2026 Mitsubishi Outlander Exceed review

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The Mitsubishi Outlander is one of the Japanese brand’s star pupils.

About a third of its sales in Australia, it’s one among the top three best-selling mid size SUV brands out there.

A late last year Mitsubishi treated the Outlander to a mid-life update after finally launching the fourth generation of this popular SUV here in Late 2021, and then launched it as if its own family was still living.

Let’s say, we hope it’s a mid-life update for . Mitsubishi, after all, does like to extend its model life cycles. However, the Mk4 Outlander – still pretty fresh – has been given a series of meaningful changes to keep it among the most popular models in ‘the busiest segment’.

The cosmetic changes are minor but handsome, and include clear-lens tail-lights and attractive new wheels.

Big news But the big news is a local chassis tune, such as new suspension and steering calibration and other improvements to reduce noise, vibration and harshness.

Almost all the funniest Mitsubishi is playing this new chassis tune out to other markets, too. The days when we’d export Magnas around the world are Gone; at least we can still export engineering know-how, but that is what makes it possible to do so.

How much does the Mitsubishi Outlander Exceed cost?

In Exceed trim we tested the Outlander in our tests, one rung down from the top-spec Exce Tourer’s outlander. As with the flagship grade, the Exceed is available only with all-wheel drive and a five-seat configuration.

If you can understand why Mitsubishi would limit the up-spec Exceed and Exce Tourer to all-wheel drive, but we don’t get these top two trim levels with a seven-seat option?

| Model | Price before on-road costs |
| — | — |
| 2026 Mitsubishi Outlander ES FWD five-seat | $39,990 |
| 2026 Mitsubishi Outlander ES AWD five-seat | $42,490 |
| 2026 Mitsubishi Outlander LS FWD seven-seat | $43,290 |
| 2026 Mitsubishi Outlander LS AWD seven-seat | $45,790 |
| 2026 Mitsubishi Outlander Aspire FWD seven-seat | $47,790 |
| 2026 Mitsubishi Outlander Black Edition AWD seven-seat | $47,990 |
| 2026 Mitsubishi Outlander Aspire AWD seven-seat | $50,290 |
| 2026 Mitsubishi Outlander Exceed AWD five-seat | $55,140 |
| 2026 Mitsubishi Outlander Exceed Tourer AWD five-seat | $57,990 |

To see how the Mitsubishi Outlander lines up against the competition, check out our
comparison tool

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What is the Mitsubishi Outlander Exceed like on the inside?

Stylish and spacious The Mitsubishi Outlander’s interior is simple yet stylish, featuring high-quality touch points and large screen monitors.

The facelift brought a larger 12 people, including . A 3-inch touchscreen infotainment system with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto is also a key rival of the Outlander, keeping it in contention.

Wireless Android Auto is a good, reliable connection-holding device and there’s an easy to use wireless charging pad that keeps your phone on top of the internet.

A bit like a ghost town outside smartphone mirroring, the infotainment system itself is just that little ghost-town. Ultimately the 12 control of most vehicle settings are actually used to control car settings. Introducing new standard across the range, 3-inch digital instrument cluster (no more than 3 inches) menus for app notifications, Mitsubishi Connect and GPS information are left.

Satellite navigation also looks a bit old, but then again you’ll probably be using Apple CarPlay or Android Auto anyway.

There’s a surround-view camera, which has decent if not exceptional resolution. You’ll find better in, for example, the GWM Haval H6. The new Yamaha sound system is among the better audio systems in the segment, with good sound quality and excellent bass.

Exceed Quilted leather upholstery, with this quilting extending to the doors of the Excive. Many brands don’t go out – so your knee won’s not feel uncomfortable to rest against soft-touch trim on the sides of the centre console.

The climate control dials look a bit like pie trays, but they feel nice weighted. It feels nice and solid all the switchgear, although we wish Mitsubishi’s gear shifter was nicer – it is very light and plasticky.

The doors close with a solid thunk, and we didn’t observe any build quality issues.

There is a nice, supportive seat and the Outlander will recall when your seat ventilation (or heating) was left off on an intelligent note if you are living in somewhere like Brisbane where it’s pretty safe to assume every day will be warm.

Nine times out of 10 I get one of these when I order an Uber and it was almost the back of this tester.

Although they usually base ES grades, the Exceed offers one more fun than lesser Outlanders an adjustable climate zone; that means there is three total. While you don’t get outboard heated seats, as in some rivals – you have to step up to the Exceed Tourer for these.

The other facilities include a pair of USB-C outlets, plus map pockets in the front seats back seatbacks and two maps. Mitsubishi has continued its odd centre armrest, where the entire middle part of the seat is folded down when you just want to use the cup holders.

