Hi guys, I just wanted to vent my frustration and ask a question at the same time. I like the idea of being AWD for the grip it provides off the line in performance applications and for better handling. However, as we all know, the Outlander is not a performance application and I do not live in the snow belt. I am frustrated that with the mods I have done, a FWD stock Outlander could probably still kick my @ss . I hate giving up the ......probably 15% ....power loss to the AWD setup. Being an auto trans, there is NO chance of "launching" this car....ever. Even if I was to turbo my car, the turbo won't spool until 2800 RPM's and MIVEC doesn't kick in until about 3000 RPM's.....making the AWD for performance applications utterly dead weight and useless in my opinion. What are your thoughts on this? If anyone is going to say it's an SUV or station wagon why try to go fast in it....save it, I'm not interested in that. I like my Outlander, but damn how I long for a manual trans and FWD some times. I know it's not a sports car, but it's a compromise I chose, I can cart stuff around in it when I need to and I want to be able to play a little when I feel like it.

 

the answer to your problems lies>> here << Hopefully you have the wallet for it

 

hahahahaha.....I've seen that car before.
I would rather turbo my MIVEC than transplant....that's one hell of a job they did though.

 

we all share your frustration, even those of us with the manual trans, though being able to exercise more control over engine and roadspeed does make manual outlander driving just that little bit more palatable....i hate to sound like a broken record, (if you young guys
know what that is, or should i say was!) the new 2.4 mivec just doesn't seem have the same pull through the rev-range the older 2.4 had, and forget about shifting smoothly with a throttle that won't close when you back off the accelerator to shift gears. double-clutching doesn't seem to work too well either as that results in a loss of too much roadspeed, thus defeating its aim to smooth the shift so to speak. don't get me wrong, i'd rather put up with those idiosyncrasies, even in that traffic we here in the northeast share (though i believe yours to be worse) with you in southern ca, than drive an automatic, but that's just my preferance. you don't know how many raised eyebrows i got at car dealers whenever i mentioned i wanted a manual trans car. i guess a few years of banging gears in a truck certainly mimimises the perceived inconvenience of driving a manual trans car in heavy traffic, though alot of that truck shifting, well maybe just about all of it other than low and reverse, can be done without the clutch; something i do not do with my rice burners, but often easily did with american cars. sorry, got a little bit off the track....having driven the much-touted, and over-rated, naturally aspirated subaru's, we have a more tractable engine under load than theirs. i guess in living here, i consider the awd a necessity, where just one foot of snow, or foot of floodwater makes it worthwhile, and much easier to forgive the fact that we don't have an evo....really, what you've done with your outlander is great, and if you look past the power-band, hopefully you'll find as much joy in driving it as the pride you rightly take in it! even though the awd increases the parasitic loss of power, doesn't it give you that extra confidence in wet weather? that's got to count for something in addition to its practicality. that same compromise you made was also made by those of us who chose that awd-wagon price and practicality over pure performance....boy, how some people here ramble on....all i have to do is remember my subaru test drives and then i enjoy what performance i do have; and that with my air conditioner blasting....

 

dont know....but the reg. 2.4 i-4 is far better compare to the new outtie mivec, sure mivec kick butt + 20 h.p. but we can do and perform better w/ the i-4's. (esp. 03 mods) but dont get frustrated, always keep an eye over the mivec "ralliart" lancer....that lancer is your guinea pig. any engine mods. for that car is your passport to "GO FAST" so dont give up bro.... (also experiment w/ something, who knoes?? you might find the right formula for mivec a.w.d. outtie)

 

What makes the I4 a better platform, does your torque/HP come in earlier in the RPM's?

 

I never had said to myself i wish i didnt have awd. Ever since i purchased the evo about 3 years ago , i knew right from then if i were to own a car it had to be awd. Then came the endeavor and now the outlander. Since it snows here in pennsylvania sometimes bad over the winter i love the awd. Also bc i love to go to the ski resorts and stuff it helps alot also. For what the awd takes away in performance it gains in handling and ability n off road situations. Maybe it just me but i have to say i love AWD.

 

not really, BUT THINK OF MODS. FOR 4G64 FAMILY/platform... and those mods. are my pass port.

 

i, agree!!

 

Those are the reasons I bought the AWD- this winter I will take my daughter to the mtns in CA, so the AWD will pay off big. But, when it's 114 degrees out....literally, it's hard to keep those in the forefront. I'm more frustrated with the overall pickup and speed of the car, but I KNEW what I was getting, and to be fair, have only spent about $1000 in mods for performance thus far. I'm from New England (CT), so I have snow withdrawls too.