2020 Honda CR-V vs Mitsubishi Outlander

What's the difference?

The Honda CR-V VTi-L7 is a really nice midsize family SUV let down by a lack of active safety equipment. It has been disappointingly left behind its competitors on that front, and while it isn't “unsafe”, you need to know that rival SUVs offer considerably better safety gear than it, and that could be enough to sway your decision.

A shame, really. Because otherwise it's fairly brilliant.

When you think about it, plug-in hybrids really are something of a best of both worlds proposition - an electric motor for your weekday commute, and a petrol engine for your weekend adventures. It also means you can almost always plug in at home, so there's no need to queue for a public charger or worry much about how long it takes to recharge. 

If you're looking for a plug-in hybrid with space for the family and more of an adventurous spirit than most, the Outlander PHEV is worthy of investigating.

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with travel and meals provided.

The fact that Honda can somehow squeeze seven seats - with room for seven actual people - into a body this compact is a testament to the brand's clever packaging philosophy.

The CR-V dimensions don't chance whether you're buying the five-seat or seven-seat model. It measures 4596mm long (on a 2660mm wheelbase), 1855mm wide and 1679mm tall. For reference, the length of a CR-V is more than a ruler shorter than a Toyota Corolla sedan. That's truly amazing considering there are seven seats in here.

Of course that comes down to the tall, square body of the CR-V, which - unlike some competitors - is unashamedly focused on practicality.

The interior design is a key part of that focus, and the CR-V has some things are dreamy for parents and grandparents - like rear doors that open almost to right angles, allowing for very easy access to the back seats (but could also lead to unintended door dings in car parks if enthusiastic youngsters fling them open with force).

There are also five child seat attachment points for the rear five seats. The third-row features top-tether only points, which are off to the side of the boot so you still have usable cargo space with the rearmost seats in play.

But on the flipside, the top-tether points for the second row are located in the ceiling of the boot area, meaning you have to run straps through the head-space of the third row to secure the seats in place, essentially rendering that back row as unusable if the second-row is kitted out for kids seats. Of course there are dual ISOFIX outboard anchors as well, but Australian legislation requires top straps be fitted in addition to ISOFIX.

It’s business as usual for the Outlander PHEV, with the exterior design largely unchanged for this 2020 update.

Now whether that’s a bad thing obviously depends on whether you like the outgoing vehicle, but one thing is certain - this Outlander offers no Tesla Cybertruck style, erm, challenging design features. In fact, it looks an awful lot like a Mitsubishi SUV.

This is no rolling billboard advertising your eco credentials, then. And for a lot of people - myself included - that counts as a positive. 

The front-end view is easily the most powerful, with Mitsubishi’s shiny black-and-silver grille treatment looming large in any rear-view mirror it's spotted in, but we also like the swollen shoulder lines that run beneath the side windows, as well as the arch-filling alloys.

All up, they give the Outlander a vaguely premium look from the outside - a feeling only enhanced in the bright Red Diamond of our test car. On colours for a moment, there are only four available; the red, as well as Ruby Black, Titanium Grey and Starlight (white).

Inside, the new 8.0-inch screen takes pride of place in the dash, and the air-con controls have been given a more modern-feeling tickle, but elsewhere it’s largely more of the same for Mitsubishi’s electrified SUV.

And that means a simple and unfussy design theme front and back, interspersed with a combination of hard plastics and soft-touch materials. How much of each, though, depends on how much you spend.

I already covered off some of the third-row design considerations in that section, but how does that all translate to the space on offer?

I'm 182cm and I (just) fit in all three rows.

In the very back seats the headroom is the main issue. I struggled to fit in the back row sitting upright, my neck was cricked to the side in order to fit. But smaller adults or children shouldn't have too much of an issue back there, as the width, kneeroom and toe room was adequate for short trips. There are some bottle holders in the back, and there are rear air vents and a fan controller for those in the back.

Third-row access is decent, as the middle-row seats flip and tumble forward (60:40 split, with the smaller section thankfully on the kerbside). They also slide to allow access, but that might be difficult if you have a child seat fitted.

