2023 Mitsubishi Outlander vs 2024 Toyota RAV4

What's the difference?

The Mitsubishi Outlander LS Black Edition scores big marks for practicality as long as you don’t think of it as a conventional seven-seater. Treat it as a five-seater, with the super-handy option of squeezing a couple of kids into the occasional third row for short trips, and you’ll be laughing.

It’s comfortable, refined and fuel-efficient, but it isn’t perfect. Side curtain airbags not covering those ‘+2’ third row seats is a safety miss. The exterior design, especially at the front, is polarising (my guess is mostly to one pole). And the lengthy warranty hand-cuffing you to Mitsubishi network service to enable an ‘extra’ five years’ cover feels awkward.  

However, the closer is solid value-for-money. It not only passes the family practicality and flexibility test, it’s keenly priced and well-equipped relative to mid-size competitors.   

The Toyota RAV4, particularly in Cruiser Hybrid spec, is a sensible, comfortable family 2WD wagon with plenty of standard features onboard.

It's nice enough to drive on-road without ever being over-the-top dynamic and offers a sensible amount of practicality and functionality for the price.

It feels a tad underdone, especially as rivals in this section of the market are improving all the time, but if you're patient enough to wait for Toyota's supply to catch up with customer demand, the RAV4 Cruiser 2WD Hybrid might just be spot-on for you.

Say what you like about the current Mitsubishi Outlander, but there’s no doubt the design of the car’s ‘face’ is distinctive.

The large grille section consists of an upright lower panel and sloping, broadening, slotted upper piece. Big splashes of curved chrome run down the sides, at the same time defining the slim, angular daytime running lights above.

Then, more upright headlight units sit on top of separate fog lights, the entire combination topped by ‘Outlander’ script in proud relief along the bonnet’s leading edge, the latter obviously inspired by Range Rover’s long-established badge treatment.   

The rest of the exterior is more conventional, with - surprise, surprise - the Black Edition defined by a whole bunch of black stuff.

Everything from the 20-inch alloy wheels to the front and rear skid plates, exterior mirror housings and the grille are blacked out.

And the theme carries over inside with a sleek and comfy combination of black synthetic suede and synthetic leather on the seats (with contrast stitching), a black laser-etched panel in the front centre console around the gearshift, black headlining and black front pillar trim.

Overall, the interior is simple, understated and functional with a common-sense mix of physical and digital controls, as well as soft-touch materials where it counts.

Beyond its distinctive RAV4 grille, 18-inch black gloss alloys and that rather striking Saturn Blue paint, this medium-sized SUV remains inoffensive enough.

For those of you who love measurements, the Toyota RAV4 Cruiser 2WD Hybrid is 4615mm long (with a 2690mm wheelbase), 1865mm wide, and 1690mm high. It has a listed kerb weight of 1700kg.

At just over 4.7m long, close to 1.9m wide and 1.75m tall, the Outlander is a ‘large’ medium-size SUV.

There’s lots of breathing room up front and the car is wide enough that the driver and front passenger aren’t bursting each other's personal space bubbles.  

Within the car’s overall footprint, a 2.7m wheelbase (the distance between the axles) is pretty generous and rear seat room is good, too.

Sitting behind the driver’s seat set for my 183cm position I enjoyed more than adequate head, leg and shoulder room.

Three full-size adults across the second row are okay for up to medium length trips, thanks in no small part to a flat rear floor. And depending on the child seats or boosters you’re working with, three-abreast for smaller humans should be do-able, as well.

Storage options in the front include a medium-size lidded box between the seats (which doubles as a centre armrest), a reasonable glove box, two big cupholders in the centre console and generous bins in the doors with space for large bottles.

The wireless charging pad is handy for your phone (even when it’s not charging) as well as other bits and pieces. And an overhead bin flips down for your sunnies.

There are directional air vents for those in the rear with storage running to a shelf underneath the vents, map pockets on both front seat backs, two large cupholders in the fold-down centre armrest and slots in the doors, again with space for larger bottles.

Move to the third row, and… you’ll be cramped. Mitsubishi is up front in positioning this car as a ‘5+2’, meaning full-time seating for five and (very much) part-time seating for two.

Those two in the way-back seats will be small kids, on short trips, and even then, the sliding (and reclining) middle row will need to move forward quite a bit to accommodate their legs. Adults? Forget it.

Power and connectivity options include primary USB-A and USB-C sockets for media in the dash plus another two outlets in the rear for power only. There are 12-volt plugs in the front and the boot.

Speaking of which, the boot will accommodate 163 litres (VDA) worth of stuff (to the top of the seats) with the third row upright, which is enough for some shopping bags, school bags, etc.