I never squeame when I get an Outlander as an Uber – okay, maybe because it’s nice to have something different once in a while! – there is plenty of legroom but the centre-seat driver does suffer from hump at.

Aside from the panoramic sunroof, there is plenty of headroom for someone I’m tall (180cm) as the glass ends just ahead of the rear restraints.

The Exceed does not have a third row of seating for the . One in lower grades and it’s not at all large – Mitsubishi sells the Outlander as a 5+2-seater rather than ‘7-selecter’. Although it is useful to transport your children and one or two of their friends, a third row of seating will be helpful for the purpose of carrying them around, Mitsubishi has locked out buyers who want this functionality as well as the facilities in the Exceed and Exced Tourer.

The second row folded to 1473L, with Boot capacity 485 litres. There’s a couple of cups holders here and levers to drop the second row, you’ll find.

Amid the era of ubiquitous tyre repair kits and disappearing spare ties, the Outlander has an alloy spare for its entire life; seven-seat Outlands still have a spare (though it’s – even though it is space-saving).

| Dimensions | Mitsubishi Outlander |
| — | — |
| Length | 4720mm |
| Width | 1862mm |
| Height | 1745mm |
| Wheelbase | 2706mm |
| Cargo capacity | 485L-1473L |

To see how the Mitsubishi Outlander lines up against the competition, check out our
comparison tool

What’s under the bonnet?

We recorded 11 litres of fuel consumption, . A week of a week, 3L/100km over the course of that week and well above the reported average. But it was not a heavy right foot, either with ‘no big right feet’ like that’s what wasn’t doing.

Across our test route, comprising a mix of inner-city, suburban and highway driving, we recorded 9.0L/100km.

In the Outlander, there are options for Eco, Normal, Tarmac (aka Sport), Gravel, Snow and Mud drive modes; we kept it in Normal for our fuel economy test route and for most of our driving.

| Specifications | Mitsubishi Outlander |
| — | — |
| Engine | 2.5L naturally aspirated 4cyl |
| Power | 135kW @ 6000rpm |
| Torque | 244Nm @ 3600rpm |
| Transmission | ‘8-speed’ CVT |
| Drive type | AWD |
| Kerb weight | 1695kg |
| Fuel economy (claimed) | 8.1L/100km |
| Fuel tank capacity | 55L |
| Fuel requirement | 91-octane unleaded |
| CO2 emissions | 185g/km |
| Emissions standard | Euro 5 |
| Braked tow capacity | 1600kg |

To see how the Mitsubishi Outlander lines up against the competition, check out our
comparison tool

How does the Mitsubishi Outlander Exceed drive?

As mentioned, Mitsubishi has treated the Outlander to an Australian-developed chassis tune, with revised suspension and steering calibration.

Exceed Tourer pictured

These include updated electric power steering mapping for improved on-centre feel and a more linear feeling in turns, revised front/back shock absorbers and smaller-diameter Front Antiroll bar (and other changes) as well as newer rear shockabsorbingers.

The exterior of the Outlander may be subtle, but it is pronounced by contrast in how it drives and this means that an overall vehicle feels much more polished than before.

In the pre-update model, ride quality was so-so and suffer particularly from larger wheels of the Exceed and Exce Tourer in the Pre-Update Model.

The new suspension song is a really nice addition to bumps, as it’s an extremely well-absorbed tune with this new one. The compression performance of a phrase has been greatly improved and, while you may hear bumps, you’ll scarcely feel them. The overall result is a comfortable, non-pliant ride that’s well over even the most patchwork pavement.

But rebound damping could stand to be wound up a bit. It takes a moment for the Outlander to settle over certain road scars and bumps, with a bit of float to the way it responds. The Outlander feels like a big, solid car, so if you’re after something sportier and more nimble, you’d best look at a Mazda CX-5 or Volkswagen Tiguan.

This is a big steering wheel; but the steering itself is well-balanced, with some road feel here. It’s easy to spin the Outlander around a large car park and when you’re out on the open road it feels confident and secure. Most mid-size SUV buyers will be happy with the ride/handling balance of the new Outlander, we think.

Mitsubishi Australia has not changed the powertrain offering locally, despite the introduction of a more efficient turbocharged mild-hybrid power train overseas.

The naturally aspirated 2.5-litre four-cylinder is entirely adequate, but rivals have moved the needle in terms of efficiency and performance.

The way the Outlander drives will not be as popular if you don’t like CVTs. You get that ‘rubber band’ feeling you feel with most CVTs, but there are some fake shift points when you use manual mode and flick the paddle shifters.

The CVT is’slurps into second and then looks like it has a very tall first -gear’ before being left to its own devices.

