2022 Mitsubishi Outlander review: Exceed Tourer

Looks good, doesn’t it? Or perhaps it doesn’t? It appears the styling of the new Mitsubishi Outlander Exceed Tourer is very divisive, comments during our time with it split between great and ghastly.

There are two parts to this. The first is that few would have described the previous Outlander’s styling in a positive manner, so even 50:50 is a significant step forward, while the second is that in provoking a reaction it at least gets people talking.

The new Outlander is an extremely important car for Mitsubishi, pretty consistently accounting for around one in five sales for the brand in Australia. It’s arrived a little later than originally intended, delayed by the incorporation of Mitsubishi into the Renault-Nissan alliance.

This allowed it to move to a platform shared with the forthcoming Nissan X-Trail as well as a future successor to the Renault Koleos. Its new body structure increases rigidity while reducing weight thanks to an aluminium bonnet and plastic front guards.

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A larger car in every direction, the new Outlander’s dimensions help its aesthetics. Overall length increases by 15mm but the wheelbase has been extended by 36mm, shrinking the massive overhangs of its predecessor. Likewise, it’s grown more in width (51mm) than height (38mm), making for a squatter stance.

Pricing for this range-topping Exceed Tourer is listed at $49,990 before on-road costs, a $2000 premium over the regular Exceed. For that, buyers score:

This is on top of the equipment included in lower specification models:

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The Outlander’s cabin, especially in this flagship Exceed Tourer, is a real highlight. The horizontal design theme is simple and classy but it’s the materials that are a standout.

Soft leather surfaces abound, contrasting diamond-stitched patterns on the door trims and seats are a premium touch and all the buttons and dials have precise, defined movements.

There’s more: the two large digital screens, for the infotainment and instruments, are clear and easy to navigate, separate HVAC controls are always welcome, as are wireless charging and Apple CarPlay, while the Outlander’s new mouse-like gear selector also allows quick and easy changes between park-reverse-drive – it doesn’t necessarily improve upon a traditional lever, but at least it’s not a backwards step like so many other reinvention attempts.

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It’s not all champagne and roses, however. The default instruments when I first drove the car were a pair of independently rotating wheels – one for revs, the other for speed – which quickly made my head spin due to them rotating at different speeds just in my peripheral vision. Thankfully a set of traditional dials is an easily-found option.

That observation is purely personal taste, as is my lack of appreciation for Mitsubishi’s font choices, but what isn’t is the fact that the silver trim surrounding the gear selector reflects sunlight terribly.

Depending on the position of the sun, either the driver or passenger will require sunglasses due to the rays being reflected directly into their eyes. An unfortunate oversight.

The Outlander’s cabin is a real highlight. The horizontal design theme is simple and classy but it’s the materials that are a standout.

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Move into the second row and the quality materials continue, along with plenty of space for legs and heads, fore-aft and recline adjustment, a separate set of temperature controls (which can also be adjusted from the front), vents and both USB-A and USB-C ports for device charging. The outboard seats have ISOFIX, there are tether points across all three seats and the side shades are helpful for keeping sun off the kids.

Where the Outlander differs from most – if not all – of its mid-size SUV competitors is the option of a third row. In fact, it’s not an option but standard on all but the base ES where it costs $1000 extra.

Mitsubishi describes the Outlander as a ‘5+2’, with the rearmost seats intended for occasional use only, but it’s difficult to see a use case for them.

Access is difficult due to the inability of the second row to fold forward, there are no child-seat mounts (nor curtain airbags) so little’uns are out and accommodating anyone larger requires the second row to move so far forward that all legroom disappears.

Still, compared to the five-seat Outlander there’s only a seven-litre boot space penalty so there’s little downside to their existence.

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Leave them folded and the Outlander’s boot will swallow 478L (to the top of the rear seats) while dropping the 40:20:40 split second row increases that to 1461L.

It's a capacious space measuring 1717mm long, 1380mm wide (1156mm width between wheel arches) and 870mm high with all seats down, but one that nevertheless falls well short of some of its competition such as the Toyota RAV4, Subaru Forester and (current) Nissan X-Trail.

Behind the wheel, the driving position is widely adjustable and the seats comfortable. Heating and massage are welcome, though I’d trade the latter for cooling, especially as we come into summer. The steering wheel’s perforated leather and its weighting give a distinctly Audi vibe; I suspect an Ingolstadt product might have been in the benchmarking fleet.

