Overview
Medium SUVs are the most popular car type in Australia, outselling perennially popular small cars and almost matching the might of the outright top-selling dual-cab ute segment in January 2022, and it’s not hard to see why. These automotive equivalents of the burger with the lot offer a unique dish combining versatility, agility, value and panache, giving Australian buyers a right-sized, right-priced practical wagon that can handle most lifestyle demands and venture beyond the blacktop when the need arises.
Mazda’s mighty CX-5 started 2022 well – in runout mode ahead of an updated model that’s filtering into showrooms now – outselling the next two bestsellers combined (Subaru Forester and Toyota RAV4). Hot on their heels, and fresh from complete makeovers late in 2021, are the Mitsubishi Outlander and Kia Sportage.
The 2022 Mitsubishi Outlander Exceed Tourer is a thoroughly modern interpretation of the ingredients that have made Mitsubishi one of Australia’s fastest-growing brands of the last decade. It’s also somewhat rare in the medium SUV market in offering a plug-in hybrid powertrain (due before mid-2022), and it comes with seven-seats available across the range.
The fifth-generation Kia Sportage is now a much fuller-flavoured offering, as it has grown up in size, equipment, skills and styling, presenting a very refined and competent package for urbanites and fringe dwellers alike. Its potent and economical diesel powertrain will hold particular appeal to buyers who need long-legged capabilities.
We’ve grabbed the top variants from each range to see what ‘one with the lot’ really tastes like, and to find out which of these two big burgers is the more satisfying treat for Australian consumers.
Introduction
Kia Sportage
Kia’s successor to its fourth-generation Sportage mid-size SUV couldn’t have come at a better time. Having stuck around since its 2015 debut, the Sportage looked decidedly tired with mediocre design and old-hat tech.
Undoubtedly part of the reason why it fell behind in the sales race last year was due to the arrivals of the newer Hyundai Tucson and Mitsubishi Outlander through 2021, burgeoning with updated tech and features. Meanwhile, segment stalwarts such as the Mazda CX-5 and Toyota RAV4 carried on with model-year updates to great effect.
But the new fifth-generation Kia Sportage is now on the ground in Australia, and it’s time for the newbie to shine.
Most notably on initial impression it scores a bold new look both at the front and back, and has grown in respect to its predecessor. The interior, especially on the top-spec GT-Line variant, is highlighted by a huge curved display made up of two 12.3-inch screens.
Though there are four model grades to the Sportage range, we’ve gone straight to the top to find out just how far the $54,990 drive-away 2022 Kia Sportage GT-Line diesel has come.
Excellent news for buyers is it comes fully loaded from the factory with no other options to add on top, aside from some $520 paint options. The tester depicted in this review is painted in the smart Vesta Blue.
It’s fitted with a 2.0-litre turbo-diesel engine that comes mated to an all-wheel drivetrain, and is only available with an eight-speed automatic transmission.
Other hallmark equipment items exclusive to the GT-Line include 19-inch alloy wheels, leather/suede upholstery, heated and ventilated front seats, bi-LED headlights, wireless smartphone charging, and a panoramic sunroof.
The spec sheet certainly impresses, but we saddled up with a GT-Line diesel over the Christmas period to see how the Sportage fares in the real world.
Mitsubishi Outlander
Having a pre-teen daughter is a great way of staying in touch with modern trends, music and, most importantly, language.
In the past few months, I have grown beyond fleek and embraced yeet. I know what is extra, who an eshay is, and crucially, I know when to call out a positively lit glow-up.
I refer, of course, to the 2022 Mitsubishi Outlander Exceed Tourer, the range-topping variant of the triple-diamond’s completely overhauled family hauler. It’s the first all-new Outlander in a decade and, I’ll give you the hot tea, compared to the old car this one is turnt.
And with that, I’ll return to a regular mid-40s vernacular.
Priced from $49,990 before options and on-road costs although an incoming $1000 price rise was announced at the time of publishing, the Exceed Tourer is probably not where most buyers will arrive in the range (looking at you $41,490 Aspire FWD – read the price and spec details of the full Outlander range here), but it’s a great showcase of everything that Mitsubishi has thrown at the new Outlander to make the seven-seater live its best life.
From any angle, the new Outlander makes a bold statement. An award-winning one at that.
What originally started as the GT-PHEV motorshow concept in 2016 has evolved into a particularly striking production car.
High-mount LED running lamps and a stacked-trio of LED main and high beams are wrapped in a bulbous nose by Mitsubishi’s signature ‘Dynamic Shield’ chrome trim.
