By: Julian Lim

When the marketing folks at Cycle & Carriage (C&C) proposed that we take the Mitsubishi Outlander for an extended road test, we weren't exactly sure what it was for, given it's not exactly new to the motoring scene here.

But being the motoring nut that I am - and not to mention sucker for free rides - I welcomed the chance to 'live' in the 2.4 litre SUV for a couple of weeks.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Prior to collecting the car, we were warned that the loaner had originally been 'stickered-up' for the 'Mitsubishi Challenge' reality TV show that's currently enjoying an encore run on Channel 5.

We weren't quite expecting this though.

One man's decal fetish is another one's eye-poison. I actually think it's not too bad!

But after getting through the initial jawdrop, the interior was filled with yet more surprises.

The car's previous driver was kind enough to also leave a CD in the player to The Sex and the City Soundtrack in the multi-disc changer for me to test out the Rockford Fosgate sound system.

650 watts and 9 speakers to pound your eardrums with

Like 90% of the male population here, I am clueless about the Emmy-award winning series-turned-movie, but Nina Simone's "Look of Love" remix sounds just amazing thanks to the 9 speakers that envelop the driver.

But frankly, you could play your tone-deaf niece's violin recital on the system and have her sound like Vanessa Mae when you have the juice from a 650-watt amplifier. I might now be tempted to skip Zouk to enjoy my own bass-heavy mixes in the Outlander.

And situated just right of the central sound system panel, is the integrated Bluetooth speakerphone system.

Getting my Sony Ericsson K800i to work with it was a breeze after the initial pairing. My other phone - a Blackberry Curve - seemed to struggle to connect after initial success.

My money's on the Blackberry being the cause though.

TAMING THE BEAST

When I finally left the parking lot, I learnt that while there may be 170 horses under the hood, flooring the pedal while driving in automatic doesn't do much other than create a lot of noise from the MIVEC engine.

Fortunately I was enlightened by the marketing team from C&C, who told me to feather the throttle instead. That appears to work a lot better!

Imagine if you can, momentarily taking your foot off the accelerator as your left foot pushes an imaginary clutch, so you can do an imaginary gear change, then smoothly accelerating away.

Paddle shift if you feel the need, but I think the 6 Speed CVT does a good enough job 99% of the time

Alternatively the pedal shifts on the steering wheel work swell too, especially when power is needed in a hurry. And you don't even need to switch to 'manual' for them to work.

Another good thing about them is they are attached to the steering column, rather than the wheel, so you don't confuse the pedals while turning.

But apart from the driving, parking my usual hatchback is a lot different from docking this SUV.

Rear-view vision is definitely a recommended option

Parallel parking the 4640mm long vehicle is still something I have to get used to though!

Find out how the Outlander handles in the next story...