New Outlander fully revealed

Alliance co-sharing means the gen four car is a Nis-subishi.

 REVEALED today and set to land locally later this year, the new generation of the popular Outlander sports utility is set to be the first Mitsubishi here with Nissan DNA.

The shared bloodline with a make that has historically been a corporate foe arises from Mitsubishi and Nissan being in an alliance that also involves Renault. 

For Outlander, one of the more popular SUVs with Kiwis with 2424 registrations last year and 2838 in 2019, it means an interesting blend for Kiwis to consider when the car arrives.

Which is when, exactly? “We’re very excited about the launch of the all-new Outlander, which is due to hit our shores later in the year,” says Reece Congdon, head of marketing and communications for Mitsubishi Motors New Zealand.

As for what variants we can expect to see? “Our local line-up will be announced in the coming months.”

Back to the car. External styling is by its actual maker, taking cues from a 2019 concept called the Engelberg Tourer. Likeswise, there’s continuation of core elements such as seven seats and the make’s Super Select all-wheel-drive system. However, the engine, transmission and platform are already used by the Nissan X-Trail.

The platform change to the first all-new Outlander in nine years, and the fourth generation to hold that nameplate, enhances the general dimension and likely will deliver dynamic and safety benefit.

Featuring ultra-high tensile steel for the first time, Mitsubishi claims the new platform offers greater body stiffness, while saving weight thanks to an aluminium bonnet and plastic front quarterpanels.

Measuring 4709mm long, 1862mm wide and 1748mm high, with a 2705mm wheelbase, the new family SUV is 15mm longer in overall length, 51mm wider, 38mm taller and 36mm longer in overall wheelbase – translating into 25mm of additional front and 28mm of rear legroom, and 35mm of additional shoulder room.

The only engine at launch is a 2.5-litre naturally-aspirated four-cylinder petrol, developing 135kW of power and 245Nm of torque – a lift of 9kW and 9Nm over cited outputs for the X-Trail version. The current Outlander makes 124kW and 220Nm.

A plug-in hybrid model is expected to debut later in 2021 or early in 2022, expected to mate a 2.4-litre four-cylinder petrol engine with an array of electric motors. No outputs are given, but the current one generates 94kW and 199Nm.

The new engine is mated to a CVT automatic transmission as standard – with eight stepped 'ratios' and a shift-by-wire set-up – sending drive to either the front or all four wheels.

The all-wheel-drive is Mitsubishi's latest Super-All Wheel Control (S-AWC), with improved torque vectoring and a new clutch-based centre coupling.

Eco, Normal, Tarmac, Snow and Gravel modes feature with front- and AWD models, but the latter also has a Mud mode.

The styling delivers Mitsubishi's 'Dynamic Shield' corporate face with split LED headlights containing upper daytime-running lights plus LED tail-lights.

 The primary feature of the interior is a tablet-style 9.0-inch infotainment touchscreen with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and satellite navigation. This restricts to the high grades and overseas’ media say it’s identical to a display used by the Nissan. They also believe the 12.3-inch configurable digital instrument cluster and 10.8-inch head-up display – the latter pair both firsts for the Mitsubishi brand – are lifted from the X-Trail.

Lower grades lack the head-up display and have 8.0-inch infotainment and 7.0-inch instrument cluster screens.

Available active safety technologies include adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go, lane-keep assist, lane-centring assist, traffic-sign recognition, auto high-beam, forward and reverse autonomous emergency braking, hill descent control and driver attention alert.

There's also blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert – both capable of detecting and braking for obstacles – plus a 360-degree camera on higher grades. 

Upholstery options comprise fabric, suede, semi-aniline leather and quilted genuine leather depending on variant.

Equipment at flagship level includes a 10-speaker Bose premium sound system, heated seats, tri-zone automatic climate control, a panoramic glass sunroof, an eight-way power-adjustable driver's seat, 15-watt wireless smartphone charging, first- and second-row USB-A and USB-C ports, and rear window sun blinds.

The first market for Outlander is the United States.