The side profile manages to make the 20-inch wheels look perfectly scaled, with clever use of black trim under the flattened arches. Not something every car can pull off.
The Exceed Tourer includes a contrasting coloured roof that works well in White Diamond metallic with black, but perhaps less so in Black Diamond with Bronze. These are your only two choices on the Tourer, whereas the ‘regular’ Exceed can be had in seven single-tone colours (black, blue, grey, red, silver, pearl white and flat white).
But like we said, while this may be a range-topper, it won’t be the volume car.
| Key details | 2022 Kia Sportage GT-Line | 2022 Mitsubishi Outlander Exceed Tourer |
| Price (MSRP) | $52,370 plus on-road costs | $49,990 plus on-road costs |
| Colour of test car | Vesta Blue | White Diamond with Black Mica roof |
| Options | Metallic paint – $520 | None |
| Price as tested | $52,890 plus on-road costs | $49,990 plus on-road costs |
| Drive-away price | $55,510 | $54,490 |
Inside
Kia Sportage
Hop inside the large cabin and – even on initial impression – it’s an impressively presented space with a large screen array and purposeful design elements. The seats are part leather, part suede and the overall look is modern.
Materials use in the front row is good, though between the piano black centre console and wide touchscreen, the interface gets covered in fingerprints quick-smart. This is especially evident in full sun as sunlight shines through the windscreen and makes everything look grimy.
However, comfort is high in both front and second rows, with excellent adjustability between the steering wheel and seats to get a high-perch driving position that affords good visibility through the cabin. Space in the second row is commodious – there was never cause for concern for this 6ft 4in tester in terms of headroom, legroom or room to stow your feet.
Ambience in the back seat is marginally worse than in the front – the windows aren’t auto down, and some of the materials feels a bit sub-par for the top-spec variant. There are handy USB outlets nestled in the side of the front seats to charge devices and a nifty coat hook on the back of the headrests. Storage in the second row is good – there are map pockets and door card slots to store large bottles.
Back in the first row, the seat is a great shape and features both heating and ventilating – though I noticed an odd phenomenon at night time where the driver’s-side seat controls wouldn’t light up like the passenger’s. As well, I’m sure there’s a way to push the headrest back, though I couldn’t find it. It was slightly too far forward for me and annoyed at times.
Storage is a highlight up front, with a large centre console bin between driver and passenger, a configurable cubby beside the shifter that can switch between cupholders and a large tray, and long door pockets that’ll eat up bigger items. There’s also a tray underneath the dash that contains a Qi-certified wireless phone charger, though it doubles as a handy nook to store keys and spare change.
It’s a quiet and refined interior to spend time in, no matter whether you’re headed around the corner to the shops or further afield on the freeway on a road trip.
For the latter, the boot contains a minimum of 543L of space with the rear seats up. Fold them down and that capacity swells to 1829L. An electric boot release paves the way to use the space and can be triggered from the driver’s seat too.
Mitsubishi Outlander
Like the contrast roof on the outside, the Tourer is the only variant in the Outlander line-up to feature the two-tone ‘saddle tan’ (orange) interior option. Like the roof, it looks great, but is probably not worth the extra $2000 (Exceed at $47,990, Exceed Tourer at $49,990 both before on-road costs).
You get massage seats, too, which are nice, but also fall into the ‘not worth $2K’ bucket.
This aside, it’s a really well-presented interior, even with orange bits. The materials are high-quality and the finish is top-notch. I was a particular fan of the padded trim pieces on the top of the doors.
Ergonomics are good and basic functions like climate control are easy to use, plus this even has a shortcut to rear temperature controls on the main interface, which if you’ve dealt with a number of ‘I’m cold’ and ‘I’m hot’ complaints within a short period of time is a very handy inclusion.
The quilted-pattern seats are lovely and both supportive and comfortable. They are heated (from Aspire upward) and powered and have multiple memory settings (on Exceed upward).
One of the Outlander’s strong marketing points, the seven-seat layout available across the range (optional on ES, standard on LS and above), is also the reason behind one of its key compromises, second-row space.
It’s comfortable back there, and the reclining backrests are good, but legroom isn’t brilliant for adults or taller teens. Plus, the central armrest is actually the middle seatback, which to be level and comfortable requires the headrest to be extended.
To need this amount of deployment finesse in a car where children are going to put poorly sealed drinks in a (likely) angled cupholder isn’t great.
