2017 Mitsubishi Outlander vs 2018

What's the difference?

If we're all to be driving plug-in vehicles in the not-too-distant future, cars like the Outlander PHEV will go some way to easing that transition.

Easy, breezy suburban cruising in full EV mode, with the ability to knock off long distances with the help of its petrol engine. Plus, there's a ton of space in the boot. If you're after a spirited and dynamic drive, look elsewhere, but if fuel-budget-friendly (and mostly green) motoring appeals, then the Outlander PHEV does it very well indeed.

The 2WD Outlander is a tidy package that’s a long way from the most impressive among its peers, but also the one that doesn’t really do anything wrong. It’s good looking without being over the top, has reasonable internal space that’s quite versatile, plus is comfortable to drive in most situations. 

This is certainly not the SUV for long-distance outback adventures (and neither is the AWD version, really), but it’s more than capable of getting out into the real Australia and exploring its back roads and campsites, even with a small family on board. 

What do you think of the 2WD Outlander? Tell us in the comments section below.

Most green-spec vehicles look, well, a little weird. And that's because they're purchased by people who smell faintly of homemade muesli and desperately want you to know they're driving an Earth-friendly vehicle.

But peel the 'hybrid' badging off the side of the Outlander P-HEV, and it looks identical to its full fuel-burning cousins, all of which are now rather handsome in an old-school and vaguely masculine fashion.

Up front, Mitsubishi's plasticky grille dominates the front end, and while it's a touch too busy for our tastes, it gives the Outlander some commanding street presence when viewed front on (or in a rear-view mirror). Elsewhere, though, it's a plain and unchallenging design, with a simple side profile and a rear view that looks skinny and tall.

Coolest of all, though, is the futuristic gear stick that makes you feel like you're shifting the Enterprise every time you select drive or reverse.

Inside the LS, the lovely leather-trimmed seats are centred with a chunky-ribbed suede. They're comfy, too, though they could use more side bolstering. The door panels are lined with quilted leather and some pretty unconvincing wood panelling, but a rock-hard plastic insert offers a tip that some cost corners have been cut.

The soft-touch dash is a quality addition and the centred 7.0-inch touchscreen is a big, clear and easy-to-use unit, even if satellite navigation is a glaring omission at this price point.

Coolest of all, though, is the futuristic gear stick that makes you feel like you're shifting the Enterprise every time you select drive or reverse. It's the only nod to that kind of gadgetry in the cabin, and it's cool.

Like the ASX below it and the proper Pajero above it (not the sort-of ugly looking Pajero Sport), the Outlander is neither good looking, nor bad, but conservatively designed with enough modern flair to fit in at school pick-up without creating any bold statements or setting new trends. 

Although the range is increasingly moving away from its roots as a soft-road 4WD, its maintained that typical SUV body-shape and, for the most part the new-ish front end (which it received in 2015) is one of the best things that’s ever happened to it, and still looks good now. 

Inside, the Outlander has a modest flair thanks to small details like white-on-black stitching, a simple centre-dash layout, and use of carbon-fibre-look infills that’s not overdone.

Mitsubishi's marketing schtick for the Outlander PHEV LS is that it's the "the EV with no compromises"  - all the load lugging space of a mid-size SUV with the fuel-sipping antics of a plug-in hybrid. And to be fair, it does make sense. Provided you're happy with a five seat version (there's no seven seat model available) there is no obvious practicality sacrifices in opting for the hybrid.

Boot space is a near identical 463 litres with all the seats in place, and climbs to a near enough bang-on 1602 litres when you drop the 60/40 rear seats. Interior space is unchanged, too, so the cabin remains a bright and airy place up front, with enough room for backseat passengers to ride in comfort.

Upfront, there are two cupholders, with room in the doors for bottles. Hidden in the central storage bin you'll find twin USB points and a 12 volt power outlet. Look up, and there's a purpose designed sunglass holder mounted in the roof lining, too.