Folding that 50/50 split-folding row down means removing the ludicrously long (but undoubtedly effective) head restraints for a flat-floor load space of 478 litres (VDA).

We were able to load in the large CarsGuide pram, with room to spare, and our three-piece luggage set (36L, 95L and 124L) was also swallowed easily.

Lower the 40/20/40 split-fold second row seat and you have 1461 litres (VDA - to the roof) at your disposal. 

There are small storage areas either side of the load space behind the wheel tubs and tie-down anchors to help keep loose loads under control.

The Outlander LS Black Edition is rated to tow a 1.6-tonne braked trailer (750kg unbraked) with ‘Trailer Stability Assist’ standard, and the spare is a space-saver.

It's a clean and comfortable cabin with a solid attempt at a premium look and feel, but it all feels a bit dated and under-done, even with leather accented interior trim and plenty of soft-touch surfaces.

There's the usual amount of RAV4 storage, which is more than adequate and, for charging your devices, there are three USB ports up front and two for the rear seat passengers.

The 10.5-inch touchscreen multimedia system and driver display are bright, clear and generally easy to use, although the media unit's operating system can at times be a bit of a labyrinth to work through.

Buttons, dials and grippy textured controls are easy to locate and operate.

All seats are okay without being great, but up front they are power-adjustable every which way, so there's that.

The rear seat is roomy enough in all directions for even those whose nickname is 'Stretch', 'Big Unit' or simply 'Tall Bastard'. The fold-down armrest has cupholders.

For kids, that seat row has three top-tether points and ISOFIX anchors in the outboard positions.

In terms of packability, the rear cargo area has a listed 580 litres of space, but with that rear seat stowed away there's a listed 1690 litres.

That area has a cargo blind, four tie-down points, a 12V socket and a removeable floor liner.

The front-wheel drive, five-seat Toyota RAV4 Cruiser 2WD Hybrid has a MSRP of $51,410 (excluding on-road costs).

Standard features include a 10.5-inch multimedia touchscreen system (with sat nav, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto), a nine-speaker JBL stereo set-up (with digital radio), a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, a surround-view camera, plus 10-way power driver's seat incl. memory, eight-way power passenger seat, heated and ventilated front seats, leather accented interior, dual-zone auto climate control, a power tailgate, tilt/slide sunroof, and 18-inch gloss black alloy wheels.

Exterior colour choices include 'Glacier White', 'Silver Sky', 'Frosted White', 'Graphite', 'Eclipse Black', 'Atomic Rush', 'Mineral Blue' and 'Saturn Blue' (the latter on our test vehicle).

The Outlander LS Black Edition is powered by a naturally aspirated 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine.

It produces 135kW at 6000rpm and 244Nm at 3600rpm, sending drive to the front wheels via a continuously variable automatic transmission.

The Toyota RAV4 Cruiser 2WD hybrid has a 2.5-litre naturally aspirated petrol engine and electric motor set-up with a 1.6kWh (6.5Ah) nickel-metal hydride battery system.

Combined system output for power is 160kW and the torque output (combustion engine figure only) is 221Nm at 3600rpm.

This RAV4 has a continuously variable transmission (CVT) and it's pretty cluey when it comes to always being in the revs and ratios sweet spot.

It also has an EV mode for driving only on battery power to reduce fuel consumption and emissions, and several driving modes including 'Eco', 'Normal' and 'Sport'.

The drive settings are designed to produce optimal ride and handling via maximised engine performance and tuning, steering and throttle response, best suited to the terrain and conditions.

Mitsubishi’s official fuel economy number for the combined (ADR 81/02 - urban, extra-urban) cycle is 7.7L/100km, the 2.5-litre petrol four emitting 174g/km of CO2 in the process.

Over a week of city, suburban and some freeway running, we averaged 8.9L/100km, which is pretty impressive for a close to 1.7-tonne, seven-seat SUV.

Minimum fuel requirement is 91 RON ‘standard’ unleaded and you’ll need 55 litres of it to fill the tank.

Using the official economy number, that translates to a range of around 715km, which drops to just under 620km using our real-world figure.

The Toyota RAV4 Cruiser 2WD Hybrid has listed fuel consumption of 4.7L/100km (on a combined cycle).

I recorded 5.9L/100km on our test, but, as a mate so kindly pointed out, I drive like an old gentleman.

The RAV4 has a 55-litre fuel tank, so going by that on-test fuel-consumption figure, you could reasonably expect to get a driving range of about 930km out of a full tank.

Close to 4.7m long and tipping the scales at 1660kg, the Outlander LS Black Edition is a substantial rather than large front-wheel drive SUV.

