The Mitsubishi Outlander has demonstrated its family car bona fides with a five-star rating from safety authority ANCAP.
It received an adult occupant protection rating of 83 per cent, a child occupant protection rating of 92 per cent, a vulnerable road user protection rating of 81 per cent, and a safety assist rating of 83 per cent.
The rating applies to all models currently on sale, with the upcoming PHEV unrated.
ANCAP noted the Outlander’s vulnerable road user protection rating was especially impressive, with its 81 per cent score the highest achieved to date in the mid-sized SUV category.
Its child occupant protection score of 92 per cent is thus far the highest awarded under ANCAP’s 2020-2022 testing protocols.
Its active safety and driver assist features were also praised, with full points awarded for tests of its emergency lane keeping and lane-keep assist systems.
The Outlander’s autonomous emergency braking system was commended for its ability to react to stationary, braking and slowing vehicles, as well as the presence of both pedestrian and cyclist detection.
It also features a junction assist feature, which applies the brakes if it detects you’re about to turn across the path of an oncoming vehicle. This feature is only available in a handful of rival mid-sized SUVs.
While the Outlander is fitted with a centre airbag, ANCAP said it didn’t meet its coverage requirements and therefore applied a penalty.
ANCAP observed the passenger compartment remained stable in the frontal offset test, though it rated protection for the driver’s chest and lower legs as Adequate and protection for the upper legs as Marginal.
Full marks were awarded in side impact and oblique pole tests.
“The new Outlander offers an excellent safety package and is a comprehensive offering,” said ANCAP chief executive officer Carla Hoorweg.
“Mitsubishi have clearly prioritised the safety of both vehicle occupants and other road users in the new Outlander, and should be applauded for this 5 star result.”
The Outlander’s rating follows a five-star rating for the Hyundai Tucson last year, with the two SUVs the only in the mid-sized segment thus far to be tested under the latest ANCAP protocols.
Standard safety equipment across the Outlander range comprises:
- Driver attention monitoring
- AEB with pedestrian and cyclist detection and junction assist
- Blind-spot assist
- Lane departure warning with lane-keep assist
- Emergency lane-change warning with auto braking
- Adaptive cruise control
- Reversing camera with front and rear parking sensors
- Traffic sign recognition
All bar the base ES also include rear cross-traffic alert and reverse automatic emergency braking.
All models feature first-row front, centre, and side airbags, a driver’s knee airbag, and curtain airbags for the first and second rows.
