I'm considering buying the Outlander Sport. I checked it out at the Chicago auto show and it exceeded my expectations but have not driven it yet. I found it to be the perfect size and much better finished than any of the competition except for the much more expensive VW Tiguan, which is its only true competition. All the other so called compact SUV (Rogue, Tucson, Sportage, Equinox, Explorer) are much larger vehicles, too large for my liking. The Forester comes close but has too much hard plastics and the driving position is not as good as the Outlander sport.

Pretty much all the US reviews state that the 2L engine is too weak while in Europe they find the 1.8 diesel engine pretty good with about the same power output. I would not even consider it if it came with a V6 or turbo charged EVO style engine, what do owners have to say?

I also looked for aftermarket cold air intakes but did not find anything available for that vehicle yet, that would definitively improve it's performance, anyone looked into this yet?

 

well I have a lancer GTS stock and they have pretty much the same engine and i have to agree that it is weeeaaakk, but I heard if you put a Short Ram air intake and/or a new performance exhaust it should help a lot. I am also trying to find a turbocharger for it and a blow off valve so then the power should be really nice, i think you should do the same

 

I had the same idea but there is no ram air or cold air intake available yet. A turbo would certainly cancel the 10 year warranty so that's not a good idea.

 

i guess you'll just have to wait until they make one or shoot an email to a custom parts company, I get all my parts from roadracemotorsports.com and i think they might be generous enough to find you an intake

 

I have owned an Outlander Sport since November 2011. Here is the deal. Is the engine a little underpowered? Yes. Do you notice it? Not so much. It gets a little buzzy under hard acceleration, but it cruises comfortably at highway speed. You won't beat anyone off of a stop light unless they stall, and even then they would probably catch you. It is more geared towards economy than speed.

 

There have been many critics of how underwhelmed they have been with the Outlander Sport's power...or lack there of. I don't really have a defense for Mitsubishi's choice to only have 150 hp but regarding the acceleration, the problem clearly come from the CVT transmission. Truly, it is very sluggish out of the gate, but I'm wondering if anyone with automatic transmission has switched to manual and pedal shifted there way up the gears? While it's definitely not the way to go for fuel conservation, it really transforms the car into a little rocket. I do it entering freeways and it's very effective.

 

I just purchased 2011 Outlander Sport SE AWC and so far I love it. The engine could use a bit more power but is still good for daily driving. The manual shift mode of the cvt is still fun. I love that they let you use the paddle shifters to switch back and forth between manual and auto. The features and comfortable ride with the price are what really sold me. It sounds crazy but even something as simple as a k&n filter made a noticeable difference in throttle responce. I am also considering an RRM short air. I really wish I could find some dyno numbers or at least some estimates for the thing though.

http://www.roadracemotorsports.com/s...roducts_id=789

I would love to get about 10-20 more hp out of the thing. I'm starting off with practical stuff then I will move on to the engine. So far I have ordered an aftermarket roof rail system (for my kayaks and bikes) and I will be installing mud guards (needed if you have the diamond white) and window deflectors.

-Zach