Off-road experience

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U

ufo

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 6, 2014
Messages
178
Location
Sydney
Has anyone taken their PHEV off-road? I am not talking about serious off-road, just dirt roads with some irregular surface.
I did it for the first time past weekend and amount of steering column rattling and steering wheel vibration really shocked me. I am just wondering if it is like that in general or I’ve got something wrong with mine!?!? I have taken my other car, which is a sedan with sports suspension and very low profile tyres, to the same place. Its steering wheel and column doesn’t rattle and shake half of the amount PHEV does!?!?!
 
This interesting. Nobody responded!?! Does this mean nobody took their PHEV off-road?!? or they did but they don't have any issue or they are happy the way it is ?!? Come on people, somebody got to have something to say about this. I just want to get some sort of feed back before I take this issue to the dealer.
 
I have taken mine up the Bloomfield track. This is between Cape Tribulation & Wujul

We did have some feedback in the steering however no more than expected.
Here is a youtube video that someone has taken in the past to give you an idea.
A couple of the climbs approach 18%

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mEb-sAujl4
 
Thanks for your response. The kick back and/or vibration of the steering wheel is just too much especially for a vehicle that claims to be a 4WD SUV. When I say vibration I am mostly talking about steering wheel's short range rotation in your hands when car is traveling on a bumpy road.
 
Hi

The PHEV has just completed 2 major rallys with very little modification.

http://www.hybridcars.com/mitsubishi-outlander-phev-completes-asia-cross-country-rally/

Did you have your tyres at the road pressure of 38 psi?? If so that would give a very harsh feedback through the steering wheel.

Cheers

Chris
 
Lyra252 said:
Hi

The PHEV has just completed 2 major rallys with very little modification.

http://www.hybridcars.com/mitsubishi-outlander-phev-completes-asia-cross-country-rally/

Did you have your tyres at the road pressure of 38 psi?? If so that would give a very harsh feedback through the steering wheel.

Cheers

Chris
Click to expand...

Hi Chris,

I know PHEV completed rallies but nobody knows what modifications they did. Anyway, my tyres were at recommended pressure of 35 psi. (The plate on the rear wheel arc says 35 Psi below 160 kms and 38 Psi above 160 kms). The road I tried was nothing special, pretty smooth dirt road with occasional minor bumps or undulations. As I mentioned I took my sport sedan there which has 18x40x245 tyres with 44 psi pressure and steering feedback was minor compared to PHEV. Of course one’s definition of these sorts of things could be very relative. I wish I could find somebody with another PHEV and compare it.

Arnie
 
ufo said:
Thanks for your response. The kick back and/or vibration of the steering wheel is just too much especially for a vehicle that claims to be a 4WD SUV. When I say vibration I am mostly talking about steering wheel's short range rotation in your hands when car is traveling on a bumpy road.
Click to expand...

How fast were you trying to go? While I was out at lunchtime, I took the opportunity to stop off at a local National Trust park where it is possible to get off-road a bit. I drove at walking pace across a fairly bumpy grassy meadow and the handling was fine. It's no Landrover and I can believe that it would get difficult if you try to go over 10mph, but at walking pace it seemed to handle it with no problems.
 
From the users manual:

Mvs9rQ1bpUjgVZnyHU8P.jpg


So, is it off-road vehicle, or not?
 
maby said:
...How fast were you trying to go? While I was out at lunchtime, I took the opportunity to stop off at a local National Trust park where it is possible to get off-road a bit. I drove at walking pace across a fairly bumpy grassy meadow and the handling was fine. It's no Landrover and I can believe that it would get difficult if you try to go over 10mph, but at walking pace it seemed to handle it with no problems.
Click to expand...

I have a Citroen C5. When you push a button it gets a ground clearance bigger than PHEV,
and I can also drive 10kmh, with little smaller clearance even 40kmh.

I expected to be able to drive the Mitsu little faster than "walking pace" off road.
Little disappointed.

Nevertheless, I still keep my Toyota Hilux for really hard jobs (like snow ploughing).

