It’s probably safe to say that the average new car buyer doesn’t think much about Mitsubishi these days. The hollow shell of a once-great (to enthusiasts) automotive upstart now has a 2025 lineup consisting of nothing but the Outlander and its PHEV counterpart, the smaller Outlander Sport, and the woefully named Eclipse Cross. Needless to say, expectations weren’t high when a 2025 Outlander SEL 2.5 S-AWC showed up for a week of testing. But did it miss, hit, or surpass the company’s self-imposed mediocre bar?
At its core– and for better and worse– the Outlander is a Nissan Rogue. That means there’s decent space in the front and second rows and fuel economy isn’t too shabby, either. Mitsubishi then crammed a third row into the mid-size crossover and did a comprehensive styling rework in the process. On sale since 2021, the fourth-generation Outlander’s futuristic front end styling is still interesting and the highlight of the car stylistically. The rear treatment almost feels mismatched, appearing understyled and bland as it gets. It feels like we’re constantly being told or teased about a new Outlander on the horizon, and as far as design goes it’s about time for a refresh.
Inside there’s a panoramic sunroof, 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster, 12.3-inch infotainment center, and 3-zone automatic climate control. The front seats are heated and cooled (and the second row heated), with 8-way power controls for the driver and only 4-way for the passenger riding shotgun. This test car was also equipped with the Premium Package which adds synthetic leather door inserts, semi-aniline leather seats, Heads Up Display, a digital rearview mirror, and the Dynamic Sound Yamaha Ultimate 12-speaker stereo which is frankly the worst factory audio system I have heard in as long as I can remember.
Also disappointing are the seats, which don’t live up to the level of comfort that Nissan usually manages with its Zero Gravity-inspired thrones. Maybe Mitsubishi changes something, maybe not; either way, they don’t live up to our standards. The ride quality, too, is more jarring than we remember any Rogue being. Any surface that’s not flat sends impacts up through the cabin, a trait not helped by the needlessly large 20” wheels. For the car’s price– which we’ll get to– it should ride better than it does.
At least it’s plenty spacious. We were able to fit an extra-large car seat (Doona, for those wondering) with the seat ahead of it comfortably set for a 5’10” occupant, which is more than can be said for some other vehicles in the class. And on the front of carrying so-called precious cargo, the Outlander is in fact very safe; it earned a Top Safety Pick+ rating from the IIHS when it was tested in 2022, and five stars in Australia’s ANCAP test. It has all the passive and active safety tech you’d expect and 11 airbags, so occupants are in good hands on that front.
As for how it drives, there’s nothing worth praising here. The Nissan-sourced 2.5-liter engine makes 181 horsepower and 181 lb-ft of torque– nowhere near enough to satisfactorily motivate the near two-ton vehicle– and if the motor is bad, the Jatco “8-speed” CVT is worse. It does its job fine and nothing more, but asking anything more of it than light, linear acceleration reveals it as just dreadful in every way. It groans, lags, and acts as if it hates its own existence. Other brands are managing to do CVTs much better than this.
The one upside– or at least acceptable fraction– of not being able to go anywhere quickly or willingly is fuel economy, which was the on-board computer reported as a decent 24.6 MPG over our near-200 miles of mixed-use testing. We don’t doubt we could have done better if there wasn’t as much flooring it in a desperate plea to get something out of the CVT rather than a barely-accelerating shout; the EPA rates it as 24/30/26 city/highway/combined, and though other vehicles in the class handily outdo this, it should be easy to average 25-30 MPG when driving it like most will.
That said, Mitsubishi also offers a PHEV version that gets 26 MPG combined and offers 38 miles of all-electric plug-in range. Better yet, the electrification actually means the car can accelerate to highway speeds without the task feeling like it’s asking everything of the vehicle. In case you can’t tell, we’re not fans of the standard Outlander powertrain, and doubt anyone is.
The Outlander SEL 2.5 S-AWC has a base price of $38,795 and our test unit ticked in at $45,930. Included in that is perhaps the worst $1,400 money can spend in new car options, courtesy of the Launch Package which entails a black hood emblem, mirror-to-ground projected Mitsubishi logo, spoiler, and Outlander-branded scuff plates. Yikes. At the other end of the spectrum, the 2025 Outlander starts at $29,995 for a base front-wheel-drive model, which is pretty palatable for a three-row crossover in 2025, especially considering it comes with a 10 year / 100k mile warranty.
Needless to say, spending close to $50k (once tax is factored in) for a Mitsubishi Outlander isn’t something we would recommend. Skip the wannabe-luxury leather options and stick closer to the bottom end of the pricing spectrum and we can see how there’s a value play here, again especially considering the warranty, but this trim and configuration just isn’t that. There’s a decent crossover underneath, but if you want a new Outlander, go for the PHEV and lay off the excess options.
Yay
- 10 year / 100k mile limited powertrain warranty
- Spacious
- Safe
- Looks nothing like the Nissan Rogue it’s based on
- Third row seat in a size of vehicle that usually wouldn’t have one (albeit a third row only for small children)
Nay
- Engine-transmission match made in motoring hell
- Busy ride quality
- Very clearly a cheap car under the high trim’s dolled up surfaces
- Stereo sound quality is very poor
- Price and overall experience misaligned
The Takeaway
The excited, envelope-pushing front end design doesn’t match the tired, lazy, unexcitable demeanor of how it drives. There’s plenty of content here but the price is too high and the engine-transmission combination is frankly nowhere near price-appropriate. If you must buy an Outlander, go for the PHEV and lay off the luxury options.