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2013 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport models with leather seats recalled over airbag fears

Mitsubishi is recalling 733 of its 2013 Outlander Sports that were fitted with leather seat covers due to problems with the seat-mounted airbags. Apparently, the wiring for the airbags may have been routed incorrectly when the seat covers were installed at the port.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration bulletin, the issue only really crops up if owners adjust the height of the seats. Naturally, if the seat wiring is damaged, the airbag may not deploy in the event of a side impact.
The affected vehicles were all manufactured between July 20, 2012 and May 29, 2013. There have been no reported injuries or accidents due to this issue. Mitsubishi, meanwhile, will begin notifying owners, who will need to report to their local dealer for free inspections or repairs. Take a look below for the bulletin from NHTSA.

Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV production restarts after five-month delay

Back in March, production of both the Mitsubishi Outlander plug-in hybrid and the all-electric i-MiEV ground to a halt over a pair of incidents where overheated lithium-ion batteries caused vehicle fires. Following the rocky start, The Japan Times is reporting that production of the Outlander PHEV has recommenced following the five-month stoppage.
The battery fires were tracked down to a supplier issue before more than 4,300 vehicles were recalled in June, but Mitsubishi received heavy criticism from the Japanese government for the delayed recall. According to the report, though, that hasn't slow down enthusiasm for the plug-in crossover - Mitsubishi has received close to 18,000 for the Outlander PHEV. To keep up with demand, the automaker is planning to double production to 4,000 units a month.

The worst rally driver you've ever seen

Fast cars and excellent driving skills might be the easy answers when asking how to succeed in rally racing, but after watching this video, a good teammate is obviously an important aspect of this sport, too. During the 2013 Rally of Coimbatore in India, driver Samir Thapar and his co-driver, Vivek Ponnusamy, didn't seem to be on the same page as the two attempted to navigate the course in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution.
We'd probably hear drastically different stories if we talked to Thapar and Ponnusamy about this particular event, but you know things are bad when "stay on road" and "turn the wheel" are commands given by the co-driver (and yes, that's a man running for his life in the screen shot shown above). As it turned out, though, it seems like the Ponnusamy was justified in his concerns to take care of the racecar. Race results show that despite winning three of the seven stages, this team ultimately ended the race with a DNF.
Scroll down to watch the video, and even though it's been edited down from almost 40 minutes to less than four, we get the idea that it wasn't a pleasant experience for driver or co-driver.