Ingredient-sharing is commonplace in the modern motoring world.
Aside from a handful of bespoke exotics made by independent firms, almost every mass-market new car features some degree of cross-pollination with other brands, whether mechanical or technological.
Some alliances emerge from unlikely bedfellows, like BMW and Toyota. The former lent their expertise and six-cylinder skills to the development of the Supra, while the Japanese brand hooked its German partner up with hybrid study notes. Ford and Volkswagen is another interesting case study, with the Ranger and Amarok link-up.
Other collaborations take place within a stable – the Volkswagen Group has been a pioneer of this approach, with its modular architectures and close kinship across various marques under the umbrella.
Disgraced executive Carlos Ghosn should also be given his flowers for orchestrating one of the most prominent motoring marriages of the last two decades: the Renault-Nissan alliance, which eventually included Mitsubishi. Quite a curious threesome.
You simply need to contrast the products to understand how different the brands’ philosophies and approaches are. One might even say Mitsubishi marches to the beat of its own harp.
It is likely that at some point during the planning stage of the new Outlander Sport, Mitsubishi was told to use the same ingredients as the other compact crossovers in the ecosystem, the Renault Kiger and Nissan Magnite.
Instead, Mitsubishi went and used its own architecture from the Xpander multipurpose vehicle. We think this was for the best.
Released in May 2021, the Magnite was meant to be launched under the Datsun banner – while that was not the case, there was clear stylistic kinship to the now defunct Go hatchback.
Thankfully, the Magnite managed to (for the most part) escape the cheaper and nastier sensibilities of the Go. Initially, it mustered a two-star rating in Global NCAP's crash test, but when it was retested this year after various revisions, the vehicle came away with five stars. Quality of the Magnite is fair, if not on the level of models like the Micra and Qashqai.
The Kiger came later in 2021, also manufactured in India. It took the same ingredients as the Magnite, but the result was much less compelling. Behind the attractive styling, it revealed iffy build quality and suspension damping likely approved by Fred Flintstone. Driving the Kiger on the suspension track at Gerotek test facility, one had a genuine concern that the car was on the verge of rattling itself apart.
The Outlander Sport is clearly striving beyond the “emerging market” characters of the Magnite and Kiger. It is sourced from Mitsubishi's plant in Thailand. In some markets the Outlander Sport is also known as the X-Force.
The model looks spectacular, especially donning the launch shade of burnt orange. Its angular shape, aggressive gaze and rakish silhouette makes it the most exciting Mitsubishi in recent memory (visually).
Hopping inside, the Outlander Sport has a far more upmarket execution than its relatives. Its plastic surfaces are of a commendable standard, with a textured grain and pleasant veneer, rather than being coarse and scratchy. Grey upholstery was applied on the fascia, in a way that may have been inspired by the template used by Mini.
One could criticise the infotainment system however, which errs on the finicky side and is also prone to throwing up some bizarre alerts. “Metallic foreign object detected” is probably the strangest of them all.
On the road, it is very clear that this car was engineered to a respectable standard. The ride has a plush resolve, living up to the textures we know and like from products such as the Eclipse Cross and full-sized Outlander.
Noise and wind insulation is good, only when you really plant the accelerator flat, do you get some acoustic intrusion from the 1.5l motor.
Though turbocharged three-pots are ubiquitous in the segment, the Mitsubishi uses a normally-aspirated unit with four cylinders. It feels much less strained than low-capacity boosted motors, serving up 77kW/141Nm, linked to a continuously-variable transmission (CVT) whose “shift” pattern seems to mimic that of a conventional automatic. Fuel consumption over the week of driving was 7l/100km.
The range-topping Exceed version we drove is outfitted with amenities such as blind-spot monitoring, reverse camera, a cooled centre console, electric tailgate and leatherette upholstery. Boot space is 480l, the ground clearance of 193mm makes for carefree dirt road travel. Remember that it is still a front-wheel drive vehicle, so do not expect to take it to the same places a Pajero Sport would go.
Maybe it should come as no surprise that the Outlander Sport feels like a more accomplished product than the similarly-sized equivalents from the Renault-Nissan side of the organisation.
Because it is priced significantly higher, ranging from R429,900 for the standard GL to R499,990 for the top-tier Exceed. A five-year/unlimited mileage warranty and three-year/45,000km service plan are part of the deal.
In the same ballpark, buyers may also be looking at the myriad Chinese players, boasting larger dimensions – at the end of the day the Outlander Sport is a mere B-segment crossover, whose dimensions will be limiting where family duties are concerned.
Still, fans of the marque will argue that you get what you pay for. The Mitsubishi brand is left-field, yes, but has an excellent reputation for reliability, in addition to having a long-standing presence on the market.
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