Its 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine produces 135kW and 244Nm with that second, peak pulling power figure arriving at a relatively high 3600rpm.

You can expect 0-100km/h acceleration in around 10 seconds which is pretty handy, if not exactly earth-shattering.

Yet, the Outlander is a pleasant machine to drive - quiet, refined and with enough oomph to get the job done in the cut-and-thrust of suburban traffic and cruise comfortably once out of town.

I'm not a fan of CVT autos, but the unit fitted to the Outlander is one of the better ones, minimising the usual disconnect between road speed and engine rpm.

The suspension (strut front, multi-link rear) is comfy, even over less than perfect urban surfaces, steering feel is good, and the body remains stable in the bends.

That cornering performance is also helped by the (255/45) Bridgestone Ecopia rubber, designed specifically for SUVs and 4WDs. They’re economy-focused but grip hard, without a hint of squeal in tight cornering.

Braking is firm and progressive with (350mm) ventilated discs at the front and (330mm) solid rotors at the rear.

Under the heading of miscellaneous observations, the front seats remain comfortable and supportive after lengthy stints behind the wheel. An 11.2m turning circle isn’t tiny so it pays to plan ahead for U- or three-point turns. And all-around vision is good, with the exception of the enormous third row headrests. If there’s no one in those seats, make sure to remove them and pack the seat flat.

The RAV4 is very quiet* and generally rather nice to drive. So, as a daily driver, it's on the right side of impressive.

* Except when it's not, keep reading.

It has smooth acceleration and quickly settles into an easy groove at higher speeds.

Steering retains a welcome precision, visibility is good all around, and the RAV4 always feels settled on any surface.

It does ride and handle well on the blacktop and it's not too shabby on gravel and dirt surfaces, though it skips around on rougher, more irregular sections, due to its firm suspension and road-biased tyres.

The CVT is smooth and efficient in terms of being the optimal auto. It's not dynamic but it's certainly reliably consistent.

This hybrid switches between the engine and electric motor seamlessly and battery charge is easily regenerated through the vehicle's forward motion when little to no throttle is being used to maintain momentum (as in downhills or while otherwise coasting), or the vehicle is slowing to a stop.

NVH (noise, vibration and harshness) levels are mostly subdued except when you give the RAV4 some heavy right boot to spur it into immediate action. There's also some mild wind-rush noise around the big wing mirrors when you hit the open road.

As I've said before, the owners of city-focussed SUVs would be surprised by just how capable their vehicles are when driven sensibly, even the 2WDs.

You can undertake your own scaleable adventure in a 2WD vehicle but, of course, any trip off of a sealed surface in a 2WD will have to be very light-duty off-roading. So, nothing more difficult than a well-maintained dirt or gravel track surface in dry weather.

Towing capacity is 480kg – unbraked and braked – so you won't see a RAV4 skull-dragging a horse float any time soon.

The Toyota RAV4 Cruiser 2WD Hybrid has the maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating from testing in 2019.

Safety gear onboard includes AEB with pedestrian/daytime cyclist detection, intersection turn assist, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring, lane departure warning, lane tracing assist, rear cross-traffic alert, front and rear parking sensors, traffic sign recognition, trailer sway control, hill-start assist, a 360-degree surround-view camera and more.

It has seven airbags including front, front side, full length curtain and driver's knee airbag.

Mitsubishi Australia covers the Outlander with a 10-year/200,000 km warranty, with five-year corrosion (perforation) protection also included.

That’s double the time period offered by the majority of brands in the local new car market, however an unlimited kilometre term is more typical. And… there’s a catch.

To qualify for the 10-year cover Mitsubishi says, “The vehicle must have had ALL scheduled services performed within the authorised Mitsubishi Dealer Network (from the first service onwards).” 

Have the vehicle serviced outside the Mitsubishi network, or not in accordance with the service schedule, and you’re looking at five years/100,000km.

Speaking of servicing, capped pricing is available for 10 years/150,000km, with the lowest annual cost being $299, and the highest (year 10) coming in at $849. The annual average over that period is $434. Not outrageous, but not especially sharp, either.

Also worth noting, roadside assistance is complimentary for the first year, renewed annually for up to four years, again, if you have your Outlander serviced by an authorised Mitsubishi dealer.

The Toyota RAV4 Cruiser 2WD Hybrid has a five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty. Get all your work done at a certified Toyota mechanic and you're in line of powertrain coverage under warranty for seven years.

Servicing is set at 12 month/15,000km intervals and capped price servicing keeps costs to $260 a pop for the first five years or 75,000km.