THERE I was all set to do battle with the snowy French Alps. Our destination, Lake Confins in France’s Haute Savoire region, south east of Geneve.
The Alpine towns are fantastically well organised when it comes to keeping the roads clear (hardly surprising when you see the sort of snow clearing kit on hand) but shifting a foot of overnight snow still takes a bit of doing.
Last year it snowed like blazes and we had to cope with a pretty scary 1,000ft snaking descent to the relative safe haven of La Clusuz, a bustling ski town three miles down the valley from the lake.
Then I was well served by a Volvo XC60 and confidence was high this time with a Mitsubishi Outlander, a well proven four wheel drive SUV. As it happened I could have chosen the company’s little front wheel drive Colt because the area had gone a whole month without so much as a flurry of the white stuff and the biggest challenge for the Outlander was driving off a muddy verge.
Better safe than sorry mind, but the needs of a self catering skiing holiday highlighted one of the Outlander’s biggest assets - space. The SUV isn’t in the super league like its big brother Shogun, or a Toyota Landcruiser, in fact it is no longer than a Ford Mondeo estate, but it is well packaged and if necessary can swallow an awful lot of luggage including skis and all the other things you take (but never use) when you cater for yourself.
Some families might even look on the Outlander as an outside bet for a family car because apart from lavish amounts of room for back seat passengers there is also the option of two extra seats tucked away neatly into the floor. Suffice to say this third row is best suited for youngsters as it is not comfortable enough to satisfy an adult over a lengthy journey.
Something else that might put off the family is the Outlander’s unruly ride. It is too hard and does not soak up the jolts from potholes and poor surfaces very successfully, and with it comes a fair amount of road noise.
But that aside it is family friendly with the split tailgate making for easy low loading and the powered drop and tumble back seat a boon, particularly for mums with their hands full.
If the Mitsubishi SUV looks suspiciously similar to a couple of other off roaders then take a close look at the Peugeot 4007 and Citroen C-Crosser because the French company has joined the ‘Outlander club’ although of the three the Mits has the most striking front end, the only way you will tell the trio apart.
The marriage has thrown up possibly the vehicle’s greatest asset, the French built 2.2 litre diesel engine. It is not the most powerful in the SUV pack but 174hp turned this into a potent machine with a superb reserve of torque from as little as 1500rpm and over the 1,900 mile trip returned a very credible 44.6mpg, almost identical to the official average fuel figure.
Plump for the GX trim and you are spoilt with all leather trim, seven inch touch screen sat nav with numerous associated information files, high spec music centre with dozens of albums, reversing camera and sensors plus the usual luxury items.
Missing from the list is hill descent, an excellent function which controls descents on slippery surfaces and present on a growing number of SUVs and big off roaders. May be something for Mitsubishi to think about.
So overall a pretty attractive off roader-cum-family hold all, just spoilt by a hard ride. And if buying I would definitely look lower down the range because try as they have the leather clad Elegance just doesn’t feel £28ks worth of car. That leather on the seats is too firm and became uncomfortable after a few hours in the saddle.
Mitsubishi Outlander GX4
Engine: 2.2 litre; 174hp
Performance: 0-62mph 9.8secs; 124 mph
Economy: 44.8mpg combined
Emissions: 165g/km
VED £155
Insurance group 10
Price: £28,599