You never know where life may take you. What was a near-20-year commercial interior design and project management career morphed into a tale surrounded by words and cars. I’ve always been a gearhead. But I left my life of building codes, computer-aided design and drafting, and a wide world of colors for one that encompassed horsepower, torque, and speed. The fuel that ran through my veins never changed, but I’ve finally found a way to make my passion a full-time lifestyle instead of a side hustle.
I’m a freelance automotive journalist and photographer and am giving you a sneak peek behind the lens to see what my day-to-day work life is like. Join me as I head from Portland, Oregon to Mirabel, Quebec, Canada, to attend the 2024 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV winter driving event, held at Complexe ICAR.
After waking up at 3:30am, I grabbed my backpack that housed camera bodies, lenses, spare batteries, and SD cards, as well as an external back-up drive and my laptop, and wheeled my 15-year-old bruised-but -trusty SwissGear carry-on suitcase out to my customized 2005 Forester XT. I headed to the remote airport parking lot, awaiting my shuttle to Portland International Airport (leaving a car there is cheaper than Lyft or Uber these days). After two flights and a layover at Chicago’s O-Hare airport that took most of the day, I landed in Montreal and was whisked away to Mitsubishi’s welcome reception at the Cosmodôme Laval.
Though I arrived late, I had the chance to mingle with other journalists as well as the Mitsubishi team, both the North American crew and folks from Japan alike. I settled in with a glass of wine, ate different hor d’oeuvres, and enjoyed random tales of cars, tires, snow, and travel. Tomorrow was the 2024 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV winter driving event, a one-day affair to test drive the automaker’s latest Outlander PHEV’s on Nexen all-season rubber from the factory and Yokohama BluEarth Winter V906 tires while using various drive modes. It was my chance to test which modes and tires worked best on ICAR’s snow-covered test track.
Not only did I drive each of the vehicles in a variety of manners (counterclockwise in a circle or an autocross course with multiple real-life maneuvers showcased), but I was also photographing the vehicles, too. Whereas some journalists rely on manufacturer photos or stock imagery for their stories, I typically create original imagery for my articles. It combines my previous career’s visual design appreciation into what I do today: creativity not by interior design but from behind the lens.
My morning was spent attending presentations covering the 2024 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV’s Super All Wheel Control system (S-AWC) and the vehicle’s product specs before testing our mettle on the snow.
Temps were warm for the Montreal area. The sun was gleaming—however, conditions became increasingly icy as midday approached. This lent itself well to driving tests.
The first task was driving a 2024 Outlander PHEV GT S-AWC equipped with Yokohama BluEarth Winter V906 tires in Snow mode on the track in a counterclockwise circle about 20 KM/H (12.4 MPH) with a driving instructor. They guided me on how fast to go and what to expect when the SUV started to slip. They told me how Mitsubishi’s S-AWC system would interact with the car to keep it intact, too, which I immediately felt when it kicked in to correct under- or over-steering issues.
Next up was the same vehicle type but with its mode changed to Normal. Traction and handling were negatively affected with marked understeer.
Next up was the same vehicle type but with its mode changed to Normal. Traction and handling were negatively affected with marked understeer.
Lastly, each vehicle was outfitted with a special “red-dot” mode that was programmed into the vehicle especially for this event. The organizers coined it the “party mode.” This function, not sold as a factory feature, was created to effectively delete the all-wheel control system, essentially giving the Outlander PHEV front-wheel bias. This effectively gave me flashbacks of my Wisconsin driving days owning small front-wheel-drive hatchbacks and sedans when you’d mistakenly plow forward when attempting to turn.
The entire process was repeated with another Outlander PHEV outfitted with the factory-equipped all-season Nexen tires. Needless to say, the results weren’t as impressive as the Yokohama snow tires.
Morning driving cadence with the 2024 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV with Yokohama BluEarth Winter V906 tires (then with Outlander outfitted with Nexen all-season rubber):
- Snow mode
- Normal mode
- “Party” mode
- Snow mode with Innovative Pedal engaged
After the warm-up exercise was done, the afternoon track time included an autocross course with slalom sections, oversized curves, straight-line speed, and hard stops. Journalists repeated the same cadence of vehicle modes as they learned which worked best on slippery surfaces. We also tested Mitsubishi’s Innovative Pedal feature, a unique one-pedal operation, available on the 2024 Outlander PHEV, to give drivers a true EV-type experience.
Afternoon driving cadence with the 2024 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV with Yokohama BluEarth Winter V906 tires (then with Outlander outfitted with Nexen all-season rubber):
- Snow mode
- Normal mode
- “Party” mode
- Snow mode with Innovative Pedal engaged
“A confident driver is a safe driver, and a safe driver tends to arrive more relaxed and more refreshed,” said Jeremy Barnes, the Sr. Director of Communications and Events at Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. “What we’re trying to do is give you confidence behind the wheel. So, the idea being that when you turn the wheel, the car goes as you expect it to [using the Outlander PHEV’s, S-AWC, or Super All Wheel Control system].”
Barnes added that S-AWC fundamentally revolves around the active yaw control, the yaw sensor that’s in the center of the Outlander PHEV. “It’s all about vehicle pivot. In some cases, we will allow more,” he stated. “In some cases, we allow less.”
The vehicle’s snow mode, for example, allows quite a lot of yaw, or movement on a center axis. Gravel mode allows even more. “That’s just the way the modes are designed,” Barnes explained. “We can do that because the active yaw control sensor is so accurate, and it’s completely tied into the powertrain control module.”
After sitting through engineering focused presentations, I learned Mitsubishi has three elements to its all-wheel-drive system: lateral torque vectoring, four-wheel brake control, and longitudinal torque distribution. This is the active yaw control (AYC), ABS/ASC, and 4WD. I put these systems to the test on the ice-ladened track and realized Mitsubishi’s various drive modes isn’t marketing hype. There is a lot of science and engineering that has gone into the 2024 Outlander PHEV’s S-AWC system that makes it a safe vehicle and a hoot to drive on the snow and ice.
After our driving event, I went back to the hotel for a dinner hosted by Mitsubishi, then it was off to bed. As is so common, I had a very early wake-up call, took a shuttle to the airport, and it was off to the airport. When you travel a lot for work (especially when flying), you can all but expect regular delays. And what was supposed to be a few-hour layover at O’Hare, turned into a nine-hour stay as the plane was repeatedly delayed. Thank goodness for the United Lounge. Airport lounges are a hidden gem for travelers as they have food, drink, and good workspaces for weary travelers, even if they cost me extra to get in.
But, after 52 hours of total time away, I found myself back home, thinking about my next automotive adventure to cover.