2025 Mitsubishi Outlander Reviews, Pricing & Specs

The Outlander is available in ES, SE and SEL trims with your choice for front-wheel drive (FWD) or all-wheel drive (AWD). Regardless of trim, you can’t miss the face. It almost looks as if created by two different designers who refused to compromise. The thin upper eyebrow functions as a daytime running light while the large, square headlight is underneath, offset just a bit and highlighted by a chrome bezel. It’s all a little much but if your goal is to stand out in a crowd, you’ll love it.

Though the lighting design remains the same, there are a few changes to the front end for 2025. You’d have to be pretty eagle-eyed to notice them, but the upper part of the grille is smooth, not punctuated by faux vents, and the diffuser gets a few light modifications. If you were hoping for a complete makeover, sorry. With such subtle changes, the Outlander is still a bit of an ugly duckling.

The story is much better inside, at least in the top SEL trim. Here you’ll find quilted leather seats and plenty of soft-touch surfaces. There are physical controls for the HVAC system so you don’t have to go digging through the infotainment just to increase the warmth a few degrees. Especially nice are the Yamaha speaker faces in the doors, inspired by traditional Japanese geometric patterns. There are a few bits of unfortunate plastic trying to masquerade as high-dollar textured pieces, but that’s par for the course in a mid-tier crossover like the Outlander.

Mitsubishi’s AWD system was developed through many winning years of rally racing in the 1980s and 1990s. Although our test drive did not take place on low-traction surfaces, the Outlander displayed poise and stability on a curvy road outside of Los Angeles. The suspension has been retuned for 2025, offering up more comfort and less body roll. There are modes for Eco, Normal, Tarmac, Gravel, Snow and Mud. Most of this drive was spent in Tarmac mode for the sportiest acceleration and a heavier steering feel. When the drive transitioned to the city streets, it felt a tad harsh over broken pavement, once bottoming out the shocks with a decided clunk. Still, the vehicle handled most everything with aplomb.

Under the hood of the Outlander lives a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine producing 181 horsepower and 181 pound-feet of torque. This is comparable to offerings like the Mazda CX-50, Honda CR-V, and Kia Sportage. While the Outlander is also available as a more powerful plug-in hybrid, Honda offers an even more powerful CR-V via a standard hybrid, while Mazda expands from the CX-50's naturally aspirated to also offer a turbocharged option and also a hybrid option. If you want the most choice, look at the Kia and Hyundai's offerings with gas, hybrid and PHEV options of their compact and midsize SUVs.

The Outlander just needs a bit more power to make it an enjoyable drive. As it stands, accelerating away from stop lights or on to the highway is a chore, and the continuously variable transmission (CVT) suffers from the same droney, rubber-band feeling as others in the market. It is divided into eight steps so it “shifts” a bit like a standard automatic (it’s even equipped with paddle shifters) but within those steps it still groans under its own duress.

Oftentimes a less-powerful motor paired with a CVT will result in excellent fuel economy, but here the Outlander falls beneath the heavy hitters in the class. The EPA gives the Mitsubishi a fuel rating of 26 miles per gallon combined, two less than the non-hybrid Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4. However, the Outlander just edges above the gas Kia Sorento and Sportage.

The engine’s poor performance is the best advertisement for the plug-in hybrid Outlander. In this guise you’ll get 248 horsepower and 332 pound-feet of torque with a fuel rating of 64 MPGe and 38 miles of all-electric range.

Every Outlander gets a third row of seating, but it’s suitable for only very small children or your worst adult enemies. There is only 18.7 inches of legroom back there, so it’s a tight squeeze indeed. It’s not easy getting in or out of that third row and keeping it in place means there you get less than 11 cubic feet of cargo space. Your best bet is to just leave the third row seats folded and stowed in order to take advantage of 30 cubic feet of storage space.

Front the driver's seat, although the HVAC display is digital, the physical controls are within easy reach below the infotainment screen. It’s great to have actual push buttons for fan control and seat heating, as well as chunky knobs to control the temperature.

Our top-line tester came with heated and ventilated seats that worked well and a heated steering wheel and heated rear seats. The cup holders can accommodate two 44-ounce cups without the tops hitting each other, but there was a problem with just a 17-ounce bottle of soda. When braking before a turn, the soda went flying forward. Fortunately the cap was on, but making the cup holders a little deeper would solve this problem.

