2025 Mitsubishi Outlander First Drive: A Little Bit Better

• The 2025 Mitsubishi Outlander will be on sale soon and comes with a range of updates.
• Mitsubishi gave the Outlander more standard equipment, including some new tech and performance hardware.
• After driving the new Outlander, we like what's new but still don't think it's one of the best SUVs in the segment.

Inside, Mitsubishi swapped out the old touchscreen for a larger 12.3-inch display that now comes standard on every trim level. Ventilated front seats are now an option in the front row, as are a rearview mirror camera and LED interior lighting. There’s also a new audio system made by Yamaha exclusively for the Outlander; the standard setup has eight speakers, but higher trim levels get 12.

Driving the Outlander

The Outlander is the most expensive SUV in Mitsubishi's lineup, but it genuinely feels more modern and luxurious than anything else in the company's arsenal. 

This SUV shares a lot of its major components with the Nissan Rogue, but most people wouldn’t recognize the connection. This SUV is spacious and comfortable with nice details in the cabin that make it feel premium. The front seats are great for longer journeys with ample support and good adjustability. Second-row passengers are also in good shape with decent legroom and headroom, in addition to optional heated seats. The Outlander also throws in some extra value with a standard third row of seats — something you can’t get on a comparable Honda CR-V or Toyota RAV4. This way-back bench won’t work for adults, but having the option to put an extra kid or two back there on occasion is a nice feature.

The Outlander's tech is indeed better than before, but there's still room for improvement. The Yamaha sound system is wonderful, with powerful sound and elegant speaker covers that look like they belong in a more expensive vehicle. The new touchscreen isn’t quite as impressive, however. It’s nice to have a bigger display to work with, but the graphics look outdated and the reaction times are slow by modern standards. My wireless Apple CarPlay connection also cut out several times throughout a day of testing.

Mitsubishi made some changes to the Outlander’s on-road characteristics by adjusting the suspension hardware. It’s not a drastic upgrade from before, but the alterations add up to a slightly better-driving vehicle. The ride quality is good in everyday situations, even on the SUV's largest 20-inch wheels. I also appreciate how good the Outlander’s visibility is; it’s easy to see in all directions with no major blind spots getting in the way.

The Outlander's 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine carries over from before, still making 181 horsepower and 181 lb-ft of torque. With no turbocharging to help it out, the Outlander feels pretty gutless in the real world. It takes a consistent right foot to keep the SUV cruising at highway speeds, with the continuously variable transmission working hard to keep the power coming. When Edmunds last tested the Outlander in 2022, it hit 60 mph in 9.7 seconds, which is considerably slower than a CR-V (8.2 seconds) and most other vehicles in the class.

Official fuel economy numbers are still TBD, but we don't expect the Outlander to make any great strides compared to last year's model, which was rated at 24 mpg city, 31 mpg highway and 27 mpg combined with front-wheel drive.

On sale soon

Mitsubishi is rolling out the 2025 Outlander to dealers in a few weeks, with many of the same updates coming to the plug-in hybrid version of this SUV later this year. The base price has jumped a bit to $29,645, excluding a currently unknown destination charge. Adding all-wheel drive costs $1,800 on any trim level.

My Outlander SEL AWD test car comes in at $41,845. While its interior is full of nice features and pretty materials, this price is tougher to justify knowing it's got that weak engine underhood. The Honda CR-V and Mazda CX-50 both offer hybrid powertrains for this money and are a lot nicer to drive.

That said, if you were on the fence about buying an Outlander before, the 2025 model is a little more appealing. The extra standard equipment comes at a reasonable cost, and the small tweaks everywhere else make this a better — though still certainly not the best — all-around choice.