me too! i consider 4/awd a necessity even here in nj, and my '93 expo has been unstoppable in any snow, well as long as it's not five or six feet deep; especially having driven many, many times to visit my parents in the scranton, pa area, not too far north of where '06 outlander' lives....when considering a replacement for that car, i decided i had to have another mitsu awd with a manual trans(i drove those subaru's so if i became disenchanted with the outlander[yes!!!] i wouldn't have any nagging misgivings that i didn't at least test-drive a subaru before buying another mitsu); that meant buying an '06 outlander or an evo. (the fact that i saw the '07 at the ny auto show, and it was another automatic, pushed me to decide right away between them.) after two flash floods here in nj since i bought it, i was very glad i opted for practicality, price, and ground clearance with the outlander.

 

I hear you on the practicality of the AWD. In 2004 I drove cross country from CA to CT, NY, and NH. I came through all the northern states too...at the beginning of January. I would be 100% comfortable doing it in my Outlander with AWD as I was in my 04 S-10 Blazer 4x4 with some off road goodies. By the way, PA highways suck!!!!. At least the one I drove on. It also had an amusing sign that said " Caution, aggressive drivers"!
Overall, I got exactly what I wanted, I don't fault Mitsu at all...so why am I bitching? lol

 

maybe because this car had more potential out the factory.

I mean, come on, the company knew this car would be heavy (larger chasis, body weight etc), that they couldnt put in an engine with a little more power than its 140hp. most cars in its class (sub outback, toyota rav 4, honda crv) are pushing a bit more.

I dont know, Im in the same boat as you dirt. lol

 

Hey expositor ive been to scranton many times...i love hershey bears hockey so i went up to wilkes barre to watch them play away games there. Where are you from in new jersey? I live right outside york,pa which is like 1 hr from philly.
And Dirt man that would be awesome to drive cross country like that, If i had a place to go in California or knew of somewhere to go i would definitely love to drive out there. I think the outlander would make it with no problems at all.
And yeah PA highways suck, right now theyre resurfacing alot of them. But i definitely think pa has some of the worst roads in the u.s. i know my evo being lowered didnt like them at all. The outlander does real good with them , but cmon they need to fix them all its like riding a rollercoaster everytime i go to work on these roads here ahha....

 

we're all whining because punisher is right, the outlander that we grudgingly love could have had an evo in there somewhere; you've got to wonder what kind of marketing staff mitsu has when you make his power comparison with other makes, and all the while they sell the outlander we want everywhere(?) in the world but here; the airtrek....back to the comparison, i don't think those other cars are worth all that money they cost....but again, i must retell my subaru test drive experience: the n/a forester and legacy 2.5l engine has a poor power curve compared to the mitsu 2.4l and is absolutely horrid with the a/c on, and that with their advertised 175 hp and $4500 or so higher price - subaru can keep it!!!

 

hey 06, i live in sewaren, nj, part of (in)famous woodbridge township, where that crook jim mc greevey, you know "...i am a...american, blah, blah, blah...." was mayor just before being elected, and somewhat quickly resigning nj governor....sorry guys, i lost me 'ead for a minute there....my town is on the arthur kil, across from staten is, ny about two miles from the outerbridge crossing on route 440/287 that makes a big semicircle through north jersey to the tappan zee bridge on the hudson.
some treacherous roads up there in wayne county, no? nj and ny have their share of bad roads too; and bad, inconsiderate drivers as well. york, that's a bit past hershey and lancaster. i haven't been out that way since '97 or '98; it's just so nice there, and you don't have to worry about the ice storms like they do in the scranton-wilkes barre area. be thankful you live in god's country....

 

I actually called Mitsubishi corporate last Friday to find out why the Outlander Turbo and Airtrek are not sold in the US. I was told that they are not eligable to be imported to the US due to NHTSA regulations...so I'm thinking they bombed the crash tests. I hear that the EVO isn't imported to Canada for their crash test failure....it crushed the intercooler at a 10MPH impact. Again...that's what I heard. Perhaps it's something similar. The lady told me I could contact NHTSA to ask them why it isn't eligeable but I didn't feel like digging for the number.

 

seriously, they are doing it to everything but the evo.

the new style eclipse is just like the 350z only with less hp

honestly, what moron said "style it almost the same as the other car but give it less hp."

 

hey expositor, yeah i live like 5 mins from york 30 min from hershey..everyone says its so nice around here but it gets boring after awhile. And yea the winters definitely arent as harsh around this area compared to wilkes barre they just get hammered with snow over the winter. I was thinking about watching the weather forecast and driving up there when it snows bad just to test the outlander out. Hah i just cant wait for snow here this year.

 

ahh the whole crash test thing is stupid to some extent...just bring the airtek here!! Id buy it even if it wasnt the safest vehicle out there..