From the logbook: Mitsubishi Outlander

Conventional wisdom says that when gas prices rise, car buyers start thinking small. Small vehicles, that is. The redesigned 2007 Mitsubishi Outlander, recently tested in the May issue of Consumer Reports, in one of several smaller SUVs hoping to grab the attention of buyers looking for something larger than a bread box but smaller than a Greyhound bus. While much improved over the previous model, the new Outlander is not quite as well rounded as the best in this competitive class, such as the Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V, and Subaru Forester.

Here's a look into its logbook for candid CR engineers' comments to provide more insight into where it shined and where it still needs some polish:

"The ride is too stiff and jiggly for me."

"Pretty good handling with low roll and quick steering."

"Powertrain is wonderful - smooth, punchy with quick and responsive 6-speed automatic and a nice sound."

"The [transmission] paddle shifters work well but are always active, so they can easily be nudged by accident."

"Spins wheels easily in front-wheel drive in the wet. Why not just have a mode that is on-demand AWD and leave it at that?"

"The 'Mitsubishi Multi Communication System' is a mess to use: no volume or tune knobs; an unintuitive radio scan button; tiny on-screen lettering; glare (too much); brightness (too little)..."

"Front seatbacks are hard...like a board."

"Very well hidden seat heater switch."

"Doors sound tinny and take a slam to fully shut."

"Interior trim is really cheap, with loads of hard plastics with misaligned panels."

"The flat, hard rear seats make child seat installation difficult, as you can't push the seat down into the cushion to get it tight."

"The third-row seat is tiny but nice to have."

"Good-looking vehicle overall. Nnice size with sporty pretense, but a stiff ride and elevated road noise detracts some."

"I think both the Toyota RAV4 and Hyundai Santa Fe are better"

"Drives better than Mitsubishi's sport coupe--the Eclipse."

So while the Outlander impressed in some ways, it still fell a bit short. Still, it scored a respectable seventh overall out of the 18 small SUVs we've tested. The only thing missing is at least an average reliability score from our survey data for a CR recommendation; the Outlander was too new when our last survey went out. Check back in a few months to find out what our subscribers are telling us about how it's holding up.

--Mike Quincy

Just In: Mercedes-Benz S550

Just when you thought that the best and most exclusive cars in the world couldn't get any better, along comes another top-tier performer that threatens to rewrite the rules for automotive dominance. Actually, that sounds a bit too much like car-company PR nonsense or "buff book" magazine enthusiasm. Let's put it this way: We've got a brand-new 2007 Mercedes-Benz S550 in our parking lot. It cost a hedge-fund-manager-friendly $90,200. Our exhaustive test program will reveal how this promising model truly performs.

The new S-Class is following in some pretty heady footsteps. Here's what we said about the S430 we tested: "The cushy ride was extremely comfortable, the best we've ever tested." It's not often CR goes out on a limb and proclaims something "...the best we've ever tested."

One of the more interesting options it has is the "Night View Assist" feature. According to Mercedes PR babble, Night View "... can extend the driver's ability to see ahead to nearly 500 feet." It uses "invisible infra-red light from two projector beams mounted in the headlights," which then projects the images on the windshield and "displays them in a high-resolution display in the instrument cluster...akin to a highly detailed black & white video image." Years ago we tried GM's infrared Night Vision system on a Cadillac DeVille, which was designed to help a driver see people, animals, and cars in the road beyond the range of the headlights. Our testing showed that it was somewhat distracting and hard to interpret.

So, will the new S-Class set new standards for luxury car ride and handling? Will its Night View Assist pick up where Night Vision left off--or will it simply leave us in the dark?

Keep checking back with this blog as we pile on the miles and get a better idea if a new industry benchmark has arrived. Plus, we'll be pitting the S-Class against another top-notch model that cost us a boatload of money, the Lexus LS460.

--Mike Quincy

From the logbook: Saturn Outlook

When I wrote "Is the Sun Setting on Saturn?" in our original blog  from the 2006 Detroit Auto Show, I honestly wasn't sure where this GM division was going. Since then, we've been mildly impressed with the Auras we've tested; the Aura only lacks at least average reliability data to be CR Recommended. We also have a Saturn Sky Red Line in our test fleet, which we feel is noticeably better than previously tested Pontiac Solstice, upon which it's based.

So, what is our outlook on the Outlook? Is this SUV/minivan/wagon helping to revive the once sizzling Saturn brand? We have posted a Just In report in the blog, and recently added a First Look as the Saturn motors its way through our test regimen on its way to a complete road test. We've seen the queries in our Forums asking about the Outlook, (discuss Saturns here) so we present our candid test notes from the logbook to provide even more insight:

"Very nice ride, handling, and steering."

