New Mitsubishi Outlander rated five-star safe

The new 2022 Mitsubishi Outlander has been awarded a five-star safety rating by independent vehicle assessor ANCAP.

Delayed due to COVID-related restrictions, the top safety rating applies to all eight variants of the fourth-generation Outlander released in Australia in November 2021.

That includes five equipment grades across both front-drive and all-wheel drive configurations, all powered by a 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine matched to an automatic transmission.

The new Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV is yet to arrive in Australia and is expected to eventually be followed by a hot Ralliart performance flagship.

ANCAP said the Outlander performed well in all four areas of local assessment, recording the highest Child Occupant Protection score (92%) so far achieved under the latest ANCAP testing regime, which was introduced in 2020 but will be superseded in 2023.

Also strong were the Outlander’s scores for Adult Occupant Protection and Vulnerable Road User Protection (both 81%) and Safety Assist (83%).

ANCAP said good scores were also achieved in the Safety Assist category, “with the AEB system capable of reacting to other stationary, braking, and slowing vehicles, and testing of the Junction Assist system fitted showed the Outlander brakes to avoid crashes when turning across the path of an oncoming vehicle”.

However, while ANCAP awarded full marks for side impact and oblique pole tests, it said the Outlander achieved only “adequate to good” results in the frontal offset and full-width crash tests, following “marginal” protection of the driver’s upper legs in the offset test and the rear passenger’s head and chest in the full-width test.

ANCAP also said the front centre airbag fitted in all Outlander models – designed to prevent head clash between front occupants in a side impact – “did not meet ANCAP’s coverage requirements” and therefore attracted a penalty.

Overall though, ANCAP applauded the new Outlander for achieving a five-star safety result under its latest protocols, making it only the second mainstream medium SUV to do after the new Hyundai Tucson in 2021.

“The new Outlander offers an excellent safety package and is a comprehensive offering. Mitsubishi have clearly prioritised the safety of both vehicle occupants and other road users in the new Outlander, and should be applauded for this five-star result,” said ANCAP CEO Carla Hoorweg.

“The new Mitsubishi Outlander will be a welcome addition to the competitive medium SUV and family markets.”

However, the new Outlander’s maximum safety rating comes despite the fact the seven-seat family SUV is not fitted with three-row side curtain airbags.

Like its predecessor and both the Kia Sorento and the related Hyundai Santa Fe, the curtain airbags in the Outlander stop at the second row of seats.

Seven seats are standard in all but the entry-level Outlander ES variant, but Mitsubishi describes the third row as ‘plus-two’ seats only for ‘occasional’ use and the lack of rear curtain airbags doesn’t affect the ANCAP safety rating because the third-row seats are stowable.

They are therefore excluded from airbag coverage assessment under the independent safety rating agency’s adult occupant protection protocols, which focuses on the first two fixed rows of seats.

The new Mitsubishi Outlander is based on the same Nissan-Renault-Mitsubishi Alliance CMF-CD platform as the Nissan X-TRAIL and  Renault Koleos, both of which also lack curtain airbags for their third-row seating.

It does, however, bring a number of safety firsts for the Mitsubishi brand, including lane departure prevention, driver attention alert and traffic sign recognition.

Other new-for-Outlander features include rear autonomous emergency braking (AEB), hill descent control, trailer stability assist and adaptive driving beam.

The Outlander’s front auto-braking system operates at up to 144km/h and detects pedestrians day or night and cyclists during the day.