Despite some well documented shortcomings, the Mitsubishi Outlander Sport (ASX) remains one of the most practical and successful cars in its segment.
The Outlander Sport has outsold most of its rivals in the US in 2015, only trailing the Buick Encore and Chevrolet Trax in terms of financial accomplishments. This is pretty extraordinary for a car that was technically designed over 5 years ago.
So what’s its secret you ask? Well, if you’ve ever driven one then you probably know that it’s not exactly as sporty as its Outlander Sport moniker would have you believe. Second, it really falls behind most of the segment in terms of interior quality – those plastics are bad even for cars a lot older than 5 years.
What the ASX/Outlander Sport does brilliantly is take you from A to B in a way that such a small car shouldn’t really be able to. Remember, Europeans might call it a compact SUV, but in reality it’s really sub-compact.
The fact that it’s so roomy on the inside is what wins most people over. It doesn’t even matter where you sit, be it in the driver’s seat or in the back, there’s just a surreal amount of headroom, knee room and shoulder room for such a small car.
While Mitsubishi has installed some much-needed newer tech on this facelifted Outlander Sport, its $19,595 price tag says a lot about its tactile quality.
As for its overall quality, that can’t exactly be measured by the hard plastic surfaces you encounter in the cabin. Besides, Mitsubishi did a good job with the revised steering wheel (among others), which means that ASX owners might get a little jealous, seen as how their version of the car suddenly looks a little older.
PHOTO GALLERY
