Mitsubishi updates MY17 Outlander

MITSUBISHI Motors Australia Limited (MMAL) has announced a model year update for its Outlander mid-size SUV, adding extra safety and tech equipment, while dropping the XLS variant from its line-up.

The mid-level XLS has been replaced by the new LS Safety Pack which, as its name suggests, adds extra safety equipment over the LS including forward collision mitigation, lane departure warning, adaptive cruise control and automatic high beam as standard.

Moving up to the top-spec Exceed also adds a blind spot warning, lane change assist, rear cross-traffic alert and a Multi Around Monitor.

All variants will now be Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatible via Mitsubishi’s Smartphone Link Display Audio system, and digital radio is also standard across the range.

Slight changes have also been made to the interior, including LED lighting in the front foot wells, an LED-lit centre console box and 12V socket in the rear cargo area.

All-wheel-drive variants now get an electric parking brake, while LS 2WD models with a continuously variable transmission (CVT) are offered with seven seats.

Price increases with the model year update have been minimal, with variants increasing in price by between $10 and $1100.

Features in the base LS manual include dual-zone air-conditioning, a new centre console design and a shark fin antenna. Choosing the CVT also adds electric folding and heated outer mirrors.

Aside from the added safety features, moving up to the LS Safety Pack adds an electro-chromatic rearview mirror, intermittent rain-sensing wipers and dusk-sensing headlights.

The Exceed includes all safety features as standard, as well as an ‘ultrasonic misacceleration mitigation system’, and LED front foglight with foglight indicator.

Powertrain options remain unchanged, with the Outlander retaining the 110kW/190Nm 2.0-litre and 124kW/220Nm four-cylinder petrol engines, while the LS Safety Pack and Exceed have the option of a six-speed automatic 110kW/360Nm 2.2-litre four-cylinder diesel variant.

Colour options are unchanged from the old model, and the new range comes with a five year/100,000km new-car warranty.

The 149kW/190Nm plug-in hybrid PHEV variant from the outgoing range will be coming to Australia in 2017, and will have a fuel consumption figure of about 1.8 litres per 100km.

With 7735 sales to the end of August, the Outlander is on track to trump its 2015 sales figure of 10,884 units, however it still trails a number of key rivals.

Its 2016 figure sits ahead of the Honda CR-V (5395 units), Ford Kuga (3019) and just-updated Volkswagen Tiguan (2453), but is well behind other competitors such as the Mazda CX-5 (16,428), Toyota RAV4 (13319), Hyundai Tucson (12,760), and Nissan X-Trail (11,904).

2016 Mitsubishi Outlander pricing*

LS 2.0l petrol	$28,750
LS 2.0l petrol (a)	$30,500
LS 2.4l petrol (a)	$33,500
LS Safety Pack 2.0l petrol (a)	$32,000
LS Safety Pack 2.4l petrol (a)	$35,000
LS Safety Pack 7-seat 2.4l petrol (a)	$36,000
LS Safety Pack 2.2l diesel (a)	$39,500
Exceed 2.4l petrol (a)	$44,000
Exceed 2.2l diesel (a)	$47,500

*Excludes on-road costs