I can't stress enough how much having the top-tether points in the roof section will annoy you if you regularly use the third row. Many competitors have the top tether anchor integrated into the back of the middle-row seat, and they also have sliding functionality which is, quite simply, a better way of doing it.

In the second row, there's decent leg room, toe room and head room, even with a large sunroof. Amenities are good, with dual map pockets, a pair of directional air vents, a flip down armrest with a pair of cup holders, and bottle holders in the doors too.

And then up front there's exceptional practicality, with a huge centre console section with a secondary section below the cup holders. There's also a covered bin, plus another storage section in front of the cup holders below the high-mounted gear selector, big door pockets with bottle holders, and a pair of small storage slots either side of the gear selector box, too.

The steering wheel is nice and neat, the driver info screen is a fully digital affair - there's a digital speedometer, fuel readout, and trip computer. It takes a bit of learning to get the controls down pat using the steering wheel buttons, but there's a bit going on.

The media screen is a 7.0-inch touch-capacitive unit, which is getting to be on the small side by today's standards. It has the stuff you'd expect, though, with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, Bluetooth, sat nav and digital radio all included. It's a bit of an old-school display and the menus are fine but not super intuitive, and the screen doubles as a display for the reversing camera and Honda's proprietary LaneWatch side-view system.

If you're wondering about charging, there are four USB ports (two front, two rear) and there's even a HDMI input. The sound system has eight speakers, and the quality is pretty good, too.

As for boot space or cargo capacity, there's 150 litres (VDA) of luggage space with all the rear seats in play - or enough for school bags or some shopping - and that increases to 472L in five-seat layout (suitcases, sporting gear, a pram - and maybe even all at once!). Fold down all the rear seats and you've got 967L of room to the window line, and a lot more if you dare load up above that line.

There's a movable rear floor section that gives you a level playing field if you need it when storing long items, and under the boot floor (and the third-row seats) there's even a full-size alloy spare wheel. Neat!

Mitsubishi makes a big deal out of the Outlander’s practicality perks, and with good reason; here’s an electrified vehicle that can carry five people, tow 1.5 tonnes, and even tackle some off-road stuff without breaking much of a sweat.

Let’s start with the key stuff. The Outlander PHEV measures in at 4695mm in length, 1800mm in width and 1710mm in height, which is about bang-on the conventional fuel-powered models. 

As a result, you can expect similar space inside the cabin, with enough room for up-front riders, and a spacious rear seat that provided enough head and legroom for my 175cm frame to ride in comfort. 

In the boot, you’ll find 463 litres of luggage room, with an extra 35 litres hidden in an under-floor cargo box. And unlike some hybrids, the Outlander PHEV won’t shy away from some light-duty towing either, with Mitsubishi claiming a 1500kg (braked) towing capacity. 

Finally, you can expect two ISOFIX attachment points, one in each window seat in the back, as well as two new USB connections points, so there's device charging galore.

Let’s get the hard stuff out of the way early; the 2020 Outlander PHEV is more expensive than its predecessors, no matter which one you shop for. 

The Outlander PHEV arrives in three trim levels - the ES ($46,990 MSRP or $50,990 drive-away), then the ES + ADAS pack, which adds $1000 to both those numbers, increasing the cost to $47,990 ($51,990 drive-away), and finally the top-spec Exceed, which is $55,990 ($59,990 drive-away).

The ES arrives with a fairly stacked equipment list, including 18-inch alloys, LED DRLs, auto headlights and wipers and standard roof rails outside. In the cabin, expect cloth seats that are heated in the front, a new 8.0-inch screen that’s both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto equipped, a new lumbar support control for the driver, push-button start, and dual-zone climate control with a vent for rear riders.

Stepping up the ADAS (Advance Driver Assistance Systems) pack, which is a trim level aimed largely at fleet customers, matches the ES trim level exactly, but then adds some key safety stuff like lane departure warning, auto high beams and adaptive cruise control.

