Many Australians looking for a seven-seat SUV will turn to the new Mitsubishi Outlander. But is it a better choice than the similarly priced Mazda CX-8?
Overview
This is a comparison between the 2022 Mitsubishi Outlander Aspire and the Mazda CX-8 Sport.
The Mitsubishi Outlander Aspire sits above the ES (5-seat only) and LS (five or seven seats) making it the second most affordable Mitsubishi Outlander with seven seats. If you want to know more about this particular vehicle, including how it drives, here is our Mitsubishi Outlander Aspire review.
The Mazda CX-8 Sport grade was added to the CX-8 range in early 2022. It is the most affordable variant in this range, sitting below the Touring, Touring SP, GT and Asaki. You will find our in-depth Mazda CX-8 Sport review here.
Both the Outlander Aspire and the CX-8 Sport are practical medium-to-large family SUVs designed to seat seven people and carry luggage. Both are powered by economical 2.5-litre petrol engines driving the front wheels, but neither are hybrid or PHEV (plug-in hybrid vehicle). Both have been deemed five stars for safety, are affordable to service and fuel, and both have long warranties for peace of mind.
The Mitsubishi Outlander Aspire costs $41,990 plus on-road costs, and the Mazda CX-8 Sport costs $39,990 plus on-road costs.
Once on-road costs are factored in, the Mitsubishi Outlander is $45,490 driveaway and the Mazda CX-8 is $44,737 driveaway.
From time to time both Mazda and Mitsubishi offer limited-time discounts on models in their ranges. It’s always worth checking their respective websites to see the latest deals.
Is the Mitsubishi Outlander a big car?
Slide into the Outlander for the first time and you’re greeted by a well-presented and borderline minimalist cabin. Mitsubishi has gone some way to modernising the cabin and it’s immediately apparent in both the quality of materials used and in the general layout.
The second row is comfortable enough although thanks to the presence of seats six and seven in row three, compromised on space. Adults and taller kids will feel the pinch. There are air vents back there and a pair of cupholders in a fold-down armrest that doubles as the seatback for the middle pew. It’s not the most elegant of applications.
Neither is entry into the third row which requires a level of body bending adults shouldn’t have to endure. Even my eight-year-old kid struggled to make a graceful entry and exit into the third row. Nor was she impressed with the space on offer. Make no mistake, this is a temporary solution for occasional use.
That third row does, unsurprisingly, impact on cargo capacity, with a meagre 163 litres to play with the third row in use by humans. That expands to 478 litres with the third row folded away and for those travelling just two-up and needing to carry larger loads, fold that second row away and there’s a decent 1473 litres available.
| Key details | 2022 Mazda CX-8 Sport | 2002 Mitsubishi Outlander 2WD Aspire |
| Price (MSRP) | $39,990 plus on-road costs | $41,990 plus on-road costs |
| Colour of test car | Deep Crystal Blue | Cosmic Blue |
| Options | None | Pearlescent paint – $740 Floor mats – $202 |
| Price as tested | $39,990 plus on-road costs | $42,932 plus on-road costs |
Is the Mazda CX-8 a big car?
Even as the cheapest model in the range, there’s still a sense of quality found in the cabin’s presentation and materials. The dashboard is clad in a foam-backed vinyl – complete with intricate stitching detail – and every other surface is either squishy or nice to touch. Other elements like its switchgear present well and feel nice to use in terms of tactility.
In the second row, the space is fantastic. Being a seven-seater means the rear seat bench is both reclinable and sliding, thus providing maximum comfort to alert and sleepy guests. With the second row adjusted all the way back, and sitting behind my own driving position (I’m 183cm tall), I was left with stacks of room by all measures.
It also makes the second row great for the installation of child seats. It happily accepted a Britax Graphene convertible seat in both rearward- and forward-facing fashions with ease, and without the need to impede on first-row seating. This type of child support seat is usable from birth to about four years of age. I also installed a booster seat typical for taller-than-average and older kids, which slotted in without fuss too.
Other amenities here include air vents and a dedicated third zone of climate control – complete with rear controls – which is great to see in a range’s cheapest model.
Lastly is the third row. Access is decent courtesy of a large rear door aperture and slim second-row seating, meaning kids and adults won’t find it trivial to use. Once in, you’ll be surprised at the amount of room on offer, as a fully grown adult will fit if you sacrifice some second-row leg room. Both guests in the boot have access to storage and a cupholder each too.
