Love It or Leave It: 2014 Mitsubishi Outlander GT

It’s time for another installment of Love it or Leave It! I teamed up with Drive STI again had the opportunity to test drive the 2014 Mitsubishi Outlander GT S-AWC. I’m not even going to make you wait until the end to tell you that I loved this thing. This week, I’ll give you the good, the bad, and the awesome.

The Good:

Where to start?

• The body. I’m pretty particular when it comes to the body style of any car and the Outlander was super pleasing to the eye. The one pictured is in Cosmic Blue. You know I love blue cars.
• The navigation. This crossover came equipped with a navigation system with high definition 7″ touch screen, with real time traffic and 3D maps. It was easy to use and super convenient.
• The audio system. The Outlander came equipped with a 710-watt Rockford Fosgate premium sound system with 9 speakers, and 10″ subwoofer. It banged. I like to blast “Listen” by Beyonce at full volume whenever I’m testing out a cars’ sound system.  I can happily say that my horrible voice was muted by the ever-talented Beyonce Knowles coming through the speakers.

• The heated seats. The week that I test drove this car was deathly cold. They canceled my classes twice and everyone was advised to stay inside or.. well, die. I did have to leave eventually and I was SO happy that the heated seats in this bad boy worked quickly and efficiently. My butt was on fire. In the best way possible, of course.
• Push-button start. It’s the single greatest invention in cars… ever. Well, right after the cup holder. I mean, I’ve got to put my Starbucks drink down somewhere.

• The storage. This thing had plenty of cargo space when you only had the 2-row seating going on.  Oh man, and that power remote tailgate… I didn’t realize how much I loved that feature until I no longer had it. In addition to the cargo room in the back there was also an underfloor cargo area.
• The sheer sexiness. The inside of this car was beautiful. It was sleek, and shiny, and leather in all the right places.

The Bad:

There were few little hullabaloos I had with this crossover.

• The third row seating. Now, when I learned that this crossover had third-row seating I was like “Waaaah?” how is that even possible. This vehicle is spacious but it’s not BIG by any stretch of the imagination. And when I think of 3 rows… I think of BIG. One of the issues I have, as a mother of two toddlers who are still in carseats, is that I can’t even use that third row without having to unhook their car seats (which is a mission, in and of itself) just to move the second row. So let’s say I’m going somewhere with other adults, no kids, well no full grown person, or anyone over say age 8, is going to be able to fit in that third row. I sat back there, to test it out, and my head rubbed against the roof and my legs were crushed. Maybe it’s good for a dog? Or smaller people, going a short distance.

• The second row wasn’t amazing either. I’ve mentioned before that my kids’ car seats are BIG, but there are mid-size sedans that can fit them just fine if they are designed with a lot of back seat space. Unfortunately, the kids were still a little cramped in the back seat, unless I reclined the seat – which actually makes the car seat less safe. One of the things I loved about the second row was the the fact that the seats recline and you’re able to move them back and forth. That was pretty sweet.

• The third row, again. Now, even if the third row were able to fit people more comfortably, it leaves you with the issue of not having much cargo space. If I am going to have a vehicle full of 7-people, I imagine I’m going to have at least a little bit of cargo. And that storage area was minuscule after popping up that third row.

 The Amazing:

There were some features of this car that just set it a notch above for me.

• The seamless technology. There are a lot of cars with bluetooth technology these days, but the technology in the Outlander was perfect. I would turn the car on and without even touching a button, the music from my iPhone would start coming through the car’s speakers.
• The engine. I don’t like cars that struggle to burn semis after a red-light, you know what I mean? The Outlander GT V6 had some nice power and it handled surprisingly well in the icy snow covered roads.

The Verdict:

The bells and whistles of this Outlander really did me in. I still miss driving it and was so surprised by how much I loved it. It handled well in the snow and made my life a little easier with the remote tailgate, push button start, and seamless technology. The sound system was awesome, the gas milage leaves a little to be desired at 23 MPG combined city/hwy, BUT that’s never been a top concern for me. Call me frivolous, but it’s the little things that sell me on a vehicle. And I am totally sold on this 2014 Mitsubishi Outlander GT. This is a definite LOVE IT!

She handled the snowpocalypse just fine.

Disclaimer: I partnered with Drive STI to test drive the Mitsubishi Outlander for 7 days in exchange for this honest review.