That is a good performance for getting around town and overtaking on the highway, but you won’t really want to give it any more beans. You have to contend with a lot of noise and your passengers will wonder what you’re doing to the poor car. Should I do so?

I don’t like to be hustled in this SUV but if you have no heavy right foot, it’s not an objectionable powertrain.

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The engine’s other drawback is fuel economy, which is pretty normal – and the only thing that has been so far? The gap between the Outlander’s atmo engine and its optional plug-in hybrid powertrain is just begging for a hybrid to be slotted in yawning, as it has become increasingly common among many segments where hybrids are becoming more prevalent.

Besides engine noise under heavy throttle, you’ll have to contend with tyre noise and wind noise at highway speeds. A few rivals are certainly quieter than .

And so, that’s what the Outlander does and rides like with . How do you feel about its active safety and driver assist systems? Well, read for a long read. Mitsubishi seems to have decided that the Outlander was as annoying as many of the Chinese brands are.

Some systems are faultless, such as the adaptive cruise control and the blind-spot monitoring. In fact, to be fair, the Outlander allows you to adjust the sensitivity of its lane support systems.

Nevertheless, we found the driver monitoring system domineering, the lane-keep assist paranoid, and the autonomous emergency braking system touchy.

take the lane systems and Take The. Emergency lane-keep assistance, Lane-keeping support and a. lone-centring system that works with the adaptive cruise control is among those factors there’s emergency – keeper assist (and other systems) as well as ‘the most effective one can do to maintain safety on an airplane while maintaining its speed up or down?

I found the steering wheel would regularly vibrate in wide lanes or unmarked roads where it thought there was’should’ be a lane marking. Many times it would vibrate to warn me I’d crossed what was a ‘lane marking on the left’, when in fact my right-hand side of this lane was closer to that.

Then I found this was just the emergency lane-keep assist function. The previous driver had actually turned off the lane-keep assist system by his . Suffice it to say, Mitsubishi’s definition of an emergency is very different from mine…

The lane support systems repeatedly chiding me for not staying within a Lane markings when I was, even on straight roads were frustrating.

It’s also a little disturbing that the lane assist systems can be an alarming, as keeping you in line with the Outlander will actually use braking force rather than just corrective steering torque.

Most of the time, at least the Mi-Pilot system (including lane-centring) worked well. It doesn’t make class-leading lane centring ability of the Outlander, but didn’T make any stupid mistakes like other Lane support systems did.

When I was travelling at 60km/h and circling an automobile which is right turning right, one day the AEB tried to apply the brakes as well. If I slowly reversed into position, shopping bags that I carelessly left on my garage floor would be a warning for the reverse AEB.

But nothing frightens the most about Outlander’s driver monitoring system, which has a strict zero-tolerance policy to distraction, yawning, improper steering wheel holding and even head tilting.

Sadly, it’s quite true to know whether you’re yawning or looking away. It is, it gives you no sway whatsoever to be .

And it’s really a bit of fucky, that’. I heard a chime that I didn’t recognise one day. I looked down at the instrument cluster to see if there was ‘the message about it and immediately got spotting indicating driver distraction?

The instrument cluster has a large pop-up message that you have to dismiss when the Outlander’s all seeing eye detects you yawning. after that, and then it seems particularly sensitive.

In driver attention monitoring systems we certainly see the merits of it — particularly because they help to detect fatigue among drivers travelling long distances. But Mitsubishi’s app seems heavy-handed, and you can sometimes threw off the monitoring system by just tilting your head slightly to give you more pop-ups.

Advice Don’t get hurt every time you start the car, turn it off and save yourself from getting a bit of an aggravation. Attempts to cover it up, that’ll just make you angry… don’t even try.

To see how the Mitsubishi Outlander lines up against the competition, check out our
comparison tool

What do you get?

There are five trim levels in the Outlander lineup, with our Exceed tester sitting second from the top.

2026 Mitsubishi Outlander ES equipment highlights:

• Five seats
• 18-inch silver alloy wheels
• Full-size alloy spare wheel
• Automatic LED headlights
• Full LED tail-lights
• Black cloth upholstery
• 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster
• 12.3-inch touchscreen infotainment system
• Wireless Apple CarPlay
• Wireless Android Auto
• Satellite navigation
• 8-speaker Dynamic Sound Yamaha Premium sound system
• 3 x front USB-C outlets
• Dual-zone climate control

The LS adds:

• Seven seats
• 18-inch two-tone alloy wheels
• Space-saver spare
• Roof rails
• Rain-sensing wipers
• LED front fog lights
• Leather-wrapped steering wheel
• Leather-wrapped gear shifter
• Wireless smartphone charger
• 2 x rear USB-C outlets
• Mitsubishi Connect