"The car feels sluggish on the highway due to the transmission shift logic. The trans goes into high gear very early and is reluctant to kick down when the cruise control is set."

"Very quiet and well-isolated from the road."

"Feels far smaller than it really is to drive."

"Very comfortable seats and a good looking interior."

"Third-row seat access is pretty good; the seat is truly useable."

"Only complaints: Rear sill is still WAY too high, blocking rear vision; tiny climate controls; and long reach to the radio's tune knob."

"Lower LATCH anchors are tucked away too tightly against the seatback cushions, making hooking child safety seat straps very difficult."

"[At 1,669 miles] there's some rattles now appearing, but still impresses as just the right size SUV for the family."

"This car does about 80 percent of what a Chevrolet Suburban does and drives almost as well as a Cadillac SRX."

"I prefer this over [most] luxury SUVs."

"I'd buy this over a Honda Pilot or Acura MDX."

"A stunning achievement for GM, fully realized out of the box and you don't need to buy a loaded version to get all the good stuff."

"GM has a real winner here - an SUV with the room of a minivan and the driving experience of a car. It's much like the Mercedes-Benz GL but $30K cheaper."

Other than a few gripes, we're quite impressed so far from this clean-sheet effort from GM. Check the August issue of Consumer Reports magazine to see how it stacks up against other three-row car-based SUVs, including the new Mazda CX-9, the updated Chrysler Pacifica, and the Hyundai Veracruz.

--Mike Quincy

Why Sweden rules in road safety

To paraphrase a classic quote, the Swedes are different from you and me. They have more money, yes, but they also have more sense. At a recent annual traffic-safety conference called Lifesavers, we listened to a presentation by Roger Johansson, who has the wonderful title of Chief Strategist, Traffic Safety, for the Swedish Road Administration. This organization is roughly analogous to our Department of Transportation.

Making good better
At the Chicago event, Johansson outlined how Sweden, which already had one of the safest road systems in the world, set out to make it safer. And it seems to be succeeding. For instance, they have reduced traffic deaths among children younger than 15 years old from over 100 in the 1970s to fewer than 10 per year nationwide since 2004.

Johansson speaks with quiet calm and European charm. One of his key messages: "If what we are doing isn't working, then maybe doing more of it won't get us very far. So maybe let's try some things that are radically new." Starting 10 years ago, Sweden embarked on a program called Vision Zero, which combined conventional approaches such as speeding and drunk-driving crackdowns.

The idea of Vision Zero is not zero crashes, but rather zero fatalities and serious injuries.

A key tenet of this approach: "It's not the accident that kills--it's the kinetic energy. The biomechanical tolerance of human tissue is the limiting factor for the road transport system." But people do not perceive kinetic energy, or the energy of motion. What to do? Separate people from sources of kinetic energy.

How Sweden addresses this challenge:

• Separate pedestrians from the roadway. Sidewalks shouldn't be next to the pavement. Separate them with fences or bushes or other barriers so pedestrians don't wander into the road, and vehicles don't venture onto the sidewalk.
• Get rid of traffic lights wherever possible. "Traffic-light intersections are a safety catastrophe," says Johansson. Wherever possible, roundabout intersections are to be used.
• The worst kind of highway is straight, wide and flat, with no barriers. Such roads encourage speeding, lane-change crashes, and head-on collisions. Instead, guard rails are placed between opposing lanes and along road sides wherever possible.
• Slow the traffic in urban and suburban areas. Use traffic-calming techniques, such as narrow, gently curving roads separated by median strips.
• Rate roadways on a four-star scale for the inherent safety of their design. Now in place across most of Europe, roads or stretches of roads are therefore rated according to their risk. National maps or lists of rated roads are available on the Web, under the aegis of an organization called EuroRAP, the European Road Assessment Program.

Applying an ethics-driven approach:

• Ultimate responsibility rests with system designers. Don't blame just road users for traffic deaths. Is the roadway designed to be safe for its users? And are automobiles designed to protect their occupants?
• Road users are also responsible for following the traffic rules. They need to be educated about what they have the right to expect in safety and protection from the car and the road it travels on, so they can make rational choices.
• Children and pedestrians and some passengers are "involuntary road users." It can never be ethically acceptable to put those people at risk.
• Who needs traffic safety education? Not the kids. Government-funded traffic safety education for children. Instead, put the money into educating parents, school staff, and traffic engineers.
• It is up to parents and society to provide a safe environment, such as bicycle lanes, bike helmets, and child seats in cars.

