Mitsubishi Outlander: Interior

The three-row Outlander is an athletic crossover that Mitsubishi says can seat up to seven people. (Insert raucous laughter here.) Not even a family of clowns could fit seven people in this car. My small children had trouble fitting in the barely-there third row.

The third row is cramped; the materials are flimsy and it's complicated to use. It also resembles Mickey Mouse when in use. The two abnormally large and mouse-ear-shaped head restraints elicited an exclamation of "Mickey Mouse!" from my youngest every time we got in the car. What gives, Mitsubishi? Is the hope that if kids think they're tooling around with the famous mouse they won't notice that the circulation in their legs is being cut off?

The rest of the seating is passably comfortable with enough leg and headroom, though once I installed a rear-facing infant-safety seat in the second row the front passenger lost his legs at the knees. The second row is easy to flip up and down for easy access to the third row.

In the front row, the controls are simple, circular and few. Technology is low-key; interior colors are unmemorable and the black-colored plastic and silver trim materials look and feel cheap. The center console is tiny as are the door pockets.

My test car was equipped with the Touring Package that adds a great Rockford Fosgate sound system, a moonroof and heated front seats with a power-adjustable driver's seat. It also had the optional Navigation Package that adds a backup camera. Mitsubishi's hands-free Fuse system, a rear entertainment system and a hard-drive navigation system with real-time traffic and digital music storage are all available.

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