Finally, the Exceed trim gets leather seats, standard navigation, a better stereo, a powered boot, a sunroof and some nicer interior trimmings, as well as a heap of standard safety kit that we’ll drill down on under the Safety sub-heading. 

All up, though, you’ll be paying up to $2000 more for the updated Outlander PHEV - a jump Mitsubishi says is justified by the new multimedia screen, the bigger engine and higher battery capacity.

This grade of Honda CR-V - like all but the base model - comes with a 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine.

Want to know engine specs? The power output is 140kW (at 5600rpm) and the torque figure is 240Nm (at 2000-5000rpm). Not quite a horsepower hero, but better than adequate outputs nonetheless.

As with all CR-Vs the gearbox is a continuously variable transmission (CVT) auto, which isn't to all tastes but is a good pairing with this powerplant.

The model you choose in the CR-V range will determine if it comes in two-wheel drive (2WD)/front-wheel drive (FWD) or all-wheel drive (AWD). This one is a 2WD.

Towing capacity is 600kg for an unbraked trailer, and 1000kg for a braked trailer for all seven-seat CR-V models (and, according to Honda Australia's site, that figure is "with seven seats occupied" - but the onus is on the driver to ensure the gross combination mass, or GCM, doesn't exceed 3300kg). Five-seat CR-V models offer 600kg unbraked/1500kg braked towing capacity. 

It’s here we find the biggest change for the 2020 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, with a bigger petrol engine and a higher-capacity battery combining to deliver what the brand promises will be a “sportier” drive.

First, under the bonnet there lurks a 2.4-litre, four-cylinder petrol engine which will deliver some 94kW at 4500rpm and 199Nm at 4500rpm - up from 87kW and 186Nm from the old 2.0-litre engine. 

The petrol engine works in conjunction with twin electric motors, (60kW/137Nm front, 70kW/195Nm rear), and though the maximum power produced remains 94kW, it does allow the Outlander to switch between petrol and electric power at will.

That power is fed through a single-speed automatic gearbox and ultimately sent to all four wheels.

Claimed fuel consumption on the combined test cycle, according to Honda, is 7.3 litres per 100 kilometres. It has an eco mode (Econ, as Honda calls it) that dulls the throttle a bit and aims for better fuel use, and that mode was engaged the entire time for my test, as I didn't feel I needed extra engine grunt at all.

That was all the more impressive as I did more than 600km in the CR-V, most of which was highway driving (including a loop west over the Blue Mountains and back!), and bettered that claim, with 7.0L/100km displayed on test.

The bigger battery, now 13.8 kWh, doesn’t actually result in a longer driving range, with Mitsubishi still claiming a 54km EV range, according to the NEDC cycle. Stick to that, and your fuel use will be zero.

Engage the petrol engine, however, and Mitsubishi then claims a combined fuel-use figure of 1.9 litres per hundred kilometres, and C02 emissions of 43g per kilometre. The Outlander PHEV is fitted with a 45-litre fuel tank. 

When it comes time to recharge, you can expect it to take around seven hours using a plug at home, while using a CHAdeMO high-speed charger should give you 80 per cent capacity in 25 mins.

But the point Mitsubishi makes, and it's a good one, is that owing to the petrol engine, you really never need to worry about public charging. Instead, should you run out battery juice, simply drive home with the petrol engine and plug in when you get there. 

As mentioned above, my drive time was largely out of town - but I was impressed, as always, with the CR-V in all situations.

It's such a competent mid-size SUV, one that is perfectly suited to family buyers who want a comfortable car that's quiet and easy to live with. I really think it is one of the best in the class in terms of balancing comfort and control. It's arguably more comfortable than a CX-5, Tucson or RAV4, and more controlled than a Forester, X-Trail or Outlander.

The suspension is well sorted, with a ride quality that is very well resolved, very comfortable for both the driver and passengers, and yet it still handles quite nicely too, with direct and enjoyable steering that is both quick to respond, and easy to judge. Some people might find it's a little too darty, but you get used to it - trust me.