--Gordon Hard

TireTalk Forum: Where the rubber meets the road

Since we never get tired of talking about tires, we thought we'd help you find everything you always wanted to know about tires and CR's tire coverage. This is designed to be enTIREly comprehensive.

How to find the TireTalk forum
(available to ConsumerReports.org subscribers only)

• From the CR's Cars main page, click on the Forums link. TireTalk is one of the top green links; the color indicates that this is a premium forum for subscribers only.
• From anywhere in the Cars section of ConsumerReports.org, you can also go to the Tires section by using the dark blue horizontal navigation bar. TireTalk can be found underneath the three featured tests on the top left side.
• Better yet, bookmark our main Cars forum pages so you'll always be one click away from talking cars with our staff experts and fellow readers.

Now let's talk tires
This forum has over 5,500 discussions on tires, where you can ask advice or share an experience if you are an online subscriber, or read various discussions if you are non-subscriber. It's a fascinating site covering questions on practically anything related to tires. You can get some direct advice from the CR tire test engineers, the CR moderator, and from some very savvy forum regulars. There are also links on the left side of the page, under "Related Information," for more on CR's comprehensive tire test ratings to aid research and fuel discussion.

Some of the questions and discussions are truly unique, such as how well do winter tires work at temperatures of 50 to 60 degrees below zero; which, naturally, leads to the question of will the car even operate at these outrageously cold temperatures. And there also was the forum user who discussed how useful snow tire chains are when traveling through the difficult terrain of the Panama rainforest.

Most of the questions are pretty mainstream and offer a barometer of what's happening in the trenches for consumers when comes to tires. Here, CR tire test engineers learned first-hand of some of the quick wearing performance tires that we recommended, and as a result CR now does vehicle road test wear evaluations to provide tread life ratings. We, that is, the tire test engineers, witnessed the complaints of fast wearing runflat tires on Toyota Sienna AWD models, so we're now in the midst of a wear test program to share first-hand information that we'll write about in future blogs.

We also learned that consumers are not often aware that their new cars may come with runflat tires on it and don't have a spare tire; that the car has summer performance tire that offer virtually no grip in cold wintry weather; or the performance tires on their new family sedan will wear out quicker and are more expensive to replace than the tires on their previous car. Tire technology is changing to keep pace with new cars, and we keep on top of all the news and latest products in the industry.

We also recognize that tires are more expensive to buy; come in larger wheel sizes; and have higher speed rating grip and cornering limits. These innovations allow cars to handle safely and securely at levels your old car (and tires) couldn't match. Our advice when buying a new vehicle: Ask about the standard tires and tire options available to be sure you get what you need.

CR tire engineers are always perplexed by how some consumers will buy an expensive car or SUV and then when it comes time to purchase replacement tires will quibble about tire cost and even consider using lower speed rated tires than recommended just to save a few bucks.

Remember: Tires are the only thing between you and the road. The wrong tire can make a good car perform badly. Don't get caught. Use CR's information on how to choose a tire, read our test reports, and ask questions on TireTalk. We'll see you there.

-- Gene Petersen   

Learn from Corzine - Buckle up and slow down

On the road, disaster can strike without warning. For example, last Thursday, New Jersey Governor Jon S. Corzine sustained serious injuries in an accident as the 2005 Chevrolet Suburban he was in collided with a pickup truck. The impact caused the driver of the large SUV to lose control and strike a guard rail on the Garden State Parkway. The crash reportedly left passenger Corzine with a compound leg fracture, a dozen broken ribs, broken sternum, broken collar bone, and fractured vertebra. It could have been worse, and clearly, it could have been a whole lot better.

The Suburban driver, State Trooper Robert Rasinski, had minor injuries and gubernatorial aide Samantha Gordon had no significant injuries. New Jersey State Police have confirmed earlier reports that the governor wasn't wearing his seat belt--in violation of state law--resulting in him "being thrown within the vehicle during impact."

Making matters worse, in a released statement, the State Police report, "...all investigative data points to a speed of approximately 91 mph five seconds before impact with the guide rail. The vehicle's speed at the time of impact with the guide rail was approximately 30 mph."

The New York Times has an interactive that demonstrates how the accident may have happened.

This very public case where a seatbelt could have reduced injury should serve as a reminder to all who drive or ride in a car--buckle up and slow down. The three-point seatbelt is arguably the single most important piece of automotive safety equipment. It is found in every modern car and takes just a few seconds to secure.