The winter season is coming, I have about 1km unpaved road from my home,
to the town and main road, which is seldom cleared from snow.
I already have proper winter tyres on, but practice will show, how the PHEV is coping.
If it will not manage, I will be not only little, but deeply disappointed.

I will keep you informed.
 
PolishPilot said:
From the users manual:

225


So, is it off-road vehicle, or not?
Click to expand...

It's what we call a "Chelsea Tractor" round here - a large 4WD estate that can drive across the polo field or the gymkhana car park without getting stuck, but spends most of its time in the city.
 
maby said:
ufo said:
Thanks for your response. The kick back and/or vibration of the steering wheel is just too much especially for a vehicle that claims to be a 4WD SUV. When I say vibration I am mostly talking about steering wheel's short range rotation in your hands when car is traveling on a bumpy road.
Click to expand...

How fast were you trying to go? While I was out at lunchtime, I took the opportunity to stop off at a local National Trust park where it is possible to get off-road a bit. I drove at walking pace across a fairly bumpy grassy meadow and the handling was fine. It's no Landrover and I can believe that it would get difficult if you try to go over 10mph, but at walking pace it seemed to handle it with no problems.
Click to expand...

10 mph is roughly 15 kmph and I wasn't going any faster than that.
 
PolishPilot said:
maby said:
...How fast were you trying to go? While I was out at lunchtime, I took the opportunity to stop off at a local National Trust park where it is possible to get off-road a bit. I drove at walking pace across a fairly bumpy grassy meadow and the handling was fine. It's no Landrover and I can believe that it would get difficult if you try to go over 10mph, but at walking pace it seemed to handle it with no problems.
Click to expand...

I have a Citroen C5. When you push a button it gets a ground clearance bigger than PHEV,
and I can also drive 10kmh, with little smaller clearance even 40kmh.

I expected to be able to drive the Mitsu little faster than "walking pace" off road.
Little disappointed.

Nevertheless, I still keep my Toyota Hilux for really hard jobs (like snow ploughing).

The winter season is coming, I have about 1km unpaved road from my home,
to the town and main road, which is seldom cleared from snow.
I already have proper winter tyres on, but practice will show, how the PHEV is coping.
If it will not manage, I will be not only little, but deeply disappointed.

I will keep you informed.
Click to expand...


I 100 % agree with you. I know PHEV is not in the same league with Land Cruiser, Land Rover and so an, but it is claimed to be an off-road vehicle and should handle a simple dirt roads a lot better.
 
I drive a km or so on a quite bumpy track a few times a week and have found the car to be fine - not much vibration through the steering wheel even with the wheels bumping around. Not had a 4x4 before though so not got anything to compare it to. Better than the polo. I don't bother steering round all the potholes now and I drive a bit faster!
H
 
I think there are several aspects to a car's off-road abilities - and I have owned many Landrovers and a smaller number of Landcruisers. The Outlander should be fine for relatively slow transits of muddy and moderately uneven ground, but it lacks several of the important features of a genuine off-roader.

The biggest is probably clearance and axle articulation. Landrover used to put a Defender LWB on display outside each showroom perched on two concrete blocks each getting on for a metre high - one under the nearside front wheel and the other under the offside rear wheel - try doing that with an Outlander! The ability to cross-articulate is important - particularly if the transmission is not genuine off-road.

The lack of a low ratio transfer box and differential locks will also be a problem - that 4WD button presumably pretends to be a centre diff-lock, but there are no locks on the front and rear axle diffs. With the lack of cross-articulation that I expect it to have, the lack of those diff-locks could leave you in trouble.

The other problem is sheer physical strength. Landrovers and Landcruisers have ladder chassis built out of girders with suspension attached that would not be out of place on a small lorry (I've done major work on Landrover suspension and you are using sledge hammers as often as screwdrivers). A Landrover will survive being driven fast across a ploughed field for miles - with the suspension on an Outlander, I certainly would not try driving my £35k car at anything more than walking pace - I don't want to break it.

None of that necessarily matters - I'm loving the car - but my days of real off-roading are long over. I've driven a Landrover up goat tracks and parked on mountain tops - makes for a great view while you cook your breakfast in the back - but I'll not be trying it on the Outlander!
 