And the third row? Yeah, kids-only back there and only for short trips, plus there’s very limited cargo room (163L) when all seven pews are in place. They are ‘sometimes’ seats, after all. Something that you are reminded of each time you need to unfold and then assemble the head restraints for use.
The flip-fold access through the back doors is good, though.
When using the Outlander as a five-seater, the 478L boot is generous and expands to 1461L with all rows folded flat. It’s like this that it works best, so treat the third row as a bonus rather than a function, and you’ll be fine.
| 2022 Kia Sportage GT-Line | 2022 Mitsubishi Outlander Exceed Tourer | |
| Seats | Five | Seven |
| Boot volume | 543L seats up, 1829L seats folded | 163L seats up, 478L or 1461L with rows folded |
| Length | 4660mm | 4710mm |
| Width | 1865mm | 1862mm |
| Height | 1660mm | 1745mm |
| Wheelbase | 2755mm | 2706mm |
Infotainment and Connectivity
Kia Sportage
Kia has made great strides in its infotainment systems over the last 18 months and – of all its product – I think the current software is best viewed on the Sportage. Fingerprints aside, the wide touchscreen displays content beautifully and menu systems are in a nicely laid out manner. Though it serves no real functional purpose, the curved 12.3-inch display looks very cool and is a neat design highlight to brag about to Toyota RAV4 owners. It does envelop the driver without excluding the passenger.
The map designs look fantastic and the navigation between various functions is a breeze. Those not interested in Kia’s native system can use Apple CarPlay or Android Auto through a cable.
A thin touch panel below the main infotainment unit switches between air-conditioning controls and media playback controls. It’s a straightforward process to switch between the two, though I wish they were kept separate anyhow for at-a-glance simplicity.
Sportage SX+ specification cars and above get an eight-speaker Harman Kardon premium stereo, though I wasn’t a fan of the system and it didn’t enthuse me to play tunes like you’d expect from a Harman Kardon unit. To try and enjoy songs you must have the volume all the way up, and back seat passengers complained of quiet outputs.
Mitsubishi Outlander
Being a modern platform, the Outlander offers plenty of new-generation goodies like USB-A and USB-C ports, a wireless charge pad and a 360-degree parking camera.
The 9.0-inch touchscreen media system supports wireless Apple CarPlay, wired Android Auto, includes satellite navigation and DAB digital radio. It’s fine, and does all you need, but feels a bit ‘meh’ in contrast with the other elements of the interior. The interface isn’t all that slick, the display is not super sharp, the maps not particularly detailed.
It’s a weird gripe, sure, but with obvious attention and care taken to other touchpoints and switchgear around the cabin, the generic ‘off the Mitsubishi shelf’ media system feels a bit ordinary.
The 10-speaker Bose Premium sound system is good, though.
If the media system is boring, however, then the 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster is anything but. All the key information is presented in rich colour, but you can change the display to show as wacky rolling drum speedo and tacho tumblers that look like 1990s fantasy-adventure CGI elements. It’s just a bit… Strange. I’m not a huge fan.
The menu structure is a bit convoluted, too, which is not something that impacts day-to-day driving, but is just something else that feels a bit less premium than other parts of the car.
One other strange thing is that the touch-unlock button on the door doesn’t immediately inform the alarm system status. On a number of occasions, we managed to have the siren scream away when opening the door.
This didn’t happen using remote unlock from the keyfob, nor if you let the car think about being unlocked for a second or two before pulling the handle.
Safety and Technology
Kia Sportage
A full suite of active safety technology is available on every variant of the Kia Sportage, including the flagship GT-Line diesel. This includes autonomous emergency braking with junction support, lane-follow assist, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, adaptive cruise control, electric parking brake, and a 360-degree camera.
A centre airbag is also fitted to the Sportage and should see the vehicle score a full five-star rating when it gets tested by ANCAP, though the new-generation Sportage remains unrated when this review published.
A neat technology feature I came to love on the Sportage was having the blind-spot camera feed show up inside the 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster when you activate the indicator. It gives a quick confirmatory view of what’s beside you for merging into traffic.
Mitsubishi Outlander
As you would expect, there is a host of driver assistance and safety equipment on board, with systems like adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring and lane-keep assist standard across the range.
Our Exceed Tourer also includes rear cross-traffic alert and braking (on LS grade up), and a 360-degree camera and head-up display (Aspire grade up) to provide a comprehensive and premium selection of technology.