The engine and transmission work well together, though the transmission can rob you of some of the joy of the turbo engine's thrust. The engine does offer a good dollop of grunt in Econ mode, you just need to get to the throttle detent (that section midway down the throttle travel where it goes from measured response to more urgent acceleration) to take advantage of it.

It's very refined, very quiet, and very impressive. I'd happily do long distance driving in a CR-V on a regular basis, and it's also adept at urban driving duties: it's easy to park, deals well with slow-speed bumps and lumps, and the drive experience is pretty relaxing overall.

It’s a slightly confusing experience, climbing behind the wheel of the Outlander PHEV. Not least of which because the thing that takes pride of place in this eco-friendly SUV’s centre console is a massive “Sport” button, conjuring images of slaying mountain passes, all while saving the planet.

The reality, though, is just a little different. Bigger engine or no, the Outlander is no backroad bandit.

In fact, I think it does its best work away from Sport mode, which can leave the accelerator a little too twitchy, and give you a sort of lurching effect should you so much as breath on the throttle, but then fail to backup that promise with meaningful, neck-snapping acceleration. The sprint to 100km/h, for example, will take 10.5sec, which is down from 11 seconds in the outgoing car, but still not overly quick.

Remember, this is a family friendly (and eco-friendly) SUV, and so you shouldn’t be surprised to learn it behaves at its finest when it is treated as such, accelerating smoothly, switching between electric and petrol modes without great fuss, and genuinely going about its business with a quiet confidence. 

Besides, like most electrified cars, slipping behind the wheel of the Outlander PHEV does strange and mysterious things to your driving style. Believe me, no matter how heavy your right foot is, you can’t help but want to drive the Outlander gently, trying to prolong its battery-only range and stop the petrol engine kicking in. It’s like the eco-friendly version of chasing lap times, and it is strangely addictive.

On the EV side, you can choose between Charge mode (which prioritises battery charge) or Save mode (which maintains the battery charge), and to help the battery stay charged, you can up the regenerative braking via the gearshift paddles, too. 

The truth is, though, that the Outlander drive experience really isn’t defined by its eco credentials, but by its sense of normality. It behaves in much the way you expect an Outlander to behave, with the fuel use (or lack of it) an added perk.

The steering is not overly engaging, but it’s light and easy, and the suspension focuses more on softness than sportiness. Is it as fun to drive or as engaging as some of its more modern rivals? Not really. But it's big, spacious, familiar and easy.

The Outlander PHEV ES arrives with camera-based AEB (up to 80km/h), a reversing camera, rear parking sensors, hill start assist and seven airbags as standard kit. Opting for the ADAS pack then adds Lane Departure Warning, adaptive cruise control and automatic high beams. 

Finally, the Outlander Exceed will add an around-view monitor, lane change assist, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert and what Mitsubishi calls its Ultrasonic Misacceleration Mitigation System, which detects if you’ve accidentally selected Drive instead of Reverse (or vice versa) and will dull the accelerator and sound a warning to let you know. 

The Outlander was awarded a full five-star ANCAP safety rating when tested in 2014.

Honda covers all of its new models with a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty. That's par for the course these days, but the brand has dabbled in promotional seven-year warranty cover. Hit up the dealer to see if your purchase is eligible for this extended warranty.

And the company also has a capped price service plan, which runs out to up to 10 years. Service intervals are every 12 months or 10,000km, which is a bit more regular than most rivals (which have annual/15,000km intervals).

The basic cost per maintenance visit is $312, which is pretty affordable for this class of vehicle, but that is before you factor in some additional consumables such as the cabin air filter ($45, every 24 months/30,000km), brake fluid ($58, every 36 months), transmission fluid ($172, every 36 months/40,000km), air cleaner element ($55, every 60,000km) and spark plugs ($274, every 100,000km).

When it comes to roadside assistance, Honda offers all new car buyers five years of coverage (or seven years if you get a seven-year warranty plan).

The Outlander PHEV is covered by a five-year, 100,000km warranty, with the batteries on board covered for eight years or 160,000kms.

Mitsubishi’s capped-price servicing program limits service costs to $299 for each of your first three visits to your dealership, which will be every 12 months or 15,000kms.