Never let it be said I am not in tune with my readers.  I noticed yesterday that my car story seemed to spark some interest, and people were searching for information on my Mitsubishi GLS Sport AUV.

I’ve had this car since mid-December 2006 now and it’s a vehicle in which I am well pleased.  The list price is 830,000 pesos ($18,076 USD at today’s rate, quite a bit more than when I bought mine) with a pretty good assortment of options.  It’s Philippine-built for Philippine conditions, small enough to get around, large enough to carry a good-size family and quite economical to drive and maintain.

There are about 7 or eight levels or models of the Adventure, mainly differing in trim levels and gas or diesel engines.  This model year, 2007, I notice they also have a “Strada” version which, unlike the larger Strada sport pickup is an Adventure chassis and body with the top rear roof and rear liftgate cut away very much like the Ford Explorer Sport-Trak.

Mine is a diesel, 2.5 liter normally aspirated with a decent-shifting 5-speed manual transmission.  I think you can get an automatic only with the gas engine versions but I recommend the diesel and the manual transmission only, they are certainly better for congested Philippine driving conditions.

The “promo” features that came with ours included free window tint (don’t take the darkest option, it’s too dark), free fabric slip-on seat covers, free fitted floor mats and three years of registration .. my plates are good until January 2010.  Our dealer also had a free Toshiba laptop giveaway when we bought ours and free labor for the first 2 scheduled maintenance services … 500 km, 5,000 km and every 5,000 km thereafter.

This car is not built to US safety standards, there are no front airbags, side airbags, anti-lock brakes and other features most cars sold in the US have.  if these are important to you, you can find models in other vehicle lines that are comparable to US versions but expect to pay substantially more money.  These particular cars are quite narrow compared to some other cars also, which is a huge advantage in “making singit” in tight traffic situations but would not be so good for high speed cornering.  I did, recently, have occasion to hit the brakes hard and yank the wheel at about 100kph (62 mph) on the expressway in an emergency avoidance maneuver and I was pleasantly surprised at the stability and agility … but I wouldn’t take it road racing.

The 2.5 liter diesel is fairly “diesel” sounding, a smooth (for a 4 cylinder), easy starting performer, but it’s a low-speed “torque” engine.  The redline is at 5500 rpm but I can’t imagine turning it that fast … you usually feel right shifting at about 3,000 rpm and 3,000 rpm is about 70 mph on the road, assuming you are on one of the few roads in the Philippines you can ever go that fast.  On normal stop and go trips with 7 or 8 people in the vehicle and dual-air running all the time, of course, you can expect an honest 29 mpg on readily available diesel fuel.

Ride is satisfactory in Philippine terms, the suspension is rugged and unsophisticated to cope with the mostly rotten road surfaces here, so a Cadillac it ain’t.

It’s called a 7-seater.  If you have lived in the Philippines you know that the true capacity is “one more”.  The front is two comfortable bucket seats, the center seat holds 3 or 4 in comfort and in the read are two 1 or 2 pax fold-up seats.  Four regular doors and a large swing-up rear hatchback.  Spare tier is under the rear floor with a crank-down mechanism should you need to change your own flat.

All in all?  Very decent little car, a good value for the money and recommended for anyone who hauls a family around.

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