The Outlander’s most noteworthy upgrade is a new Yamaha premium sound system. It comes standard with eight speakers, although upper trims get a 12-speaker, 1,650-watt system for even more audio joy. You can customize it with four different sound modes that do everything from emphasizing a heavy bass on your favorite hip-hop jam or highlighting the screaming vocals of a heavy metal love ballad. And if the kids want less of your New Wave, you can also direct the sound to just the driver, passenger, front seats, rear seats or everywhere. The system can even adjust the volume based on the car’s speed, the noise of the rain and even the sound from the HVAC vents. Further, Mitsubishi added more sound deadening and sealing to the doors, ensuring that they function like a speaker box for optimum sound quality.

Otherwise, there isn’t much here that stands out from the class, Every Outlander gets a 12.3-inch infotainment screen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. On the bottom part of the screen there is a physical volume knob as well as a real button to turn the camera system on and off. The infotainment system is simple and easy to navigate and the inclusion of the expanded listening options of Sirius 360L is a nice touch. Charging is courtesy of USB-C ports and a wireless charging pad.

Upper trims get a large digital gauge cluster and the tippy top SEL has an available rear camera mirror for a wide-angle view of what’s behind the car and a head up display.

Every purchase comes with a five-year trial of Mitsubishi Connect and a one-year trial of Remote Services. Although not available to test on this drive, Mitsubishi says that Remote Services can now start the heated seats and front and rear defrosters in addition to priming the HVAC system, turning on the lights and remote-starting the vehicle. Drivers can also check if their vehicle is locked, send a destination to the car, check out live traffic information and get an alert if the vehicle is towed. The service is $144 per year after the trial period.

Mitsubishi doesn’t offer a full suite of advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) features as standard like you get in many other midsize crossovers. At the base level you’ll get blind-spot monitoring, forward collision warning and automatic braking, rear cross-traffic alert and rear emergency braking. You have to move up to the SE to get adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping assist, lane-departure prevention and traffic sign recognition. The adaptive cruise control and lane centering can work together for a bit of extra help on the highway, although it had a hard time keeping the Outlander directly in the center of the lane on sweeping turns on the highway.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Association (NHTSA) has not given the 2025 Mitsubishi Outlander ratings for overall safety or side and frontal crashes, but it gave it four out of five stars in a rollover. However, the 2024 model year received five out of five stars in a side crash and four out of five stars in a frontal crash and as an overall rating.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has given the 2025 Mitsubishi Outlander a top score of “Good” for its headlights, but it hasn’t rated anything else. However, the previous year’s model gets a “Good” rating in driver and passenger side crashworthiness. Current testing for front crash prevention received a “Poor” rating, but front crash prevention with a pedestrian merited a rating of “Good.” Seat belt reminders for the 2024 Outlander received an overall rating of Average, while child-seat anchors received an overall rating of “Good.”

The 2025 Mitsubishi Outlander with FWD starts at $31,140 including destination. Ticking the box for AWD adds $1,800 to the bottom line. There are no packages to add on at the base level, but the mid-trim SEL can be equipped with a $3,200 Tech Package that includes the upgraded Yamaha sound system, the digital dash display, and a panoramic sunroof, bringing the FWD price to $37,090 including destination. The top SEL starts at $38,490 including destination but you can also add the Premium Package for $3,050 for the upgraded stereo, head up display, rear view camera mirror, and a premium leather interior. The SEL can also be had in a Platinum Edition that adds a light grey interior, special badging and puddle lights. The total price here is $44,640 including destination.

While competitive on the lower end (particularly when you factor in the third row of seats, as cramped as they may be), it’s tough to justify the upper trim price with all the bells and whistles when competitors like the Kia Sportage top out at a few thousand less. You can get a top-trim hybrid Toyota RAV4 or Honda CR-V with more power and better gas mileage for less money. Heck, you can even get a top-trim turbocharged Mazda CX-50 with a way sportier driving experience for about the same price.

All 2025 Outlander models come standard with a 10-year/100,000-mile limited powertrain warranty and a 5-year/unlimited-mile roadside assistance program. You’ll also get 2 years or 30,000 miles of limited maintenance for free. These are standard warranties for the class.

When looked at as a single entity, the 2025 Mitsubishi Outlander is a decent vehicle. Its AWD system is great, it handles better than previous models, and the standard sound system is a dream. However, this is a crowded segment and the competition just does it better. You can find more engine options, better fuel economy, and less polarizing design and spend comparable or even less money. If your heart is set on an Outlander, we recommend the more powerful PHEV, but keep in mind that it has yet to receive the same refresh as the gas-powered model.