The new Mitsubishi Outlander debuts at Geneva 2012
Mitsubishi lay claim to their Outlander being the first ‘Crossover’ to the market 11 years ago, or at least the Outlander was the first car to be called a crossover. And now we have a new version of the original crossover, with the debut next month at Geneva of the new Mitsubishi Outlander.
We certainly understand why Mitsubishi call their mid-sized (at least in European terms) SUV a crossover – it’s cleverly conceived and can actually transport seven at a pinch – but in some ways the crossover moniker does the Outlander a disservice – it’s a far more capable SUV than just about any of the cars now dubbed crossovers.
For the new Outlander Mitsubishi is giving us more of the same, which is a good thing. Based on the PX-MiEV II Concept we’ve already seen crop up a couple of times at Motor Shows, the new Outlander keeps its selectable 4WD (and if you have a ‘lively’ driving style you should leave it in 4WD all the time) as well as FWD option, offers emissions as low as 130g/km, gets forward collision warning, Cruise, Climate, Xenons and looks an appealing modernisation of the Outlander.
Engines will be tweaked versions of the 2.0 litre MIVEC petrol or 2.2 MIVEC Clean Diesel with stop-start and an all new 6-speed auto ‘box
Although it won’t be available at first, Mitsubishi is also offering a 4WD plug-in version which gets an electric motor on each axle as well as a four-pot petrol engine. With its hybrid powertrain the new Outlander can manage up to 30 miles on electric power only and claims the usual daft economy figures – in this case 141mpg.
Have your say - leave a comment