In 2005, 14,914 automobile drivers made the fatal mistake of driving without a seat belt, accounting for 31.3 percent of passenger car and light truck deaths, according to the government Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS). This figure is down a full 10 percent from a decade ago, though the number is quite significant.

In addition to basic seat belts, enhanced belt features are helping seatbelts do their job more effectively.

Adjustable upper anchors for the shoulder belts can make a meaningful safety difference. These movable anchors help position the belt across the chest instead of the neck to prevent neck injuries. They also can help keep the belt from pulling down on a tall person's shoulder, making it more comfortable and therefore more likely to be used.

Seatbelt pretensioners instantly retract the belts to take up slack during a frontal impact. This also helps position occupants properly to take full advantage of a deploying air bag. Force limiters, a companion feature to pretensioners, manage the force that the shoulder belt builds up on the occupant's chest. After the pretensioners tighten it, force limiters let the belt play back out a little.

When buying a new or used car, we encourage consumers to look for these enhanced features, as well as other key safety equipment, such as antilock brakes, electronic stability control, and side and side-curtain airbags. Also, be sure to consider the vehicle's performance in government and insurance-industry crash tests, and Consumer Reports dynamic performance tests.

Driving can be dangerous. Choose your vehicle carefully, buckle up, and drive responsibly.

--Jeff Bartlett

Chevrolet Uplander and owner (dis)satisfaction

Driving to the Consumer Reports offices in our Chevrolet Uplander minivan recently, I found myself filled with a new respect and admiration for our subscribers. They are a wise and insightful bunch.

Our Annual Car-owner Satisfaction survey conducted by the Consumer Reports National Research Center drew responses on a record 400,000 vehicles this year. Subscribers who reported on their own Uplanders voted it the least satisfying model; only 36 percent of them said they would definitely get it again.

I'd have to chime in that it's the least satisfying test vehicle I've driven since joining the magazine over a year ago.

It's not that getting behind the wheel of the Uplander is necessarily a life-endangering move or one sure to leave you by the side of the road; it just isn't a very happy place to be. Inside, it looks and feels cheesy, with uncomfortable seats, cheap-looking materials, and more rattles than a day-care center.

As I floated and wallowed along on my way to work, I was taken by how the Uplander maintains a casual relationship at best with the road. It doesn't want to get too involved. With every expansion crack, the Uplander slowly rises up, and then settles back down, never staying level. Yet when it hits a pothole, the body shudders with the harshness of an old British sports car. The engineers have done a remarkable job of combining the handling characteristics of a wooden Chris Craft runabout with the ride comfort of a 40-year-old MG roadster--either one of which I would rather take to work.

I think it's time to put this ancient design out to pasture. With the introduction of the Saturn Outlook and GMC Acadia people haulers, there is less reason than ever for General Motors to keep building the Uplander. Consumer Reports has recently purchased an Outlook for testing, and we're impressed so far. (A first look will be posted at ConsumerReports.org soon.)
   
GM is phasing out its minivans, but not fast enough. Today would be good; the General needs to keep all the customers it can. 

--Jim Travers

Personal Picks: Family sedans, part 3

And now, the final installment of staff perspectives on the March-issue family sedan test group.

Cliff Weathers: I'm not one that gets too excited about driving a family sedan. In fact, I've always thought the ultimate goal at Toyota was to create a Camry that's completely invisible to the human eye and so blandly competent to drive that you'd immediately be struck by amnesia on each road trip. The Honda Accord, while fun to drive in some configurations, always struck me as too much of a sensible commuter car. Talk about "Plain Jane." The Altima, however, looks good whether commuting or cavorting.

Eric Evarts: The quick, responsive steering, and flat cornering draw me to the Saturn Aura. True, the car has some faults. That cornering acumen comes at the expense of a firmer ride than mainstream midsized sedan buyers probably expect. And the Aura is clearly less refined than the Nissan Altima SE. But I couldn't get comfortable in the Altima because its steering wheel was always too close and too high or too low, depending on which of the few tilt adjustments I chose. And while it was comfortable, quiet, and quick, I never found it fun. The Aura XR is fun to drive. In my book, the driving enjoyment more than makes up for the little bit of refinement it lacks. I also love its warm, inviting interior despite a few lapses in details. The Aura costs about $5,000 less than the Altima SE we tested, and it has a longer powertrain warranty (5 years/100,000 miles).