P.S. - was just looking up tyre pressures in the user manual and came across the following:

"On a bumpy or rutted road
Drive as slow possible when driving on bumpy or rutted roads.

CAUTION
• The impact on tyres and/or wheels when driving on a bumpy or rutted road can damage the tyre and/or wheel

This vehicle is intended for driving mainly on roads with firm surface.

4WD system makes possible driving on roads without special coverage, on flat and firm surface. Please, remember that off road ability of your vehicle is limited. Your vehicle is not intended for driving In heavy off-road, overcoming the rugged terrain, deep ruts, etc."

That is more or less what I would have expected.
 
maby said:
I think there are several aspects to a car's off-road abilities - and I have owned many Landrovers and a smaller number of Landcruisers. The Outlander should be fine for relatively slow transits of muddy and moderately uneven ground, but it lacks several of the important features of a genuine off-roader.

The biggest is probably clearance and axle articulation. Landrover used to put a Defender LWB on display outside each showroom perched on two concrete blocks each getting on for a metre high - one under the nearside front wheel and the other under the offside rear wheel - try doing that with an Outlander! The ability to cross-articulate is important - particularly if the transmission is not genuine off-road.

The lack of a low ratio transfer box and differential locks will also be a problem - that 4WD button presumably pretends to be a centre diff-lock, but there are no locks on the front and rear axle diffs. With the lack of cross-articulation that I expect it to have, the lack of those diff-locks could leave you in trouble.

The other problem is sheer physical strength. Landrovers and Landcruisers have ladder chassis built out of girders with suspension attached that would not be out of place on a small lorry (I've done major work on Landrover suspension and you are using sledge hammers as often as screwdrivers). A Landrover will survive being driven fast across a ploughed field for miles - with the suspension on an Outlander, I certainly would not try driving my £35k car at anything more than walking pace - I don't want to break it.

None of that necessarily matters - I'm loving the car - but my days of real off-roading are long over. I've driven a Landrover up goat tracks and parked on mountain tops - makes for a great view while you cook your breakfast in the back - but I'll not be trying it on the Outlander!
Click to expand...

I didn't buy PHEV as an off-road vehicle. It will probably never spend its life any more than 10 % off-road and that will be only dirt tracks but I would expect it to handle dirt roads better than a sports sedan with firm suspension and very low profile tyres with 44 Psi pressure in them. Never the less I'll take it up to the dealer not that I expect too much out of it but I'll try any way. In principle PHEV's suspension is too stiff for what it is. Even in Sydney's pot hole ridden urban roads makes it a harsh ride with PHEV. I have driven many SUVs and dedicated off-road vehicles and never had similar issue. Stiff suspension makes handling unexpectedly good on PHEV. I can take corners at same speed that I used to do with my sport sedan and PHEV handles corners as good as the sedan but it is not a sports vehicle. I know they did this to balance the extra weight coming from the drive batteries but I think they overdone it. I also have a suspicion that EU and AU spec vehicles have different suspension specs because some people in EU are complaining that EU spec vehicle’s suspension is too soft. If it is the same spec and they are complaining about it being soft they must have been driving around vehicles with no suspension :)
 
It's not that bad off-road, see the video.
Climbing ability is amazing!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GRNVSheDiE&feature=youtu.be
 
PolishPilot said:
It's not that bad off-road, see the video.
Climbing ability is amazing!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GRNVSheDiE&feature=youtu.be
Click to expand...

That's the advantage of the grunt of an electric motor that goes right down to virtually zero RPM.
 
As well as Maby's comments on articulation, diff and gear ratios you should also consider the tyres. Unless you have some dedicated off road tyres it is very possible you will get stuck on a field even with the 4WD. Many moons ago I drove SUVs at 1-day horse events and although they had 4WD, on several occasions we had to be pulled off muddy fields by more dedicated off road vehicles (usually a Defender or Hi-Lux with decent tyres, once by a forrester). You would be amazed the difference a decent off road style tyre can make to the grip, similar to the difference a winter tyre makes on snow. Always a compromise thought, off road specialist tyres produce greater rolling resistance and are not as suited for Tarmac driving, where the PheV is likely to spend the vast majority of its time.
 

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