Backseat passengers share two cupholders hidden in the pulldown divider that separates the rear seats, but that's about it. The second-row vents are floor mounted, and there's nada in the way of power or USB outlets. There are two ISOFIX attachment points, one in each rear window seat.

Towing capacity has dropped slightly compared to the equivalent petrol-powered model, now 1500kg instead of 1600kg.

This isn’t a huge SUV, especially one trying to seat up to seven people, but for all that, the space is used incredibly well. When the second- and third-row seats are folded forward, the floor space is flat from front to back, which makes packing a lot of gear in easy and convenient. What I really like is that the second-row seats can slide forwards, so if you are travelling with a couple of kids and a boot-full of camping gear, you can reduce the amount of leg-room you give them (the only thing kids do with leg-room is drop toys and food crumbs into it, so they don’t need it anyway), to maximise the amount of space you’ve got in the rear load area. And if you’re camping with kids, every skerrick of space counts.

Interestingly, there’s not a lot of benefit in the five-seater when it comes to space. Both it and the seven-seater have the same volume of load-space with all seating rows folded down, while the seven-seater’s only sacrifice to the space is the pair of cup holders for the third-row passengers. However, the seven seater is about 40kg heavier, so those two extra seats do technically affect load capacity. 

As far as value goes, the Outlander is one of the sharpest priced mid-sized SUVs on the block. At just $30,990 it’s cheaper than the equivalent Toyota Rav4, Mazda CX-5, Nissan X-Trail, Kia Sportage and Hyundai Santa Fe, partly because this Outlander’s platform is getting old now, partly because it doesn’t quite have the same safety features in the base models as some of those vehicles mentioned, and partly because Mitsubishi generally keeps its prices sharp.

Still, it is well featured, even on the bottom rung. The ES range offers the choice of two petrol engines, the smaller with a five-speed manual or the bigger with a CVT transmission and the choice of 2WD or AWD drivelines. 

All models come with 18-inch alloy rims, LED daytime running lights and tail lamps, roof-rails. and central locking. The front-seat occupants benefit from dual-zone climate control, cruise control, steering wheel stereo and phone controls, a couple of USB points, and a touch-screen centre display with Apple and Android phone integrations. There’s no built-in mapping, though, so if you’re out of phone service areas regularly, it could be an issue.

The conventional power is delivered via a 2.0-litre petrol engine that will produce 87kW at 4500rpm and 186Nm at 4500rpm. It's joined by two electric motors - one at each axle - which can kick in another 60kW to the total.

It's a dark art, measuring official fuel consumption in an EV vehicle.

How much power you get, though, depends on how you're using it. Leave it in pure EV mode, and 60kW is your total output. Venture into 'Series Hybrid' mode and the engine will help deliver another 60kW, bringing your total to 120kW.  Finally, drive entirely on petrol power, and you'll be using the petrol engine's 87kW. Mitsubishi claims maximum combined power at 120kW and combined torque at 320Nm.

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

There are three engines offered across the Outlander range, although automatic 2WDs are only available with a 2.4-litre four-cylinder petrol. It’s capable of 124kW at 6000 rpm and 220Nm of torque at 4200rpm. The only transmission option with this engine is a CVT.

It's a dark art, measuring official fuel consumption in an EV vehicle. The official claimed/combined figure is 1.7 litres per hundred kilometres on the claimed combined cycle, but we returned closer to 7.5L/100km after a long day of fairly placid driving. Combine that with a 45-litre tank and it means long-distance touring is going to require plenty of fuel stops. Official C02 emissions are pegged at 41g per kilometre.

You'll get a claimed 54 kilometre range in pure EV mode, and plugged into normal power, the battery will take 6.5 hours to charge. A fast charger will give you an 80-per cent charge in 25min.

Loaded up with camping gear and following the winding and unsealed backroads of the Southern Highlands, the Outlander used 29.2 litres of fuel over 376 kilometres, which is just shy of 7.8L/100km. Mitsubishi claims a combined consumption of 7.2L/100km under more controlled circumstances, so that’s a good figure. The tank can hold 63 litres of fuel, so expect the range to be around 750km to a tank. 

