such as pulling out of a side road in a hurry when dusty or gritty or off the line if you need to get ahead to get into another lane... The PHEV always seems to get the traction right and my tyres lasted a long time for it.

I had a VW with a DSG box a while ago and didn't like it much, very hard to judge a quick start as the auto seemed slow to bring in power, then too much so it scrabbled for initial grip a bit.

SO hopefully english snow won't be a problem.

In my head I had picked Titanium Grey and people are letting me get quotes on it. But on the website they only have Atlantic Grey - are they one and the same or has anyone seen the difference?

Car manufacturers tend to have all sorts of obscure names for their model colours. If I had to describe Mitsubishi’s “Atlantic Grey” colour in generic terms I would call it titanium or gun metal grey.

WAH64 said:

Car manufacturers tend to have all sorts of obscure names for their model colours. If I had to describe Mitsubishi’s “Atlantic Grey” colour in generic terms I would call it titanium or gun metal grey.

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That is the sort of colour i wanted to go for, wanted something that looked sophisticated ... Just confusing as I have seen Titanium Grey listed as a colour. But it sounds same as Atlantic Grey.. Was worried Atlantic grey had a blueish tinge or something

Having owned Landrover Defenders with mud terrain tyres for many years, I wasn't sure what to expect from the Phev in snow.
I found the Phev quite sure footed in the snow with winter tyres but because it has no more ground clearance than other small cars, it couldn't cope with much depth & frequently ground to a halt.

I probably wouldn't try to drive the Phev in snow with the standard Toyo's. Winter tyres make a huge difference. Worth every penny.



More here:

http://www.myoutlanderphev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=3553&start=10