Mitsubishi Outlander 2018 review: ES seven seat

It's not an out-of-body amazing experience but is honestly perfectly fine. There's a 2.4litre engine so you know you've got enough power to get around on long trips and easily up steep hills. It's no Michael Buble but it's smooth enough on the road. The handling is good and the steering is light - often in bigger cars I find turning the wheel an arm workout but not in this Outlander.

I'm high off the road which makes me feel safe around the other cars, because it is a sizeable vehicle. It's a front-wheel drive so you won't be able to take it off-road, but as I drove it only on tarmac, I haven't had any issues with traction (I did not test it on gravel or dirt).

Driving it isn't an out-of-body amazing experience but is honestly perfectly fine. (image: Dean McCartney)

Because it's not as long as a full-time seven seater, this one has a good turning circle of 10.6m. Looking for a park on the school run the other day, I was trying to hurriedly get a park on the other side of the road and I actually made the u-turn - I didn't have to do a three-point turn - and I got the park! So the smaller turning circle comes in handy.

The bottom line is: you're not going to rave about the way this car drives. But look at the price and that explains everything.

The bottom line is: you're not going to rave about the way this car drives. (image: Dean McCartney)

Are you driving this car for its looks? Didn't think so. But even though it's not particularly a looker, it's still rugged and tough - two words I like to associate with cars when driving my children around. So it's functional.

Inside is not bad at all. The seats are fabric, yes, but they're not a nasty, cheap fabric. They're comfortable and fine to sit on, even for long trips. The steering wheel is leather but it doesn't feel it, so they have budgeted there. And while the dash is a bit plasticky looking, they've lifted the whole area with a high gloss black finish around the multi-media screen, bringing a little luxury into an otherwise unremarkable interior.

It's more than some of their competitors have done and again, if you think about the price it all makes sense. It's actually better than I would expect for this price.

I found the Outlander fairly practical - it's one of those cars that has all the basics. No extras, but you're not paying for them, so don't expect them.

It's a good height and my kids could easily climb in and out of the car by themselves, something I really appreciate. The boot is a good height off the ground so you don't have to hoist groceries too high to get them out.

It's a front-wheel drive so you won't be able to take it off-road. (image: Dean McCartney)

There are two cupholders in the front, two in the second row on a pull-down armrest and two in the back row on the right-hand side. There's a centre storage bin which is a decent size, and a glove box, but that's it. No more storage around the centre gearshift which is odd because there are empty spots there where a small storage spot for wallets or phones would come in handy. They're probably in models higher up the food chain.

The second row is lacking air vents which I found odd because no rear air vents in a mid-sized SUV is a poor offering, but this car also has a third row, and I'm not sure how they are meant to get any airflow back there besides the old fashioned way - opening the windows! A novelty, to be sure.

It's a good height and my kids could easily climb in and out of the car by themselves. (image: Dean McCartney)

The Outlander ES has airbags to cover the driver and front passenger, plus side curtain airbags to cover the second row but no airbags covering the third row (which child are you going to put in there?). The thing is surprisingly, this is not unusual. Hyundai's Sante Fe and Kia's Sorento don't have airbags covering the third row (Note: those two cars cost a fair chunk more than the Outlander ES, at least the Outlander ES has the price excuse).

It comes with two ISOFIX points and three top tethers all in the second row for children's carseats. To get newer safety technology like Auto Emergency Braking, blind spot monitoring, lane departure warnings etc, you will have to go up to higher-priced models (the Outlander goes all the way up to around $47k)

The Mitsubishi Outlander ES comes in at $30,900. I drove one with metallic paint which was an extra $590, worth it for the Dorothy-red-shoes-effect. Fuel consumption is average for a five seater at 7.2 litres per 100kms, but great for a seven seater.

It comes with Mitsubishi's five-year/100,000km warranty.

There's a 2.4 litre engine so you know you've got enough power to get around on long trips and easily up steep hills. (image: Dean McCartney)