Mitsubishi might have cracked the code in making electric vehicles (even those with a little help from a petrol engine) interesting, and that's in handing control back to the driver. The huge paddles behind the steering wheel which would flick up and down through the gears in a conventional Outlander have been tweaked to control the level of regenerative braking, with five levels (one being not much, five being lots) that control how much power is fed back into the battery packs.

It's smooth and quiet in full EV mode, and seamless in the way it flicks between power sources.

That, paired with a gauge in the driver's binnacle that tells you when you're recharging the batteries, adds a weird sense of achievement to the whole experience. And strange as it sounds, we were glued to the dials trying to pump power back into the batteries. A long drive with plenty of downhill runs will significantly charge the batteries, too.

Elsewhere, though, sliding into the wide and comfortable driver's seat of this plug-in hybrid Outlander is a comfortingly familiar experience, whether you've driven EVs before or not. And if you keep it on surface streets in the CBD or suburbs, it's smooth and quiet in full EV mode, and seamless in the way it flicks between power sources.

The acceleration in this refreshed model has been mapped to be "more aggressive", though we suspect the words "than a marshmallow" might be missing from that statement. Pack a lunch for a flat-footed sprint from 0-100km/h, but it feels plenty perky enough when pulling away from a light, or when you're already up and running.

One issue, though, is that the Outlander PHEV's extra weight and its location makes cornering something of a mystery. The steering offers little in the way of feedback, and there's plenty of play in the wheel, so corners can require a sudden, second turn in. That, combined with soft suspension that's great at ironing out road bumps, but less so at preventing the vehicle rocking, left us feeling genuinely seasick when we tried pushing the boundaries.

Similar to the Outlander's looks, it’s neither good nor bad. I almost want to call it boring to drive, but it’s not quite that either. Let’s just call it adequate as a daily driver. 

The Outlander is comfortable and quiet on the road. It has no rattles and very little engine or road noise intrudes into the cabin. Under acceleration it’s definitely not sporty, but it’s not slow either. If you need to put the boot in, it’ll respond well enough.

The steering is a little twitchy, especially trying to keep it in a straight line on the highway. That’s likely thanks to the electronic power steering, which isn’t as fluid in its assistance as the older-tech hydraulic systems are. The benefit, of course, is better fuel consumption, but I did find it a little hard to get used to. 

With the reverse camera and small stature, the Outlander behaves like a largeish hatch if it’s used around the shops or to cart kids to and from school. The middle-row seats are easy to move forward to give access to the third row. However, those back seats don’t have a lot of space in them – they’re probably better left for special occasions, or as regular seats for your kids’ friends who you’d rather weren’t their friends.

The Mitsubishi Outlander was awarded a five-star ANCAP safety rating on its updated release in 2015. It has dual front, curtain, and driver knee airbags, plus the essential suite of electronic safety aids, including ABS, EBD, ASC, ATC and ESC. Hill start assist is across the range, as is Emergency Stop Signal Function (where the brake lights flash under heavy braking) and a reversing camera. Next models up get reversing sensors, adaptive cruise control, and a forward collision mitigation system and lane departure warning. 

The Outlander PHEV range is covered by Mitsubishi's five-year/100,000km warranty, which includes the battery, and will require servicing every 12 months or 15,000 kilometres.

The brand's capped-price servicing program limits maintenance costs to $250 per year for the first three years.

The Outlander is covered by Mitsubishi’s capped price servicing scheme. The cost of a service is only $280 for and you’ll only need one every 15,000km or 12 months, whichever comes first. That’s a slight increase on the 2017 models, though, which will be serviced for just $230 for the first three years. 

Major pain points will come at 90,000km when the iridium or platinum tipped spark plugs need to be replaced along with all the engine and transmission fluids, but otherwise service intervals are generally long and well-spaced. 

Mitsubishi offers a 5 year/100,000km warranty, plus 5 year Perforation Corrosion Warranty on the Outlander.