![\"Hello.](\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2022\/03\/08\/PDTN\/2941bd32-185c-4bd2-8cd7-d70fb80f2ac1-MitsubishiOutlander_fr.JPG?width=660&height=372&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp\")
<\/p>\nThe 2022 Outlander arrived in my driveway like a pinata at a birthday party. Head-turning outside, stuffed with treats inside. The grille was so outrageous I thought it might have been torn off a Chevy Silverado HD. Waterfall grille, mid-facia headlights, high-mounted running lights, more chrome than a Costco birthday cake has icing. The interior? Like no Mitsu I\u2019d ever seen. Big leather accents, big digital screens, big three-row layout.<\/p>\n
The Outlander is a compact-class SUV? Yes, but its attitude makes it seem a lot bigger.<\/p>\n
Credit the Outlander\u2019s transformation to Mitsubishi\u2019s marriage to Nissan. I\u2019m happy these two confused souls have found each other after some difficult years. Expect more of these unions as regulatory costs soar and governments force automakers to make expensive, small-volume EVs.<\/p>\n
Outlander is the union\u2019s first offspring and is loaded with Nissan DNA while retaining Mitsubishi\u2019s more rouge-ish attitude. Speaking of Rogue, the Outlander is based on the same platform as Nissan\u2019s own popular SUV. Just as the new architecture has infused Rogue with some delicious, caramel chocolate flavor, so has it produced the best Outlander yet.<\/p>\n
The Outlander\u2019s interior has been transformed with a tablet mounted high on the dash, bold horizontal lines, intuitive knob controls\u00a0and generous console storage. Step up to my all-wheel-drive SEL Touring model and Cinderella really flaunts her new figure.<\/p>\n
Quilted seats, head-up display, all-digital displays, automatic-sliding sunroof, standard three-row seating, seat memory, the works. Look more closely and Nissan Rogue-like touches are everywhere. Cool chiclet shifter. Large infotainment display, steering wheel-mounted controls, control knobs and more.<\/p>\n
To set itself apart from its Nissan cousin, Outlander teases you with a combination of rugged attitude and homespun practicality. The latter is most obvious in Outlander\u2019s claim as the only standard\u00a0three-row SUV in its class.<\/p>\n
My chicks have flown the nest, but parents know the value of a flexible interior. Arrive at the school pickup line and inevitably your kids will add more rugrats to the passenger list. The Outlander\u2019s third-row seat room isn\u2019t generous, but the chairs will do in a pinch. And they are easily accessed with a top-seat tab that collapses the second-row seats forward. My tall frame actually managed to fold in back there, so I know two kids will survive just fine. Carry just four passengers and I could easily sit behind myself in the second row.<\/p>\n
The Outlander\u2019s rugged attitude comes naturally for this rally-bred brand.<\/p>\n
I come from the Pocket Rocket School of Mitsubishi when the company made snarling, all-wheel-drive, 300-horsepower Evo track assault vehicles. These bad boys spent their weekends hunting down Subaru STIs and Honda Civic Type Rs.<\/p>\n
But Mitsu\u2019s real claim to fame dates\u00a0to the 1980s and its rugged, go-anywhere Pajero SUV.<\/p>\n
The truck-frame Pajero won global fame for its record 12 wins at the brutal Mideast Dakar Rally (how brutal? One year it was canceled for fear of terrorism). Call it Mitsubishi\u2019s Jeep Wrangler, though the model was curiously canceled in recent years.<\/p>\n
In this Age of Ute, they\u2019d be wise to bring it back as a brand halo. In a nod to its off-road history, Mitsu entered an Outlander in California\u2019s Rebelle Rally last year to celebrate the 20th anniversary win of pioneering pilot Jutta Kleinschmidt\u2019s at Dakar \u2014 the only woman to win the race. That\u2019s a start.<\/p>\n
Pajero\u2019s spirit lives on in the production Outlander. And not just the aggressive exterior that looks like it wants to eat shrubbery for lunch.<\/p>\n
All-wheel-drive optioned models like my tester come with unique off-road modes including NORMAL, ECO, TARMAC (Sport), GRAVEL\u00a0and SNOW. This off-road personality is key to distinguishing Outlander from the crisp, volume-selling Rogue. Particularly when Outlander gets the same driver-assist systems (Rogue\u2019s ProPilot Assist vs. MI-Pilot Assist in Outlander) as well as the same 181-horsepower, 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine.<\/p>\n
My loaded\u00a0SEL Touring model included goodies like all-wheel drive, wireless Apple CarPlay, hands-free power liftgate, adaptive cruise\u00a0and panoramic sunroof for $38,590 \u2014 or, um, about the same price as a comparable Rogue Platinum model and the rockin\u2019, corner-carvin\u2019, best-in-class, 250-horsepower, $38,470, Soul Red Mazda CX-5.<\/p>\n
Oh. That\u2019s a tough sell for a value brand trying to get back in the game. But the good news, at least, is that Outlander\u2019s got game.<\/p>\n
2022 Mitsubishi Outlander<\/strong><\/p>\n Vehicle type: Front-engine, front- and all-wheel-drive, seven-passenger\u00a0compact SUV<\/p>\n Price: $27,290, including $1,245\u00a0destination fee\u00a0($38,590 SEL Touring as tested)<\/p>\n Powerplant: 2.5-liter 4 cylinder<\/p>\n Power:\u202f181 horsepower, 181 pound-feet of torque<\/p>\n Transmission:\u00a0continuously variable<\/p>\n Performance: 0-60 mph, 8.2 seconds (Car and Driver); Top speed, 120 mph<\/p>\n Weight:\u00a03,864\u202fpounds\u202fas tested<\/p>\n Fuel economy: EPA, 24 mpg city\/30\u00a0highway\/26\u00a0combined<\/p>\n Report card<\/p>\n Highs:\u00a0Improved styling and interior; third row<\/p>\n Lows:\u00a0Polarizing styling; gets pricey<\/p>\n Overall:\u00a03\u202fstars<\/p>\n Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The new Mitsubishi Outlander is outlandish. And that\u2019s a good thing, because the auto industry\u2019s doormat wants you to know that things have changed. Recent Outlander and Outlander Sport models have been uninspired blue light specials, their interiors right out of a rental car catalogue, their tech and styling subpar. The 2022 Outlander arrived in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,87],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28876"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28876"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28876\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28877,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28876\/revisions\/28877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}