Mazda claims boot sizes of 209L in seven-seat mode and a huge 775L in five-seat mode. Despite the massive space, the boot area is far from contained, with plenty of small cavities around the third-row seating creating grocery traps. What I mean is if your groceries happen to topple over, you’ll likely be finding onions rolling around the second, and possibly even the first row, as they’ll slip down those aforementioned cavities and into the footwells of the car.
| 2022 Mazda CX-8 Sport | 2022 Mitsubishi Outlander 2WD Aspire | |
| Seats | Seven | Seven |
| Boot volume | 209L seven seats / 775L five seats | 163L seven seats / 478L five seats |
| Length | 4900mm | 4710mm |
| Width | 1840mm | 1862mm |
| Height | 1725mm | 1745mm |
| Wheelbase | 2930mm | 2706mm |
Summary
The Mazda CX-9 is a longer car overall which directly translates to more room in the second and third rows, and more luggage space in the boot in all seating configurations.Is the Mitsubishi Outlander a safe car?
The new generation Outlander was awarded a five-star ANCAP safety rating earlier this year, the independent safety body scoring the Mitsubishi well across all key criteria – 83 per cent for adult protection, 91 per cent child occupant, 81 per cent vulnerable road user, and 83 per cent for its safety assistance systems. Of note was the Outlander’s perfect scores of 6 out of 6 during both side-impact and pole oblique crash testing.
Mitsubishi’s suite of active safety technologies is comprehensive – autonomous emergency braking, lane-keep assist, lane-departure warning, rear cross-traffic alert, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring, and traffic-sign recognition are all bundled in.
A suite of eight airbags covers two rows of occupants, including a centre airbag between the front seats to prevent heads colliding in the event of a side-impact collision. Worth noting is that the curtain airbags don’t extend to the third row, covering the first two rows only, something worth noting if you plan on using seats six and seven regularly.
Is the Mazda CX-8 a safe car?
The 2022 Mazda CX-8 Sport wears a five-star ANCAP safety rating having been tested in 2018.
More important than that is the level of standard-fit active driver-assist systems, even in this entry-level version. You’ll find blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, adaptive cruise control, autonomous emergency braking with forward collision warning, automatic high beams, and even a reverse camera with parking sensors.
Plenty of the cheapest versions of many SUVs lack rearward-firing sensors, so consider this safety package great for the money. The next step for the brand is to offer a forward – or even 360-degree view – camera for all of its larger seven-seat SUVs.
Summary:
Both the Mazda CX-8 and Mitsubishi Outlander carry five-star safety ratings and have comprehensive active safety suites, although the Mitsubishi has some that the Mazda cannot match. Only the Mazda has curtain airbags that protect the third row, but the Outlander does have a front-centre airbag which reduces the chances of front occupants colliding in a crash.
| At a glance | 2022 Mazda CX-8 Sport | 2022 Mitsubishi Outlander 2WD Aspire |
| ANCAP rating & year tested | Five stars (tested 2018) | Five stars (tested 2022) |
| Safety report | ANCAP report | ANCAP report |
Is the Mitsubishi Outlander affordable?
The 2022 Mazda CX-8 Sport wears a five-star ANCAP safety rating having been tested in 2018.
More important than that is the level of standard-fit active driver-assist systems, even in this entry-level version. You’ll find blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, adaptive cruise control, autonomous emergency braking with forward collision warning, automatic high beams, and even a reverse camera with parking sensors.
Plenty of the cheapest versions of many SUVs lack rearward-firing sensors, so consider this safety package great for the money. The next step for the brand is to offer a forward – or even 360-degree view – camera for all of its larger seven-seat SUVs.
Is the Mazda CX-8 affordable?
At $39,990 before on-roads – or $45,000 drive-away – the Mazda CX-8 is one of the more affordable ways to carry seven people, although it’s not the cheapest outright. That honour goes to the Honda CR-V VTi-7 at $40,300 driveaway, followed by the Mitsubishi Outlander LS at $41,990 driveaway. However, both of those cars are much shorter in length than the CX-8, meaning they have considerably less legroom in the second and third rows.
That makes the 2022 Mazda CX-8 appear like good value and quite the unique proposition. If you wish to step into a Korean seven-seat SUV, the entry price for the best is nearly $10,000 more, or $49,290 drive-away for the 2022 Kia Sorento S.
