The third-generation Japanese crossover Mitsubishi Outlander continues to make the cashier for the manufacturer and is the brand’s best-selling model. According to AUTOSTAT, in 2019 Mitsubishi managed to sell 23 Outlander cars in Russia, which made it possible to take one of the top lines in the TOP-900 popular cars of Japanese brands in our market. Of course, the third generation Outlander, which has been produced since 10, is morally a little outdated, its update already suggests itself, but the Japanese are in no hurry with it, trying to remove all the cream from the current generation while it is in demand. And it is clear that the new Outlander, along with new features, will bring a new price for the car, and in the current situation this can significantly affect sales. For this reason, the Japanese concern is trying to bring some innovations to the Outlander III to keep its customers interested. So, in February, Mitsubishi presented Outlander with installed Yandex.Auto systems, sales of such cars were supposed to begin in March, but the pandemic disrupted the plans of the Japanese, and such models began to appear in large quantities only closer to summer.
There are not many changes for the Outlander III 2020 model year, the first is a more comfortable rear sofa, which has a changed profile for the convenience of rear passengers.
The second change is a new climate control unit, which has become more compact and received convenient temperature control knobs instead of buttons.
It was:
After:
And the third and biggest innovation, though not for all trim levels, is a pre-installed media system from Yandex, which is integrated into the car’s system. This is the first time that Yandex.Auto has gained access to some of the machine’s functions, and not just a separate device.
Mitsubishi engineers and Yandex employees did a good job of integrating Yandex.Auto into the Outlander system. So, all system settings of the car are now available inside the media system on a large screen, and not, as in other cars with Yandex, on a small display on the dashboard. Here, everything is opened through a separate menu, settings for light, doors and others are available as separate items.
And also on the screen of the media system, information on the operation of the climate control is displayed, but here it is for informational purposes only, and all its settings are made only from a separate air conditioning unit.
In addition, data from the on-board computer can be viewed on the main screen, although they can also be displayed on the service display of the dashboard.
And the main point is that Yandex.Navigator got access to the screen on the dashboard, where route tips are now displayed. So, in motion on a color display installed between analog devices, the direction of movement and the distance to the maneuver are displayed. It’s convenient, but you won’t be able to hide the tips and see, for example, consumption data, navigation during its operation completely blocks access to other options available on the dashboard.
The rear-view camera transmits the picture to the display of the media system, its quality is low, plus the image significantly slows down, and the markup appears and disappears. In addition, the all-round view option is not available in vehicles with Yandex.Auto.
It is a pity that the developers of the two companies did not integrate the dialer into the car system, all call data is available only on the media system screen, as well as data from the music player. It would be convenient if calls and data from the player were also displayed on the dashboard screen.
The head unit “Yandex.Auto” itself is standard, you can install this on any Outlander III car, only for obvious reasons you will not have integration into the car system. The display here is a capacitive 8 “IPS with a resolution of 1024×600 pixels, it is quite good in quality. Allwinner T3 1.2 GHz quad-core processor, 2 GB of RAM, and 16 GB of permanent memory. The system is running Android 6.0, but the user only has access to the Yandex.Auto shell itself, at the time of the test the latest version is 1.6.4. The system is not fast, which is understandable from the hardware, but it cannot be called completely brake either. The only strange thing is that Yandex did not take more powerful hardware so that their system could fly on it. The device has WiFi a / b / g / n / ac and Bluetooth 4.1, there is no built-in 4G modem, but the manufacturer has brought two USB connectors into the glove compartment for connecting an external modem.
A buyer of a Mitsubishi Outlander with a preinstalled Yandex.Auto system will receive a Huawei E3372 USB modem and a MegaFon SIM card. After activating the SIM, the user is given unlimited traffic for Yandex.Music, Yandex.Navigator, Alice, system updates, as well as 2 GB per month for access to other resources. In the first year of use, all services are provided free of charge, after this period the subscription fee will be 249 rubles per month. In general, after a year you can terminate the contract and insert a SIM-card of another operator into the modem, since it is not locked under MegaFon. Or simply connect the car to a Wi-Fi hotspot.
The solution with the Huawei E3372 USB modem is standard for all cars with Yandex.Auto on board, only the choice of the operator differs – for example, in Nissan it is MTS – as well as the place of the modem installation. The latter in the Mitsubishi Outlander is the most convenient for the user, it does not take up much space in the glove compartment, and, if necessary, it has free access to it. Some other automakers hide the modem behind a casing, making it difficult to access if the same SIM card is changed.
