Mitsubishi Outlander Earns Top Safety Pick+ Rating From IIHS

The newest Mitsubishi in the brand's US lineup gets the highest safety rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). The Mitsubishi Outlander, which gets a full revamp this year for the 2022 model year, has been awarded a Top Safety Pick+ rating, exclusively applicable to the gasoline variant.

Of note, the rating applies to Outlander models produced from June 2021. These models were given adjustments with their headlight aiming. The all-new model was given the citation for its high level of collision safety performance and preventive safety performance in the IIHS crashworthiness evaluations, front crash prevention tests, and headlight evaluation.

The Outlander comes with a plethora of safety features, which include advanced driver assistance systems called MI-PILOT Assist. integrates Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) and Lane Keep Assist (LKA), and supports driving operation by maintaining following distance and keeping the vehicle near the center of the lane.

In conjunction with the car's navigation system, the curve information on the map allows the vehicle to automatically adjust its speed and reduce the burden on the driver.

Other passive safety systems include Forward Collision Mitigation system (FCM), Predictive Forward Collision Warning (PFCW), Active Blind Spot Assist (ABSA), Lane Departure Warning (LDW), and Lane Departure Prevention (LDP). The Outlander also comes with 11 airbags, including front center airbag for the driver's seat and side airbags for the second-row seats.

Meanwhile, the upcoming redesign of the Outlander PHEV is also underway, expected to adopt the styling and safety features of the non-electrified model. There was no concrete information about the model just yet – only a teaser plus a confirmation that the 2023 Outlander PHEV will have more power and a larger battery pack.