What a great way to drive out of Covid travel restrictions … in a Mitsubishi’s Outlander Exceed Tourer.
I avoided looking in the rear-view mirror for fear of seeing the ghosts of Covid past.
They’ve taken their ghastly toll, but it’s not the worst-ever pandemic as some would have us believe.
The 1918-19 influenza pandemic alone killed 50 million victims globally at a time when the world had one-quarter of the population it now has.
But the faces of Covid are scary, especially for very young children who, until recently, have never known a life without masks.
I have reflected on my fears as a young boy living in London during the last years of World War 2 when our gas masks were even scarier.
These were issued to all British civilians with the very real fear German bombers would drop poison gas bombs on us and we should prepare for tens of thousands of deaths in London alone.
The government told us to expect 250,000 deaths in the first week of the war.
Nonetheless, tens of thousands of men, women and children lost life and limb in the Blitz and more than a million homes were destroyed, mostly in London.
As children we were issued ‘Mickey Mouse’ gas masks, an attempt to make them seem less frightening.
It didn’t work. After the war my mother used the rubber masks as flowerpots.
Now let’s unmask the Mitsubishi Outlander Exceed Tourer, a seven-seat all-wheel drive four-door wagon – a medium SUV built in Japan with prices starting at $49,990 before on-roads.
An alliance with Nissan-Renault has given Mitsubishi a new lease of life, which has allowed it to revise its Outlander for the better.
This fourth-generation 2022 model shared several important components with the Nissan Rogue, one of the best-selling vehicles in its class.
Its styling, however, is distinctive. It’s easily recognisable with its prominent front fascia, 20-in. wheels and widened fenders.
The Exceed has a newly-developed 2.5L 4-cylinder engine and electronically-improved ‘super all-wheel control program’, as well as a new drive mode selector.
All this, along with seven airbags, greatly increases safety and improves driving dynamics giving it a 5-star rating from ANCAP.
Mitsubishi claims 8.1L/100 km of unleaded petrol in the combined city and highway cycle.
So the 55-litre fuel tank should take you 680 km with sensible driving.
Appearance is everything … two-tone exterior paintwork, either black-over-white or bronze-over-black, previously a $940 option, two-tone black and tan high-grade leather interior and front massage seats.
The Outlander brings a sense of space …its taller than the previous model, with a wheelbase longer by 35.5 mm and 51 mm more width to play with.
This increases legroom in the second row that allowed designers to place a third row in back.
Another strong point is Mitsubishi’s 10-year or 160,000 km powertrain warranty, five-year or 100,000 km full vehicle warranty and five-year unlimited mileage roadside assistance.
