1997 Mitsubishi Eclipse 2 Dr. Gs on 2040-cars

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2015 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport Quick Spin

The Mitsubishi Outlander Sport is not new. It is also not sporty. Despite it all, the Outlander Sport is selling better than ever. Between 3,000 and 5,000 people take one of these crossovers home each month. That's good for Mitsubishi, a company clinging to life in the US market. But the Outlander's sales are a mere blip; that's about a week's worth of handshakes and signatures on Ford Escapes, at best. Until new product arrives, this is the stuff Mitsubishi has on the ground to sell, and the company has said it's committed to sticking around. That means I got to spend some time recently with a 2015 Outlander Sport SE with AWC (All-Wheel Control – you know, all-wheel drive). There are updates and changes for 2015, including an available 168-horsepower, 2.4-liter engine for ES and GT models, revised CVT, LED running lamps, thicker glass, better sound insulation, and electric power steering. But because I drove an E, I was locked into the 2.0 liter engine. It's the 4B11, a version of the GEMA engine, co-developed with Hyundai and DaimlerChrysler back in the Cretaceous. Driving Notes The most amazing thing I found after a week with the Outlander Sport is that it can bend the laws of physics. This is not a compact crossover so much as it's a time machine. Swing that door shut, and every trip takes place in 2008. Styling is pretty good. There's not a bad line on the Outlander Sport. It sits right on its relatively short wheelbase, and looks good doing it. I had low expectations for the powertrain. Most of my GEMA engine experienced comes from time with the Jeep Compass and Patriot, which are horrific NVH factories. Mitsubishi's version of this engine is more refined, and has a healthy 148 horsepower and 145 pound-feet of torque. The CVT has been revised to mimic the action of a seven-speed transmission. Why bother? The simulacrum doesn't hold. It's the typical 70/30 CVT split: unobtrusive 70 percent of the time, slippy and weird the other 30 percent. That same 70/30 split applies to on-road behavior. Most of the time, the Outlander Sport drives decently. Those other times, it just wants you to chill. Structural rigidity isn't up there with the segment leaders. Road noise is still higher than I'd have liked. This car has the single worst infotainment system I have ever experienced. Totally refused to pair with my phone, ever. This is not an isolated case for a Mitsu with this headunit.

2014 Mitsubishi Outlander earns Top Safety Pick+ award [w/video]

The Mitsubishi Outlander officially is a safe vehicle, earning a good rating in all of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety crash test categories - good enough for the agency to give it the Top Safety Pick+ award. The small sport utility vehicle's little sibling, the Outlander Sport, received the Top Safety Pick award earlier this year.
According to the IIHS, to earn the Top Safety Pick+ rating vehicles must be rated good in at least four out of the five crash tests (including the difficult small overlap front test) and earn no less than acceptable in the rear crash test. The Top Safety Pick rating requires that vehicles be rated good in the moderate overlap front, side, rollover and rear tests, but there's no minimum rating on the small overlap front crash test.
Mitsubishi designed the Outlander to have greater roof strength (the roof now can support up to five times the SUV's weight) and to withstand the moderate overlap front crash test and the recently introduced small overlap front crash test, both of which evaluate the ability of vehicles to protect their occupants in crashes that bypass the traditional front crumple zone. Crumple zones are designed into vehicles to allow them to deform in a way that protects passengers in the event of a crash. The Outlander was one of two small SUVs to earn a good rating in the small overlap test, the other being the 2014 Subaru Forester. The Subaru earned a Top Safety Pick rating.

Mitsubishi D:X Concept previews the next Delica off-road van

Besides the Montero/Pajero and the Lancer Evo, perhaps Mitsubishi's most famous model is the Delica. It's a minivan, but it also has serious off-road chops, and it has had them for decades. At the Japan Mobility Show, Mitsubishi showed the D:X Concept, which is a look a the future of the go-anywhere van. The look is almost that of a steroidal VW I.D. Buzz, but it works. It's chunky and aggressive, and of course it has huge tires. The single-box shape is a longstanding tradition of the Delica line for maximum interior space. Noteworthy are the laser headlights. The vertical sections can project lines ahead of the vehicle to help provide an idea of the vehicle width against the environment in tricky maneuvering at night. The interior features three rows of seats, and the seats can slide and swivel for a variety of configurations. Particularly interesting is the lack of a dashboard, as well as anything ahead of where the dash would be. Instead, a glass panel for the grille and a giant screen showing what's under and ahead of front of the vehicle take up the space. This allows for phenomenal forward visibility, especially useful off road. There is a small dash ahead of the driver and the steering wheel that blends into the door, and this is where instrumentation is displayed. Occupants also can enjoy a Yamaha-tuned sound system. Mitsubishi didn't go into much detail on the powertrain. It's a plug-in hybrid, and we wouldn't be surprised if it operates as a series hybrid like the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. And that of course means that the D:X still powers all four wheels, as a Delica should. Mitsubishi also didn't share any sort of production plans. But we expect that a new Delica is on the way that will at least look a lot like this concept, even if some features such as the dash-free interior might not make it. Sadly, we don't expect it to come to America, just like the current Delica. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.