2023 Mitsubishi Outlander LS Black Edition Review

Mitsubishi is a brand that is synonymous with value for money and reliability in Australia and Australians have enjoyed the Outlander down under since its launch in 2003. A new generation model was released locally in 2022 and has enjoyed reasonable success since going on sale and is no stranger to the top 10 monthly Australian car sales charts. For the 2023 model year, Mitsubishi Motors Australia made a few changes, including a new variant to the range that we tested here: the 2023 Mitsubishi Outlander LS Black Edition. Is it the Outlander to pick? Let’s find out.

Being a mid-sized SUV means that there is a plethora of competition available. Just about every mainstream brand has an offering, including the Subaru Forester, Mazda CX-5, Toyota RAV4, Haval H6, Honda CR-V, Nissan X-Trail, Volkswagen Tiguan, Skoda Karoq, Hyundai Tucson and Kia Sportage.

How much does the 2023 Mitsubishi Outlander LS Black Edition cost?

The 2023 Mitsubishi Outlander range kicks off with the entry level ES, which is priced from $37,740 plus on-road costs. New for 2023 is the LS Black Edition – which is now just Black Edition in the MY24 Outlander range – which is priced from $42,990 plus on-road costs, which equates to roughly $47,500 drive away (depending on location).

Outlander LS Black Edition standard equipment:

• 20-inch alloy wheels with a space-saver spare wheel
• Automatic dusk-sensing LED headlights
• LED daytime running lights
• LED front and rear fog lights
• Automatic rain-sensing wipers
• Keyless entry with push button start
• Gloss black exterior details like the wheels, grille and mirror caps
• Faux leather and suede upholstery
• 10-way electric driver’s seat adjustment
• Dual-zone climate control air-conditioning
• Electric, heated and auto-folding exterior mirrors
• 7.0-inch digital driver’s display
• 9.0-inch touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and wired Android Auto
• Satellite navigation
• FM/AM/DAB+ digital radio
• Six-speaker sound system
• Bluetooth phone and audio streaming
• Wireless phone charger
• Four USB charging ports (2x front, 2x middle row)
• Leather-wrapped steering wheel and gear selector
• Electric anti-glare rear mirror
• Five driving modes: normal, eco, tarmac, gravel and snow

Safety equipment includes:

• Eight airbags (including a front centre unit)
• Auto emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian detection
• Lane departure warning with lane keep assist
• Blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert
• Low-speed rear automatic braking
• Adaptive radar cruise control
• Tyre pressure monitoring
• Front and rear parking sensors
• Reversing camera
• Hill descent control
• Driver attention detection
• Traffic sign recognition
• Rear occupancy alert
• Alarm

The 2023 Mitsubishi Outlander range earned a five-star ANCAP safety rating in 2022 with scores of 83 per cent for adult protection, 92 per cent for child protection, 81 per cent for pedestrian protection and 83 per cent for safety assist.

Outlander LS Black Edition colours:

• Graphite Grey
• Black Diamond ($200)
• Red Diamond ($200)
• White Diamond ($200 – fitted to our test car)

Do we think that the extra kit of the LS Black edition is worth the $1,750 spend? In our opinion, not particularly, though we do believe that the extra $3,600 spent to the Aspire is worth it as it gains a lot more equipment.

The closest rivals to the 2023 Mitsubishi Outlander LS Black edition are the $43,890 plus on-road costs Subaru Forester 2.5i Premium and the $44,500 drive away Honda CR-V VTi X. The Mitsubishi lacks some features of the rivals but it adds some equipment too. The Subaru features a side view camera, a full-size spare wheel, auto-dipping side mirrors and a power tailgate over the Outlander, but the Outlander adds two extra seats, larger wheels, a larger centre screen and driver’s screen and faux leather and suede trim. The Honda gains a full-size spare wheel, three extra airbags, a power tailgate and two extra speakers over the Outlander, but the Mitsubishi adds a leather steering wheel and gear knob, larger wheels, two extra seats, more driver seat adjustment, faux leather and suede trim and heated front seats.

What powers the 2023 Mitsubishi Outlander LS Black Edition?

Under the bonnet of the 2023 Mitsubishi Outlander LS Black Edition is a 2.5-litre naturally aspirated four-cylinder petrol engine that produces 135kW of power (at 6,000rpm) and 245Nm of torque (at 3,600rpm). It’s the same engine that’s used in the 2023 Nissan X-Trail, and the Outlander also shares the X-Trail’s platform as well. Its the sole petrol engine offered in the Outlander– there is also a plug-in hybrid variant – and it’s matched to a CVT automatic transmission with eight stepped ratios as standard.

It’s a totally fine engine – it’s got reasonable performance and its fuel economy can be good too – but it’s nothing special. There’s no low end shove of a turbocharged engine – like the Volkswagen Tiguan or Ford Escape – and thanks to the CVT transmission, it can be somewhat loud under full acceleration. The Outlander hits 100km/h in around 10 seconds, which is adequate but more go would be appreciated. 

The CVT automatic is one of the better CVTs we’ve tested thanks to its stepped ratios, which makes it feel more like a regular torque converter automatic transmission. It’s still got a somewhat rubbery dynamic though which is typical of CVT gearboxes, and we think a regular automatic would be a better option. Even a turbocharged engine with lots of low end torque would help a lot. But having said that, we think the Outlander’s drivetrain is better than the Forester’s because it’s more refined.

