In 2020, the Mitsubishi Outlander Sport went through a comprehensive front and rear refresh. With this look just a year old, the 2021 Outlander Sport arrives as a carryover model.
The 2020 Outlander Sport brought in updated looks with lighting cues gleaned from the larger Eclipse Cross, but its bones mostly remained the same. These updates included revised LED lights on the front and rear, a faux skid plate, and a handful of new color options.
Other than a new 8-inch touchscreen, the 2020 Outlander’s interior remained the same through the refresh. This left it with a stale-feeling cabin that appears stuck way back in 2011. Its heavy use of black and lack of interesting shapes only compound its dated feel.
The 2021 Outlander Sport retains the 2020 model’s powertrain lineup, which starts with a 148-horsepower 2.0-liter four-cylinder and caps off with a 168-hp 2.4-liter four-pot. Both engines pair with a continuously variable transmission and standard front-wheel drive. All-wheel drive is an option with both engines.
In IIHS testing, the current Outlander Sport struggled with the IIHS’ small-overlap driver’s side test, scoring only an “Acceptable” rating. It did, however, get “Good” ratings in all other crash tests and a “Superior” rating for its optional automatic emergency braking. The latter is optional only in SE and GT trims. The SE does feature a few standard advanced safety bits, including lane departure warnings, forward collision warning with pedestrian detection, active lane control, blind-spot warning, rear cross-traffic alert, and automatic high-beam headlights.