Personal Picks: Family sedans, part 2

Here, the Cars staff members cast their own personal perspective on the vehicles in the March-issue family sedan test group, including the Chrysler Sebring, Kia Optima, Nissan Altima, Pontiac G6, and Saturn Aura.

Mike Quincy: I can't get over how good the basic, four-cylinder Honda Accord is. (V6 model shown.) I find this even more amazing considering that it's at the end of its product cycle yet still kicks the tailpipes of many newer and more expensive models. Even the editors at one of those "other" car magazines picked it as their family car champion. For about $23,000, it delivers 24 mpg overall and a cruising range (I'm big on this) of 445 miles. The Accord's fabulous reliability record, responsive steering, and excellent attention to detail are further pluses. Admittedly, I'm seduced by the Altima's speed, but I'm won over by the overall greatness of the Accord.

Tom Mutchler: "A Honda Accord" is an automatic response to the frequently asked question, "What car should I buy?" I recently suggested an Accord to two good friends, as well as my sister. (So far I'm 0 for 2, with one undecided.) The Accord does so much, so well: both engines are efficient and refined, very good steering feel, the seats are great, crash tests and reliability are strong. Very little is wrong--mostly some road noise. Before my job here at the track, I came close to buying one myself.

But newer competitors are tugging at my heartstrings. The Nissan Altima offers more cool stuff--like keyless entry and ignition--than the Accord, and the four-cylinder/CVT combination is an amazingly good powertrain. (Maybe I would even take it over the rocket ship V6. Maybe.) I love the way our Ocean Mist/Morocco brown leather Saturn Aura XR looks, but it just doesn't reach the very high bar in the class for driving dynamics or interior refinement.

Maybe I'm asking too much, but when I remember the good points of my now-sold 2000 VW Passat wagon, I pine for more from the Accord. You could get stability control on any Passat model; the Accord forces you to get a V6. As a child of the '70s, I fondly think of "station wagon" when I think of "family car." While the Passat (and Subaru) offers a wagon, Honda hasn't sold an Accord wagon here in well over a decade. Looking over some old CR discussion threads, I'm not alone in wanting one.

The Accord will be redesigned for 2008. With the great 2007 Nissan Altima nipping at its heels in our Ratings, the quieter Toyota Camry outselling it, and the appealing styling of the Saturn Aura (and the 2008 Chevrolet Malibu on the way), the Accord will have its work cut out for it. I wouldn't be too surprised to see wider stability control availability post-redesign. But please, Honda, can we have a wagon this time around?

Lincoln MKR concept car continues to turn heads

I was pleased to see the MKR again in New York, as it is one of those rare cars that looks better in person than it does in photographs. The long hood, flowing, sinuous body lines, and big wedge-shaped chrome grille give it the elegance a luxury cruiser should have. This second encounter serves as a reminder of a secondary benefit of new-car shows, the ability for manufacturers to introduce concepts, design, and technology, and for consumers to glimpse the possible cars of tomorrow.

Lincoln unveiled the MKR concept at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit last January. Rather than allow just a one-time viewing, the MKR has traveled on the auto-show circuit with the potential for hundreds of thousands more show-goers to set eyes on it.

What this reporter finds unusual about the MKR is that for the first time in a great while, Lincoln has a car design that stands out from the crowd, at least in terms of looks. A few years ago Cadillac did something similar with the CTS whose crisp lines were later applied to the DTS and STS sedans.

The MKR as shown will not be built. It's a design exercise that demonstrates some styling cues promised for the next generation of Lincoln production cars. Those include a tail-light strip that runs horizontally across the whole width of the trunk, as well as the big, prominent chrome grille and a long style line running along the body sides.

The concept MKR is called a "four door coupe," although it's not exactly clear why it shouldn't be considered a sedan. The slope of the roof? The thickness of the middle roof pillar? Who knows?

The MKR concept has no visible door handles. Instead, the doors are opened by small chrome buttons that blend into the window trim. Clever but probably not practical.

The interior goes farther out into unreality, with a sweeping fore-and-aft console that effectively erects a partition between the two rear seats. Interior trim also employs a lot of "green" recycled or recyclable materials such as "chemical-free leather" and soy-based seat foam. Maybe that's supposed to make you feel better about driving a huge, powerful car. The MKR has a rear-wheel-drive chassis and a turbocharged version of Ford's newest 3.5-liter V6, said to be good for 415 horsepower. So much for being green. However, if Lincoln's next flagship looks like the MKR, then it will turn plenty of heads at future auto shows and on the street. 

--Gordon Hard