Review: 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport SEL

Nice read, like the info about tall people for the back seat being not the best and the experience of how this handled in a snowstorm. Very informative and your right, with a ton of cash on the hood, these auto's should sell and do well till they can update and replace it.

Thanks Bill, I learned alot about this auto.

I really like this article....love the two ways of thinking here.

I feel the same-but I know a co worker who picked up one of these-and even with those faults-fell in love with it.

Also helps she got a nice deal on it too...

i like your writeup, for fairness.

I've looked at this vehicle several times since it came out and have driven it many times.  Why?  At one time it was to potentially be my inexpensive Cobalt replacement with AWD.  So in that aspect it was a step up.  And the Mitsubishi dealers here are very good and the actual prices you can buy these things at are jaw dropping low if you factor in incentives and discounts and the standard warranties.  I had always looked at this as one of the first steps up from the old Suzuki SX4 of which i am quite familiar with and actually sold for awhile.  And for a small SUV, it's room and space are very very good.  Which is great for larger guys.  

Vehicles like HRV, CX3, Juke etc. don't seem to have the spaciousness of the OS.  I like the interior in spite of its cheap spots and datedness.  I like its simplicity.  I don't like the non reclining rear seats.  The cargo area is good sized.

I have also found that at highway cruising, regardless of 2.0 or 2.4 it is comfortably decent at speed and can get close to 30 consistently on the highway with AWD.

The Encore has an extra sense of luxury to it that this may lack, but comparatively, you can make a case for an Outlander Sport as a better buy / product than a Trax.  Me personally, I would never get a Kona, HRV or CX3 over the OS.

(side note, outlanders are not that much more than outlander sports).

The OS really sort of takes over now for what the Lancer was in Mits product lineup.  The volume selling small car.  The eclipse Cross should have been larger.

I do think the OS only makes sense up to a certain price point.  I wouldn't look at a loaded one due to its datedness.  But for an AWD crossover at or below 18-20k in real money, for the right buyers i endorse it.  I think there is a point where you start to look at lower level Escapes as an upgrade competitior.

We have some friends who have one and they have always liked it.

I could be fine putting my teenage daughter in one when she starts driving, if it is a good money choice.

Mitsubishis biggest fault with this so far is never putting a real awesome powertrain it it.

There has always been something slightly redeeming to me about both the Outlander and Outlander Sport. Yes they're dated, but they do their jobs well especially for the price you'll pay and the warranty that comes with it.  It's kinda buying a poor man's LR Defender in 2017.... You don't expect much in creature comforts, but you get everything you expect and enough capability to get you there.

People down the block traded their CR-V for a new Outlander.  Eclipse Cross AWC whipped the Compass Limited 4X4 in several drag races over onto the YouTube... CVT v. 9 speed auto... Mitsu is way down on advertised horses but has better torque... results were shocking to me, moreso because of the Mitsu's 153 hp rating and CVT than the Compass' pronounced, and verified, lack of speed.  Yes yes, a drag race is a narrow measure of a vehicle... but it is a valid one... the whole powertrain working together to give a result that belies the advertised ratings proves what I'm saying.  It is not the sheer numbers but the competitive comparison of a drag race that bears this out.

Eclipse Cross also acquitted itself well on their off-road course... leading me to call the Mitsu AWC system as "unsung hero" in comparison to the Jeep, which performed flawlessly of course on the same route, but that is expected.

I have to remember that Mitsu has a pretty good history of authentic off-road and rally vehicles, so their lighter duty system being capable was only a mild surprise.

Haha, now I want to go lurking on the Mitsu lot this weekend to put noseprints on the Eclipse Cross. 

testing

On 4/26/2018 at 5:40 AM, ocnblu said:

People down the block traded their CR-V for a new Outlander.  Eclipse Cross AWC whipped the Compass Limited 4X4 in several drag races over onto the YouTube... CVT v. 9 speed auto... Mitsu is way down on advertised horses but has better torque... results were shocking to me, moreso because of the Mitsu's 153 hp rating and CVT than the Compass' pronounced, and verified, lack of speed.  Yes yes, a drag race is a narrow measure of a vehicle... but it is a valid one... the whole powertrain working together to give a result that belies the advertised ratings proves what I'm saying.  It is not the sheer numbers but the competitive comparison of a drag race that bears this out.

Eclipse Cross also acquitted itself well on their off-road course... leading me to call the Mitsu AWC system as "unsung hero" in comparison to the Jeep, which performed flawlessly of course on the same route, but that is expected.

I have to remember that Mitsu has a pretty good history of authentic off-road and rally vehicles, so their lighter duty system being capable was only a mild surprise.

Haha, now I want to go lurking on the Mitsu lot this weekend to put noseprints on the Eclipse Cross. 

Huge discounts in future are inevitable for the Eclipse Cross.  To get one now while they are holding close to MSRP is a recipe for being upside down, if one isn't willing to wait.  Of course, maybe there is a chance they won't have to for awhile, but Mits history suggests the discounts are needed.  Now, i must try an Eclipse Cross.  Still at the end of the day, I would judge it vs an Escape 2.0 at a low price.

Local Mitsu dealer is a sad place.  The lot was dirty.  And on top of that, they had rows of brand new vehicles, all backed INTO EACH OTHER.  I'm serious... their rear bumpers were touching!  WHO would want to buy a new car from a place like that?  It is sad to know I worked there when it was a proud Lincoln-Mercury dealer for six years... now it is a dump, under different ownership.