Despite its increased size, light, accurate steering and a commendably tight 10.6m turning circle make urban manoeuvres no stress. Parking is assisted by Mitsubishi’s multi-around monitor, which uses the cameras and sensors to display an image all around the car and prevent low-speed collisions. There is no self-park assist feature, however.

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Six drive modes are available – Eco, Normal, Tarmac, Gravel, Snow and Mud – each altering powertrain response, steering weight, the all-wheel-drive system and stability control.

The latter two modes, in addition to a hill descent control function, implies a level of off-road competence, but we wouldn’t recommend getting too ambitious given the Outlander’s relative lack of ground clearance and road-biased tyres.

Normal is the default and it works reasonably well. The 2.5-litre naturally-aspirated four-cylinder engine produces 135kW and 245Nm, figures superior to the smaller base engines in rivals like the Hyundai Tucson, Kia Sportage and Toyota RAV4, though at this price point many competitors also offer turbocharged options with greater low-end torque that make for easier progress. There is no longer a diesel option.

Despite its increased size, light, accurate steering and a commendably tight 10.6m turning circle make urban manoeuvres no stress.

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One of the Outlander’s shortcomings becomes apparent when you ask for more throttle than that typically required by day-to-day traffic.

Floor the accelerator and the automatic continuously variable transmission (CVT) responds with more revs but acceleration doesn’t feel to markedly increase yet vibration through the steering wheel does. Best to just be patient and go with the flow.

Our 8.4L/100km fuel figure recorded over more than 600km more or less corresponds to Mitsubishi’s 8.1L/100km combined claim, though that is a sizeable increase over the previous Outlander’s 7.2L/100km claim.

Blame the new car’s equally sizable increase in weight. The previous range-topping petrol Outlander weighed 1525kg; this Exceed Tourer is 1760kg. As a result, the power-to-weight ratio has dipped from 81kW to 77kW/tonne.

Those who require greater efficiency can wait for the forthcoming Outlander plug-in hybrid, though it will carry a significant but as-yet unknown price penalty (the previous generation PHEV was $12,700 dearer than its combustion-only counterpart).

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Where the new Outlander does impress is in the twisties – dynamically it’s a big improvement on its predecessor.

While it’s not a car that’s likely to be driven enthusiastically, the accurate steering that’s free of kickback, strong grip, decent body control and clever all-wheel-drive system, using a development of the Super-AYC (Active Yaw Control) that was in Mitsubishi’s Lancer Evolution series, make it stable and confidence-inspiring at higher speeds on a winding road.

Tarmac is a quasi-sport mode, sharpening the throttle and causing the CVT (which doesn’t have any gears per se) to mimic a conventional eight-speed automatic, which it does quite successfully.

You can change ‘gears’ using the steering wheel paddles but the shift logic is impressively intelligent in keeping the revs safely where you need them.

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Talking of safety, eight airbags are standard, including front, side, centre and driver’s knee airbags up front and side curtains in the first two rows, along with a comprehensive suite of active safety systems:

So far, (mostly) so good, but where the Outlander lets itself down is its ride quality.

On the highway it’s not too bad, accepting gentle lumps and bumps with little fuss, but sudden changes can flummox it and impacts like expansion joints thump through the car.

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Of more concern is the low-speed urban ride, where this SUV will presumably spend most of its time. It fidgets and jitters in constant reaction to the road surface, which becomes both tiring and irritating.

Whether the 20-inch wheels of the Aspire grade upwards are partially to blame won’t be known until we drive a lower variant on 18s, but it’s the Outlander’s most obvious shortcoming.

And it’s a shame, as in many areas it’s very competitive, with a great cabin, plenty of space, lots of technology and Mitsubishi’s long warranty and capped price servicing program. This stretches for 10 years or 150,000km, though only if the vehicle is serviced at an official Mitsubishi dealer, otherwise it reverts to five years.

Service intervals are 12 months or 15,000km and the total servicing cost over 10 years is $3190, though the final service is $799 of that. The first five services are $199 each.

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VERDICT

In conclusion, the new Mitsubishi Outlander is a big step up over its predecessor in terms of technology, dynamics and desirability, and while prices have increased slightly you get a lot more car for your money.

Only a slightly underpowered – or more accurately, under-torqued – engine and in particular its brittle ride quality let it down and prevent it from being an SUV that we could automatically recommend.

2022 Mitsubishi Outlander Exceed Tourer specifications