It all works well, too, with the lane-departure system quite passive in its operation, which we tend to prefer. The information in the head-up display is clear and useful too.
The Outlander scores a five-star ANCAP rating and was tested this year (2022), meaning it is at the peak of the current testing criteria.
| At a glance | 2022 Kia Sportage GT-Line | 2022 Mitsubishi Outlander Exceed Tourer |
| ANCAP rating & year tested | Untested | Five stars (tested 2022) |
| Safety report | N/A | ANCAP report |
Value for Money
Kia Sportage
The reason many opt for a Kia is its outstanding seven-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty. Each time you service a Kia at an official dealership, an additional year is added onto the car’s roadside assistance balance. Roadside assistance ceases after eight years.
Servicing intervals occur every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever comes standard. A capped-price servicing plan sees the cost to maintain this vehicle at $3672 over the course of Kia’s seven-year warranty. Averaged out over seven intervals, this costs $524 each visit, which is getting up there for a medium-size SUV.
Against Kia’s fuel consumption claim of 6.3L/100km (combined), our time on test with the car netted a 6.6L/100km result. The fuel tank takes 54L of diesel.
Mitsubishi Outlander
This has always been a strong point of Mitsubishi vehicles, and the new Outlander is no exception. As noted, the Tourer isn’t the postcard for value in the range, but the Aspire at $41,490 for front-wheel drive, or $43,999 as an all-wheel drive (both before on-road costs), is the real sweet spot.
Keep an eye on Mitsubishi’s offers page, too, as drive-away deals are usually easy to spot, and right now the Outlander range has reasonable no-surprises drive-away deals, like this Exceed Tourer at $54,490 drive-away.
Mitsubishi offers a 10-year warranty if you maintain the dealer service schedule, which of its own is also a reasonably strong value proposition. Service outside of the dealer network (or for some fleet customers) and the warranty reverts to five years or 100,000km.
You get 10 years of transparent costs here, too, with the first three coming in at $597 and five at $995 (just $199 per year). Years six and eight will run $499 and the tenth service is a major at $799, but given your car is warranted the entire time, this feels like excellent value.
| At a glance | 2022 Kia Sportage GT-Line | 2022 Mitsubishi Outlander Exceed Tourer |
| Warranty | Seven years, unlimited km | Five years, 100,000km (up to 10 years, 200,000km if service conditions are met) |
| Service intervals | 12 months or 15,000km | 12 months or 15,000km |
| Servicing costs | $1325 (3 years), $2512 (5 years) | $597 (3 years), $995 (5 years) |
| Fuel cons. (claimed) | 6.3L/100km | 8.1L/100km |
| Fuel cons. (on test) | 6.6L/100km | 10.2L/100km |
| Fuel type | Diesel | 91-octane Regular Unleaded |
| Fuel tank size | 54L | 55L |
Driving
Kia Sportage
Powering the top-spec Kia Sportage GT-Line diesel is a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo diesel engine. Outputs are rated at 137kW/416Nm, which are deployed to an all-wheel-drive system through an eight-speed automatic transmission.
The pairing is a perfect partnership in all situations. Shifts from the transmission are well-judged between changing throttle inputs and the gear changes themselves are comfortably smooth too.
The diesel powertrain is arguably the best of the three engines on offer in the model line-up, for me anyway. There’s a reassuring surge of torque that propels you along, whether you’re pushing for an overtake or getting up to speed in traffic around town. It is noticeably louder than a petrol engine car, though is still perfectly agreeable to live with day to day.
Touring inside the Sportage is great – the suspension tune travels beautifully over undulating surfaces and remains composed over potholes and road cracks. It’s also quiet and refined in terms of road and wind noise, aside from the aforementioned engine noises permeating the cabin.
What did annoy on tour was the car’s safety systems that beeped and pulled the car back into its lane. The overly sensitive system can be turned off in the car’s menu, though it won’t remember the settings the next time you get back in the car – it must be turned off every time.
The adaptive cruise control is well behaved for the most part, though does jerkily grab at the brakes when trying to slow down the car. It keeps good distances and speeds up to overtake if needed.
When things get more twisty, the Sportage rounds bends with confidence and the body is well controlled. The steering is of nice firm weight, though remains easily turned for quick manoeuvres around town. That said, the Sportage does have an annoyingly large 12.2m turning circle that makes swift three-point turns a bit cumbersome.