The Mazda CX-8 comes with a five-year, unlimited-warranty and requires servicing every 12 months or 10,000km – which means you’ll pay for five services in the first 50,000km, not three like many other brands that offer 15,000km intervals. Five services cost $2071, compared to $995 for the Mitsubishi Outlander.
The Mazda CX-8 requires cheaper 91-RON regular unleaded fuel and has a tested consumption rating of 8.2L/100km.
We received an online comprehensive insurance quote of $1140 for the Mitsubishi Outlander Aspire, based on a 35yo male drive with a good record in Chatswood, NSW.
Summary
The Mitsubishi has a longer warranty period, is cheaper to service and is more economical to run. It is also marginally cheaper to insure.
| At a glance | 2022 Mazda CX-8 Sport | 2022 Mitsubishi Outlander 2WD Aspire |
| Warranty | Five years / unlimited km | Five years / 100,000 km Up to 10 years / 200,000km if service conditions are met |
| Service intervals | 12 months / 10,000km | 12 months or 15,000km |
| Servicing costs | $1112 (3 years), $2071 (5 years) | $597 (3 years), $995 (5 years) |
| Fuel cons. (claimed) | 8.1L/100km | 7.7L/100km |
| Fuel cons. (on test) | 8.2L/100km | 9.1L/100km |
| Fuel type | 91-octane petrol | 91-octane regular unleaded |
| Fuel tank size | 72L | 55L |
Is the Mitsubishi Outlander a good car?
The new Mitsubishi Outlander represents a big step forward in the segment for the Japanese brand. From its bold exterior design to the undeniable refinement inside, the new Outlander has moved on from its awkward teenager stage into adulthood.
Armed with a new powertrain, the new Outlander is an improvement over the model it replaces, offering a relaxed and effortless driving experience.
The interior too is a big step up for the brand, with a thoughtful design that it’s on the eye while also being comfortable. With a caveat. While rows one and two remain comfortable and well-appointed, the third row is best saved for emergencies and very occasional use. Still, for those who need the surety of a sometimes-third-row, the Outlander represents a decent proposition in the segment,
The arrival of a plug-in hybrid Outlander is imminent too, despite delays owing to supply chain constraints. It’s now scheduled to land locally in the middle of the year. But, for those who can’t wait, the Mitsubishi Outlander Aspire tested here makes a decent case for itself and is well worth a look if you’re in the hunt for a family SUV that won’t break the bank.
Is the Mazda CX-8 a good car?
There are plenty of reasons to add the 2022 Mazda CX-8 Sport to your consideration list.
Young families of three, four and five will all appreciate the second row compared to what’s found in other $45,000 SUVs. Others will love the flexibility offered by the third row of seating or some just because of the cargo space. The Mazda CX-8 is a great family car that doubles as a weekend lifestyle enabler.
But all that lifestyle grandeur does come at a cost. It feels old in some ways, and the engine can feel underdone when fully loaded and at highway speeds. There’s also managing expectations, as it’s not uncommon to hear something simple – like a lack of keyless entry – being enough to send someone the other way. Anecdotally, I have heard more people complaining about their vehicle’s boot space, however.
Summary:
The Mazda CX-8 Sport has the space and third-row safety advantage in this comparison, however the Mitsubishi Outlander Aspire has more active safety, is cheaper to own and has a longer warranty.
So, even though the Mitsubishi Outlander Aspire costs $700 more to park in your driveway, you’ll make that money back over time, and be driving a safer and more modern car.
But, if you plan to use the third row regularly, then the Mazda CX-8 is a safer choice.
| Key details | 2022 Mazda CX-8 Sport | 2022 Mitsubishi Outlander 2WD Aspire |
| Engine | 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol | 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol |
| Power | 140kW @ 6000rpm | 135kW @ 6000rpm |
| Torque | 252Nm @ 4000rpm | 245Nm @ 3600rpm |
| Drive type | Front-wheel drive | Front-wheel drive |
| Transmission | Six-speed torque convertor automatic | Continuously variable automatic |
| Power to weight ratio | 77.8kW/t | 81kW/t |
| Weight | 1799kg | 1670kg |
| Tow rating | 1800kg braked, 750kg unbraked | 1600kg braked, 750kg unbraked |
| Turning circle | 11.6m | 10.6m |
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