This may sound crazy but my wife is complaining that our 07 V6 XLS too responsive off the start. She thinks that the throttle is very sensitive and when she pushes the accelerator down a small amount while turning out of a parking lot or stop sign, the tires squeel and the steering wheel pulls in her hands. Is there a away to adjust the throttle so its not so sensitive?

 

Sounds like torque steer symptoms to me.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torque_steering

Try driving in one of the 4WD modes which will put more power to the rear wheels on takeoff.
Fuel consumption won't be that much more in Auto. Lock has later shifts and is tuned to be more sporty so I would expect fuel consumption to increase.

 

there was a fix for the computer that fixes some of the lag in the earlier 2nd gen Outlanders. We had ours done shortly after buying it and it helped. There is a product posted recently that installs between your pedal and your computer...it started with an "i"...that helped out with the torquey starts.

 

I'll have her try driving around town in auto mode and see if that works.

How to tell if we have the new "flash"

joe

 

trade it in for a 4-cylinder version?

 

Or tell wife to Not punch it going around the corner.

I bet she is secretly doing some street racing in the Outie.