Mitsubishi Outlander
Not everything is brand-new in the 2022 Outlander. Under the bonnet is a 2.5-litre petrol engine sourced from the 2019 Nissan Altima. The direct-injection PR25DD offers 135kW and 245Nm with a claimed combined-cycle fuel consumption of 8.1L/100km.
It’s not a bad lump by any stretch, but just feels a bit lacking in low-down torque (the peak isn’t until a buzzy 3600rpm), and tends to be thirstier than you’d like as there are no forced-induction efficiency multipliers at play.
Not all engines can be standouts, though, and this, while fundamentally good, is just a four-cylinder petrol. You’ll find the same unit under the bonnet of the upcoming Nissan X-Trail too.
Over our week with the car, the average consumption was 10.2L/100km. It’s not crazy and is actually lower than the claimed urban cycle of 10.5L/100km, but when the RAV4 Hybrid can dish out reliable five-point-something averages (4.8L/100km claim) and the Kia Sportage diesel low sixes (6.3L/100km claim), the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi-Alliance powerplant isn’t all that frugal.
BTW, the forthcoming Outlander PHEV (plug-in hybrid electric vehicle) variant should change all that.
Thirst aside, the 2.5-litre engine cruises well, and despite not having as much vigour off the line as you’d always want, it has enough punch to manage B-road overtakes and general in-gear acceleration.
In-gear is probably apt, too, as the Outlander features a CVT (constantly variable transmission) with eight preset ratios and on-demand all-wheel drive. Drive is predominantly through the front wheels, though, and as such you barely notice the rears forcibly turning, even when the S-AWC (Super All Wheel Control) notification advises you that things are happening.
Ride quality is good, too, and the Outlander compresses and rebounds well enough over speed humps, but the comparative size of the 20-inch wheels on the 2706mm wheelbase has it often feeling fussy over choppy on uneven surfaces.
This is only really apparent when touring, and again it points to where the quality and tactile feel of the Outlander has you wanting, or even expecting, the same level of premium-ness in other areas.
I am being quite picky here, though, as generally the Exceed Tourer is a very pleasant place to spend time, and as a family shopper it works very well around town.
| Key details | 2022 Kia Sportage GT-Line | 2022 Mitsubishi Outlander Exceed Tourer |
| Engine | 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo diesel | 2.5-litre naturally aspirated four-cylinder petrol |
| Power | 137kW @ 4000rpm | 135kW @ 6000rpm |
| Torque | 416Nm @ 2000-2750rpm | 245Nm @ 3600rpm |
| Drive type | All-wheel drive | All-wheel drive |
| Transmission | Eight-speed torque convertor automatic | CVT automatic with eight preset ratios |
| Power to weight ratio | 78kW/t* | 77kW/t* |
| Weight | 1759kg (tare) | 1760kg (kerb) |
| Tow rating | 1900kg braked, 750kg unbraked | 1600kg braked, 750kg unbraked |
| Turning circle | 12.2m | 10.6m |
| *Compiled from manufacturer data |
Conclusion
Between these two, we get into a spirited game of back-and-forth, with Kia’s impressive diesel average fuel economy putting the ball in Kia’s court. That 4L/100km difference represents a $1000 saving each year.
The Outlander responds with up to 10-years warranty versus the Kia’s seven years (but both are industry-leading) and rock-bottom servicing costs of just under $200 per year for the first five years compared to circa-$500 for the Kia.
Distilling that all down to a winner on value sees the trophy in Kia’s hands. That annual fuel saving more than offsets additional service costs and the bigger financial outlay initially.
In terms of interior space and refinement, both cars provide a premium partner to life on the road. For our money, the Kia’s interior is classier and more polished, as exemplified by the multimedia system. The physically longer Outlander does offer the flexibility of seven seats, although the third row is not adult-friendly. In five-seat mode, the Outlander’s back seat doesn’t have the adult legroom to match the Kia and the boot is around 10 per cent smaller.
As for how they drive, these two cars are quite different. The Outlander’s combination of petrol engine and CVT is perfectly serviceable, but can’t match the Sportage’s strong low-RPM torque delivery or everyday refinement and responsiveness. The Sportage also has the better ride on Australian roads.
Looking back over this summary, the Kia manages to see off the Outlander in pretty much every discipline. That may sound like a resounding victory, but the Outlander is far from embarrassed. In fact, it is a testament to how much Mitsubishi has improved this fifth-generation Sportage, because the Outlander is a huge step up over its predecessor. But, when we put these two head-to-head like we’ve done here, it’s the Kia that comes out on top.
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