When an Uncle had to undergo emergency heart surgery, I had to visit him on a weekend - The journey involved a lot of driving and hence renting a car was the better option as opposed to driving my own. Also, driving an automatic shift would mean less fatigue than shifting gears manually.
Now if you are wondering why am I reviewing a car after driving it for a weekend? Well folks, I drove 1200 Miles in it - don’t you agree that makes me know enough about the car to review it?
It makes one wonder that even though you once thought "The boot is so big, I could pack 2 large bodies in it" how quickly it can be filled up when you have a college going teen and a housewife for company! The car has ample space for 4 people’s luggage. If its all guys, it would have ample space for 5 people and beer!~ 9/10 for trunk space.
My choice at the rental company was between 4 Chevy Impalas and a Mitsubishi Gallant. Being a fan of Japanese cars, my choice was simple:-) The car was White(or Dover White Pearl) in color with a little more than 8K miles on the odo. As I got in the vehicle and turned on the Ignition, the first thing I noticed was the jarring Blue backlights on the dash! It felt weird at first, but as the miles were added on, I realized that the blue was actually quite soothing to the eyes and it also kept me from being distracted from the road. What was a negative soon became a positive about the car~ **8/10 for the ergonomic lights.
The ES model came with a factory fitted 140W 6-Speaker MP3 player - the sound quality was not the best, but the system was well tuned - the speakers did not distort the sound even at the highest volume setting - something that I have not yet noticed in any factory fitted car audio system till date. However, there were too many buttons and what was gained from the ergonomics of the backlight, the plethora of buttons on the stereo took away. The radio reception was extremely good and I could pick up stations with minimal distortion even in the outskirts of the city~ I give it 7/10.
Being a new car, the steering was very light to touch. The lights were powerful and the wipers worked flawlessly without any streaking or "thudding" even on dry glass. Something that I have noticed the Indian cars lack as my Swift wipers were streaking and at times "thudding" on the glass even during rains. Full points to Mitsubishi for that - but still, this is nothing new for cars in America where all new vehicles are expected to perform this well. The sprinkler performed well, but the wipers still failed to remove fresh bird poop even with generous amount of water sprinkling ~ **7/10
The air conditioning unit was good, but I will refrain to comment much on it because I used it minimally. The weather was "just right" to avoid using it. I must say that the heaters worked rather well when we started the second leg of our journey - 9/10
The 2.4-liter SOHC 16-Valve MIVEC engine can generate a max of 160 horses at 5, 500 RPM. This is not very nice as the engine redlines at 6, 500 RPM. I was driving the vehicle between 2K to 4K RPM range and it pulled the car along rather nicely. The car that I had was meant to be a distance runner and not a sprinter. That being said, it did the job rather well. The engine was well mated with the Sportronic® 4-Speed Automatic Transmission. I tried the manual shifting option only once and the gear shifts were quite smooth. Nothing quite like a Merc, but wayyyyy better than a Ford or a Chevy. The cruise control worked as expected and no assistance was needed from the driver while climbing slopes. The car was able to maintain its speed comfortably without any "groaning or whining" from the engine and the tranny- 8.25/10
The ride was very smooth on the **Front Independent Suspension with MacPherson Struts and the Rear Independent Low-Mount Multi-Link Suspension. This arrangement gives the car a low rear profile even if the rear seat is unoccupied and the trunk is light - this helps avoids high’drag’ on the car and improves gas mileage. My company was used to riding a Lexus, and yet they found the drive quite comfortable and non-jerky - 8.5/10
The Ventilated Front Disc Brakes and the Solid Rear Disc Brakes help bringing the car to a quick halt. Although I didn’t have to "break test" the car at any occasion in the journey, I’m sure they will not leave you wondering at their stopping prowess. The car has EBD which further enhances safety - **8/10
The seats were very comfy and there was minimal fatigue felt from the drive. There was no backache even after driving 1200 miles. This speaks of the seating comfort in itself. There are all kinds of nook and crannies to stow away your stuff. All pretty standard any nothing unexpected or lacking in this department - 8/10
The car is **big on safety! - 9/10
Dual stage airbags with SRS
Front and rear side curtain airbags
Trunk entrapment release system(in case someone tries to lock you inside the trunk)
Unibody construction with front and rear crumple zones
Side impact door protection
Tire pressure monitoring system
The best part was the great gas mileage! My aim of this trip was to maximise gas mileage and to not give the passengers a chance to "complaint" about my driving! Also, I had read some articles on the net to maximise gas mileage and was eager to try them out. The Fuel Use Estimates(City/Highway) for this vehicle are 20/27 MPG. Some clever driving on my part saw me getting upto 32 MPG in one leg of the journey! This with 4 adults and a fully loaded trunk! I was impressed and this further reinforces my belief in Japanese Engineering!
I have heard many American car auto dealers come up with stupid reasons like "oh, people just take care of Japanese cars better" etc. All that talk is plain baloney! Japanese cars are better - period! I have driven a 2007 Chevy Impala over similar distances - and although it was spacious and comfy, it did not offer the same smoothness in the engine or similar gas mileage with regular driving!
The Galant is a great full size family vehicle - the Sportronic® transmission offers you the option to be sporty! You have the control in your hands to get comfy with an automatic or have the thrill of clutch-less gear shifting you prefer that.
Overall rating 8.5/10