What can Yandex.Auto do? The first is, of course, to work with navigation, for which the well-known program Yandex.Navigator is used, which also works with traffic jams if there is access to the network. Maps can be accessed online, or they can be downloaded into the device’s memory, and then they will be available without an Internet connection. And also in the current version of the application, it now has direct access to the Yandex.Fuel service, which allows you to refuel at gas stations connected to it without leaving your car. The chip is really convenient, and if you have it in the media system, now you don’t even have to take out your smartphone: they drove up, turned off the engine, chose the refueling and the dispenser number on the screen, the type of fuel, the amount, and that’s it.
You can manage data in Yandex.Auto from the screen or through the voice assistant Alice, which is fully integrated into the system and can do everything that can be done in a regular smartphone, the main thing is that you are connected to the network. Access to Alice is opened by clicking on the corresponding icon on the screen or from a button on the steering wheel.
Yandex.Music differs from that on a smartphone, offering access to playlists based on user preferences, as well as various collections. But, for example, my child, plus sometimes a spouse, is actively using Yandex.Music at home on the column, so you can imagine what kind of mess it turns out in the playlists proposed by the Yandex algorithm. For some reason, it is impossible to access the chart from the car, which I most often run on my smartphone, although there is a normal search for songs. The music being played is displayed with covers and, of course, basic accompanying information.
In addition, Yandex.Auto has weather, as well as a browser, the latter works only during parking. The dialer is simple and straightforward, as I said, for some reason she was not given access to the display on the dashboard, so during a call you have to be distracted by the main screen. The connection of smartphones with the system via Bluetooth is stable, and the work is not satisfactory. Only one device can be connected to Yandex.Auto; simultaneous operation of two devices is not provided. Despite the fact that only the microphone located on the head unit itself is used for conversation, the interlocutors never complained about poor audibility.
The Yandex.Auto interface allows you to display two applications simultaneously, the left screen is always larger than the right one, and the latter can be quickly hidden. Navigation tips will be displayed on top of other windows as a small square window in the lower right corner, even if you have minimized Yandex.Navigator. The system has a virtual and touch shortcut bar. Yes, the data is duplicated, but the selection of items assigned to the touch keys allows you to always open the required option on the second screen, while the virtual keys open the program in full screen. In general, it was possible to beat everything more elegantly or enlarge the display by sacrificing touch keys and leaving only virtual buttons, but for some reason Yandex implemented just such a slightly confusing solution.
Now about the glitches of Yandex.Auto version 1.6.4. When you hide the second window, there is often a thin strip of afterimage on the right. When you call Alice’s voice assistant, it is not clear when you need to pronounce the command, there are no separate signals, but she does not react immediately and she simply skips what is said immediately after pressing the key, but if you wait a little longer than necessary, she will simply say that she did not hear you. I have already spoken about the brakes with the display of data from the rear view camera, as well as about the periodic disappearance of the markings on it. And one more unpleasant moment that after the voice prompt of the navigation system is triggered, a stutter occurs in the sound from the reproduced source, it doesn’t matter if it was radio or Yandex.Music. It’s unpleasant, especially when there are several clues in a row.
In general, Mitsubishi and Yandex have a good cooperation, especially considering that the automaker gave Yandex.Auto access to the car system. Users get familiar and convenient services from Yandex already in their new Outlander, and they don’t need to use a separate device to access them. The only moment is that it is time for Yandex to think about upgrading the existing hardware, well, their services are not taking out the current solution at a decent level. And the price of the head unit “Yandex.Auto” for Outlander III, if installed separately, is quite decent 29 rubles, albeit with the installation. For a long time, the Chinese have had a device of this level on Android much less, and for 900 rubles you can get a head with a faster processor, more memory, a built-in 30G modem and a better screen.
We have already talked about the Mitsubishi Outlander III in a separate article, and I don’t even know what else can be added:
By the design of the exterior and interior, the car is already a little outdated, only the seat heating buttons are worth something, but buyers are still turning a blind eye to this. The car is not bad in terms of comfort, it is quite soft, although it does not like potholes with sharp edges, which are well felt by the fifth point. The controls are a bit wadded, but understandable, and it’s not a driver’s car, but passable, with a good ground clearance of 215 mm, and even happens in a version with all-wheel drive. There is a lot of space in the cabin, with a height of 187 cm I calmly sit down by myself, while there is also a decent trunk of 477 liters, under the floor of which a full-size spare wheel is hidden. The volume of the luggage compartment can be increased by folding the backs of the rear sofa separately, but they do not form a flat floor, a small slide remains. And there is also a version of the Outlander with a third row of seats, which, of course, eats up the useful volume of the luggage compartment, but allows seven people to fit in the car.
Prices for the Mitsubishi Outlander III start at 1 rubles, and the top version costs 777 rubles. The most balanced and popular configurations cost around 000 rubles, which is why Outlander is in steady demand among buyers. Finding a crossover in this price range with a roomy interior and a normal trunk, good comfort and good cross-country ability is not so easy.
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