hiwayman17
11-21-2002, 05:17 PM
First let me say...NEVER test drive a car after dark. I'm sure the salesmen love people who test drive after dark because all the visual flaws are hidden by darkness. But I went with a couple of guys to test drive after work.
One guy just bought a new Jeep Liberty and not too many of us like it, though we don't tell him that. So my friend was more interested in a Forester, RAV4, CRV or Outlander.
First the disappointment....Outlander is NOT available with a manual transmission. This is extremely important to the Outlander for a couple of reasons...first and foremost it is underpowered. With just 140 HP, it trails CRV and Forester by 20 & 25 HP respectively, while outweighing both by 200-300 pounds. Outlander is closest to RAV4 in HP, but outweighs it by nearly 700 pounds. This all being said, I will say that the Outlander has a good automatic tranny. But it needs a manual...I imagine with a manual, even underpowered and overweight, it would be fun to drive.
And the power/weight problem is the only negative we found. The ride and handling felt much better than the competition. Strangely, the competition supposedly has more room, but I fit in the Outlander better(but I still couldn't own one because it still doesn't have enough room). All three of us agreed that the interior of the Outlander was far better than any of the competition. In terms of quality, we liked the Outlander much better. In terms of style, we felt the Outlander was lightyears ahead of Forester, CRV and RAV4. The instrument pods were especially nice and unique in this category...very Alfa. The seats were also excellent. The interior plastics and seat fabrics are better than the competition...especially Forester with its rough, harsh burlapp-like fabric and the CRV with it's plastic trimmed seats.
With 25 more HP and a manual transmission, Outlander would totally blow away the competition. As it stands right now, it's great at everything but performance.
One guy just bought a new Jeep Liberty and not too many of us like it, though we don't tell him that. So my friend was more interested in a Forester, RAV4, CRV or Outlander.
First the disappointment....Outlander is NOT available with a manual transmission. This is extremely important to the Outlander for a couple of reasons...first and foremost it is underpowered. With just 140 HP, it trails CRV and Forester by 20 & 25 HP respectively, while outweighing both by 200-300 pounds. Outlander is closest to RAV4 in HP, but outweighs it by nearly 700 pounds. This all being said, I will say that the Outlander has a good automatic tranny. But it needs a manual...I imagine with a manual, even underpowered and overweight, it would be fun to drive.
And the power/weight problem is the only negative we found. The ride and handling felt much better than the competition. Strangely, the competition supposedly has more room, but I fit in the Outlander better(but I still couldn't own one because it still doesn't have enough room). All three of us agreed that the interior of the Outlander was far better than any of the competition. In terms of quality, we liked the Outlander much better. In terms of style, we felt the Outlander was lightyears ahead of Forester, CRV and RAV4. The instrument pods were especially nice and unique in this category...very Alfa. The seats were also excellent. The interior plastics and seat fabrics are better than the competition...especially Forester with its rough, harsh burlapp-like fabric and the CRV with it's plastic trimmed seats.
With 25 more HP and a manual transmission, Outlander would totally blow away the competition. As it stands right now, it's great at everything but performance.