An Outlander that’s let down by a false promise of Sport
Sitting one up from the bottom of the brand’s local five-model sports ute brand, the compact Mitsubishi Outlander Sport replaces the ASX in South Africa. Said to offer a blend of style, performance, and everyday practicality, it has a tough job to do in the busiest market niche in the country.
It must not only must it fight some great traditional rivals, but also versus newer fangled cut-price Chinese offerings. But hang on a second. It’s not even a Mitsubishi in the true sense of the word. Based on the X-Trail as part of that controversial Mitsubishi-Nissan-Renault platform program, it’s actually just a re-badged Nissan.
Outlander way too slow to be called Sport
That is not at all a concern though. What does bother us, however, is that this Outlander fails to live up to its promise of Sport. Why Mitsubishi calls Sport that when Outlander Cross would do the job, or just Outlander would do fine, has us baffled. Do not expect anything sporty out of this one.
Sure, our tests of the 16-valve DOHC 1.5-litre CVT FWD Sport delivered significantly better than Mitsubishi’s sluggard 13.5 second claim at 11.6 seconds to 100 km/h. But that’s still way on the slow side of all the cars we’ve tested in the past year. Reasonably economical, take that Sport misnomer away, and its actually quite a solid soldier.
Interestingly the Mitsu does not compete with its X-Trail brethren in the local market. It rather slots in below those Nissans. X-Trail starts considerably further upmarket at R690K for the significantly more 2.5-litre Visia and tops out over R800K for the AWD Accenta. So rather look at this Mitsubishi as the lower end of the X-trail range.
A difficult niche. Never mind the Chinese
Outlander Sport rivals the likes of top end Toyota Urban Cruiser and bottom end RAV4s, Honda CRV, VW T-Rock, Tiguan, Kia Sportage and Nissan Qashqai, rather than the obvious X-trail. But like all of them, there are also the likes of Haval and Chery with an array of yellow metal starting well under R400K.
Be that as it may, the Mitsubishi Outlander Sport sill brings to best of two great and trusted Japanese brands to market and while perhaps at a premium to the Chinese, it’s still a proper offering from a trusted and longstanding brand. This top model for instance sits at the same price of a middle of middle of the road Chery Tiggo Pro.
Mitsubishi calls this a commanding, modern design. Its balanced and reasonably survived the makeover from X-Trail. The grille and T-lamps bring an aggro scowl that some may enjoy. Even if it doesn’t fit. The floating roof and shiny 18″ alloys add effect and there’s a Cross-like, rather than Sporty 222 mm of clearance and four drive modes.
Slick Outlander cabin may split opinion
Step aboard to a gently sandy shaded cabin with modern material finishes where we once expected plastic, and play-leather seats. Three are digital dials and this one had 12.3″ Smartphone-link audio and packed the likes of Blind Spot Warning, Lane Change Assist and a hands-free power tailgate.
Reasonably spacious and quite different, it’s fair to say that it’s a breath of fresh air inside, although the cabin did split opinion in the office. For example, we found the deep and distant dials to be a little contrary to the bold blue flush screen infotainment.
Importantly, however, Outlander Sport presents all the necessary buttons and knobs to work it all and there are no stupid interface wet dreams to drive you dilly. Its comfortable and reasonably quiet, well specced and cleverly positioned. And knowing Nissan and Mitsubishi dependability and reliability, set for many a year of great service.
This Outlander simply isn’t a Sport!
A decent effort that’s well backed by two trusted brands, the Mitsubishi Outlander Sport’s biggest challenge is only the last word in its name. Get that out of mind, don’t expect anything Sport, and then this is just a pretty capable compact SUV offering a decent balance of space, style and a slice of Cross-like versatility.
But it certainly isn’t a Sport. Which is a pity because a name like Outlander Cross would have fitted this little car so much better! – Michele Lupini
Images: Giordano Lupini
ROAD TESTED: Mitsubishi Outlander Sport
1.5 Exceed
Engine: 77 kW 141 Nm 1500 cc petrol I4
Drive: CVT Automatic FWD
TESTED:
0-60 km/h: 5.43 sec
0-100 km/h: 11.67sec
0-120 km/h 16.40 sec
400m: 18.2 sec 127 km/h
80-120 km/h: 8.27 sec
CLAIMED:
VMax: 175 km/h
Fuel: 6.2 l/100 km
CO2: 146 g/km
Range: 675 km
Warranty/Service: 5y unl/ 3y 45K km
LIST PRICE: R499K
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