Mitsubishi claims that the Outlander will use 7.7L/100km on a combined cycle with CO2 emissions of 174g/km – the Forester is rated at 7.4L/100km and the CR-V 7.1L/100km. We actually matched that claimed fuel consumption figure in the real world, recording 7.7L/100km (including a 5.6L/100km highway run) over our time with it. It will run on 91RON regular unleaded and it features a 55-litre fuel tank. 

What is the 2023 Mitsubishi Outlander LS Black Edition like to drive?

Sharing the same ‘CMF-CD’ platform that also underpins the newest generation Nissan X-Trail, the current Mitsubishi Outlander is a step forward dynamically when compared to Outlanders of old – but as we discovered in our review of the top-spec petrol Outlander Exceed, it’s not perfect. It’s entirely comfortable and competent, and families will love how quiet it is at speed, but the ride quality on the larger 20-inch wheels is not great, especially when compared to the smaller wheels of the regular LS.

The Outlander’s steering is also a touch odd, with a light and vague feel that doesn’t inspire confidence for enthusiastic driving. But around town, this turns into an advantage as it’s a rather quick steering rack. The Outlander’s visibility also leaves a bit to be desired, with high door tops that limit side visibility. But one point that we like is the subtle active safety equipment, which is a big improvement on the basic and unintuitive systems of the old-generation Outlander. Their noises are much more relaxing versus the alarming older noises, and they’re also quite effective too – though there’s no lane trace assist for semi-autonomous highway driving.

How comfortable is the 2023 Mitsubishi Outlander LS Black Edition?

The 2023 Mitsubishi Outlander LS Black Edition is a massive step forward on the last generation of the Outlander. The quality is a big upgrade, as is the technology and its integration, while it’s also more practical and easier on the eye. The quality inside the Outlander’s cabin is generally pretty good. The leathers (and faux leathers) used are of good quality, while there are soft touch materials covering most of the cabin – including even the rear doors. We particularly like the suede and faux leather seats, which are quite comfortable, even on longer journeys.

The cabin is quite practical with a huge centre console box, big cup holders, a deep wireless charger tray ahead of the shifter and big door bins. We’d appreciate even more storage on the otherwise unused centre console, but it’s still got many places to store your trinkets.

Centre of the Outlander’s cabin is a 9.0-inch touchscreen that features wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, digital radio and satellite navigation. The screen quality is great, the system is quick and it’s generally painless, though the layout is a bit basic. The physical buttons help massively though, and the wireless Apple CarPlay was quite reliable. The six-speaker sound system punches above its weight as well.

The middle row of the LS Black edition model is roomy, comfortable and well featured. It’s got ample room even for taller adults, while there are two USB ports, air vents, door bins, a centre arm rest with cup holders and map pockets. The third row of the Outlander is best described as kids only – Mitsubishi officially refers to it as a ‘5+2 seater’ and not a full seven-seater – as adults will be not be comfortable thanks to the lack of space. Helping the room on offer is that it has cupholders, but the small windows don’t help the claustrophobic feeling.

The boot of the 2023 Mitsubishi Outlander LS Black Edition measures 163-litres with the third row of seats erect, 478L with them folded and 1,461L with all seats folded – by comparison, the Forester boot offers 498L/1,768L and the CR-V 498L/1,671L, but those two cars don’t feature seven seats. The boot has a few clever touches such as hooks, tabs to fold the middle row of seats and storage on each side of the main load floor. A space-saver spare wheel lies underneath the car. 

What warranty covers the 2023 Mitsubishi Outlander LS Black Edition?

Mitsubishi covers its cars with a five-year/100,000km warranty in Australia, which is extended to a 10-year/200,000km coverage if the car is serviced at a Mitsubishi dealership in that time. Mitsubishi’s roadside assistance lasts for 12 months initially, and a further 12 months’ is given with each dealer service – but only up to four years in total. In comparison, the Subaru Forester and Honda CR-V are covered by a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty and while the Honda has five years of roadside assistance, the Subaru only gets 12 months’ worth.

The 2023 Mitsubishi Outlander range requires a service every 12 months or 15,000km. The cost to service the Outlander over five-years or 75,000km is $1,700 (an average service cost of $340). In comparison, the Subaru Forester has odd 12-month/12,500km intervals and will cost $2,674.64 over five-years or 62,500km ($534 per service). The Honda CR-V has smaller 12-month/10,000km intervals and will cost owners just $995 over five years or 50,000km ($199 per service).

Should I buy a 2023 Mitsubishi Outlander LS Black Edition?

For its target market, the 2023 Mitsubishi Outlander is a pretty good car. The interior is good quality and a generally nice place to spend time, It drives inoffensively and is priced well with a fantastic aftersales package. So would we buy one? Well, there is obviously some stiff competition in the mid-sized SUV market but the Outlander would definitely be on out test drive list. We would, however, be looking at the Outlander Aspire as it adds a lot more equipment for under $2,000 more.

We do, however, believe that the LS Black Edition is pretty good value and if you can’t stretch for the Aspire, it will still be a great family car. It’s not perfect, as the drivetrain is a bit dated and the CVT transmission doesn’t help that, and the third row of seating isn’t huge either. But those things aside, we think that the Outlander LS Black Edition is a solid option in the segment and if you’re after a mid-size SUV, it should very much be on your test drive list.