• Automatic collision notification
• Breakdown assistance
• Automatic collision, anti-theft and tow-away notifications
• Curfew, geo-fence and speed alerts
• Remote adjustment of climate control, locks, lights and horn
• Vehicle finder
• Navigation to final destination

The Aspire adds:

• 20-inch alloy wheels
• Adaptive LED headlights
• Black leatherette upholstery
• Power driver’s seat
• Heated front seats
• Heated steering wheel
• Head-up display
• Power tailgate

The Exceed adds:

• Five seats
• 20-inch two-tone alloy wheels
• Full-size alloy spare wheel
• Black or grey quilted leather upholstery
• Ventilated front seats
• Power passenger seat
• Aluminium pedals
• Digital rear-view mirror
• Exterior mirrors with memory, reverse auto-tilt
• Rear cargo floor box with lid
• Tri-zone climate control

The Exceed Tourer adds:

• Brick Brown semi-aniline leather upholstery
• 12-speaker Dynamic Sound Yamaha Ultimate 1650W sound system
• Heated outboard rear seats
• Massaging front seats

To see how the Mitsubishi Outlander lines up against the competition, check out our
comparison tool

Is the Mitsubishi Outlander Exceed safe?

The Mitsubishi Outlander has a five-star safety rating from ANCAP, based on testing conducted in 2022.

| Category | Mitsubishi Outlander |
| — | — |
| Adult occupant protection | 83 per cent |
| Child occupant protection | 92 per cent |
| Vulnerable road user protection | 81 per cent |
| Safety assist | 83 per cent |

Standard safety equipment includes:

• 8 airbags

• Driver
• Passenger
• Front side
• Curtain
• Centre
• Driver’s knee

• Autonomous emergency braking (forward and reverse)
• Adaptive cruise control
• Blind-spot monitoring
• Driver attention monitor
• Front and rear parking sensors
• Hill descent control
• Intelligent speed assist
• Lane-keep assist
• Emergency lane-keep assist
• Rear cross-traffic alert
• Surround-view camera
• Traffic sign recognition

Aspire grades and above get Mi-Pilot, which combines lane-centring and Traffic Jam Assist functions.

To see how the Mitsubishi Outlander lines up against the competition, check out our
comparison tool

How much does the Mitsubishi Outlander Exceed cost to run?

It is standard for the Outlander range to have an annual warranty of five years, 100,000km as well. In Mitsubishi’s dealer network, if you service with its capped-price service program, this can be extended to 10 years and 200,000km.

| Servicing and Warranty | Mitsubishi Outlander |
| — | — |
| Warranty | Up to 10 years or 200,000km |
| Roadside assistance | 12 months, then service-activated |
| Service intervals | 12 months or 15,000km |
| Capped-price servicing | 10 years |
| Average annual service cost over 10 years | $434 |
| Total capped-price service cost | $4340 |

Individual service pricing for the Outlander is outlined below:

| Service | Price |
| — | — |
| 1yr, 15,000km | $320 |
| 2yrs, 30,000km | $370 |
| 3yrs, 45,000km | $320 |
| 4yrs, 60,000km | $370 |
| 5yrs, 75,000km | $320 |
| 6yrs, 90,000km | $680 |
| 7yrs, 105,000km | $360 |
| 8yrs, 120,000km | $680 |
| 9yrs, 135,000km | $360 |
| 10yrs, 150,000km | $560 |

The vehicles are sold for 12 months of roadside assistance, which can be extended to up to four years when the vehicle is serviced at an authorised Mitsubishi dealer.

If the car isn’t serviced at an authorised dealer, the standard warranty is five years or 100,000km (whichever comes first).

To see how the Mitsubishi Outlander lines up against the competition, check out our
comparison tool

childcareman.xyz’s Take on the Mitsubishi Outlander

The Mitsubishi Outlander is quite a good car if you turn off some of its bloody annoying safety nannies.

But while its powertrain isn’t the last word in performance, refinement or fuel economy, it has a comfortable ride and good dynamics for the Outlander. It also features an expansive, comfortable and well-appointed interior with up to 10 years warranty coverage.

But in Exceed trim, with a price tag of $55,140 before on-roads, it isn’t cheap.

At this price point, you can get its Nissan X-Trail cousin in penultimate Ti trim with the mechanically complex but more refined and economical e-Power hybrid system. Or a top-spec Kia Sportage GT-Line with a punchy turbocharged engine and even more standard kit. Or a Volkswagen Tayron with a third row of seats. Or…

You can see the Outlander’s problem with . While it’s a very nice and competitive medium SUV, the mid-sized model is Australia’S largest by sales volume and the number of models in its market segment. So, as the Outlander certainly is, even if you are good enough, sometimes it’s not so good to be good.

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