2007 Mitsubishi Outlander

Having been in quite a few vehicles with branded OEM audio systems in the last year or so, it's always interesting to see how much play an auto manufacturer's car audio partner gets in the interior. It can range from tiny logos on speaker grilles to top billing in the dashboard to the kind of bold statement the Rockford Fosgate Punch premium system makes in the 2007 Mitsubishi Outlander XLS 4WD.

Not Too Subtle
No one in the car audio aftermarket has ever accused Rockford of being too subtle. So it makes sense that the company's OEM systems should have the same in-your-face aesthetic. While the Outlander's system is by no means outlandish by aftermarket standards, for a stock system it certainly stands out.

Take, for example, the 1" tweeters in the front corner of each front door, surrounded by silver trim with embossed RF logo. The 6" midbass driver in each front door and a 2-way 6" coaxial in each rear door are concealed behind boring grilles. But a 10" subwoofer enclosure in the driver-side wall of the rear cargo area proudly pimps a large Rockford Fosgate logo, while another graces the subwoofer's dust cap behind a honeycomb-mesh grille. It's all part of the Outlander's optional $1,580 XLS Sun & Sound package, which also includes a six-disc CD changer, 650-watt amplifier, Sirius Satellite Radio, auxiliary input and power sunroof.

But good looks will only get you so far. What we wanted to find out was how the system stacked up in terms of sound quality and ergonomics. So I loaded a half dozen of my favorite SQ CDs into the in-dash changer and after a week's worth of cruising concluded that the versatile system handles everything from hip-hop, rock and jazz to folk and country with equal ease and authority.

Very few systems can reproduce the Irish folk singer Luka Bloom's deep, resonant voice on his CD Turf without distorting in the lower-midbass frequency range, or the sharp, trebly sound of Bloom's guitar on the high end. But the Outlander system passed the test with flying colors, with only a hint of muddiness in the midbass but smooth treble response. It was pretty much the same with my gold-standard SQ test, a jazz CD called Bluesiana Triangle. The track "Shoo Fly Don't Bother Me" features an instrumental jam with low-key guitar riffs that often get buried in the mix, but they easily stood out in the Outlander. The track's realistic percussion also lets me judge a system's tonal accuracy and staging, and the Rockford system gave it lifelike impact.

But even though the system staged well, I noticed that the imaging was a bit side-biased. This was most apparent with the rocking R&B on Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise's self-titled debut. Although Bradley's gravelly voice sounded great, it seemed to be coming from in front of me, left of center, rather than in the middle of the dash. And though the system certainly can't compete with a decent aftermarket subwoofer setup, it pumped out the bass in Outkast's "Ain't No Thang" like few OEM systems can.

But that same attribute was also one of the downsides of the system. The bass was sometimes overbearing and didn't blend well with the rest of the system - and not only because the lowest bass notes clearly came from the rear of the vehicle. The "SUB PUNCH" control on the head unit wasn't much help either; even at it's lowest setting the bass was often too strong for low-key music. Plus, when adjusting the "SUB PUNCH" control, the system would make an irritating CD skipping sound. There's also a music "TYPE" adjustment that's supposed to optimize the acoustic characteristics of the sound for "POP," "ROCK," "HIP-HOP" and "COUNTRY," and "FIELD" adjustments create "STAGE," "LIVE" and "HALL" sound fields. But I found the processing didn't improve sound and was rather gimmicky. I much preferred the "NORMAL" settings.

As for ergonomics, the display for the radio at the top of the center stack is so small it made it difficult to discern at a quick glance. (A larger display comes with an optional navigation system for the Outlander.) Plus, the aux-in jack is positioned at the back and bottom of the center console, making it more accessible from the rear seat. And in another annoying design quirk, the aux inputs are RCA jacks instead of a miniplug, so that if you want to hook up an iPod you need an adapter.

Steering wheel audio controls for volume up/down and track or station up/down at least made it easy to adjust the stereo without taking your hands off the wheel. Also, the Outlander's standard Bluetooth hands-free feature allows you to operate your mobile phone using voice command via buttons on the steering wheel.

From an aftermarket perspective, the Rockford Fosgate Punch premium system in the Mitsubishi Outlander has a few slight sound quality deficiencies and some design flaws. But as OEM systems go, it still ranks with the best of the bunch. Plus, its packaging makes it stand out among more mundane co-branded OEM systems. The bottom line is it lives up to its billing.

Audio Score 8.5
Ergonomics 7
Navigation N/A

Key Features
Nine speakers powered by 650 watts
10" subwoofer in a sealed enclosure
Snazzy styling on front tweeters and subwoofer box
Steering wheel audio controls
Sirius Satellite Radio and plays MP3s
Bluetooth hands-free with voice control
Bass can be a little overbearing
Annoying bass control
Small display is difficult to read
Aux-in jack located at the back of the center console