Spy Shots: Mitsubish Outlander getting Lancer face
Mitsubishi's new trapezoidal grille design is spreading throughout the lineup, and the Outlander looks to be the next vehicle that gets struck with the corporate underbite. At least now the Lancer won't be the only Mitsu wearing a grille cribbed from the '57 Chrysler 300. The new front fascia will include angry-eye headlamps and appears to be the only external change to the Outlander during its mid-cycle freshening. A gaggle of engineers were rumored to be fussing over the cars that spy photogs snagged in the Western US desert, which may mean powertrain changes. Can we cast our vote for an Evo powertrain under the new sheetmetal? [Source: World Car Fans]












Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Bluestreak 10:02AM (9/15/2008)
The Lancer face may not be the best out there, but anything's better than the generic facia worn by the current Outlander. I wish they'd give their crossover a manual transmission option while they're at it.
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YourEx 6:47PM (9/15/2008)
If you compare to luxury crossovers then it might be true, but tell me which one doesn't have generic facia? Rav4? Rogue? CRV? SantaFe? etc... they look pretty boring to me and Outlander is the only one that stands out
Avinash machado 10:04AM (9/15/2008)
Looks better than the Honda CRV.
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Mobius_1 10:05AM (9/15/2008)
I really like the Outlander, it looks fantastic, is pretty quick, and has a damn good sound system, but I have doubts as to whether the new grill might look a bit badly scaled, like the Concept-cX
http://www.netcarshow.com/mitsubishi/2007-concept-cx/
It just doesn't look that right, like it does on the Evos...
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JD 11:37AM (9/15/2008)
Dude, it doesn't even look right on the Evo's...... you seen one in the flesh before? It photographs better than it is in real life, I'm afraid.
Torrent 1:32PM (9/15/2008)
I agree. the huge grille on that concept dwarfed the actual vehicle. It's like they ran out of paint and forgot the front end.
IowaSuby 10:19AM (9/15/2008)
Hopefully they fix road noise/wind noise in this new version. It's terrible on the old version. That was my only complaint with the last version. It had great options, great powertrain, got decent MPG and had plenty of room inside. I like the Lancer face, hopefully it looks good on the outlander.
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BlackEmblem 10:22AM (9/15/2008)
Sooo... does Mitsubishi have ANY plans for the aged Mitsubishi Endeavor that's been around since like 2002 unchanged?
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Damian 11:52PM (9/15/2008)
You'll have to ask Chrysler about that one.
hankfidel 10:25AM (9/15/2008)
How many times are they gonna reuse the Lancer's face/grille?
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Allan 10:39AM (9/15/2008)
I think this can only be a good thing for the Outlander. It's so boring right now.
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SB 3:03PM (9/15/2008)
I bet you are driving the most generic looking car out there and it sounds like you never even seen an Outlander...
Chopix 3:53PM (9/15/2008)
Yup, he is got tC, generic (every teenager on the block has one) and bland (Corolla, Civic, Elantra in one)
http://www.autoblog.com/profile/973495/page/4/
philrocka 4:03PM (9/15/2008)
I heard its getting a turbo 2.4L...
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SPG 8:04PM (9/15/2008)
I wonder what this will look like when it's production ready nose is on?
Putting French noses on it works for it as is done in Europe with Citroen and Peugeot.
But will the not ment to be pretty, just ment to look agressive nose of the Lancer look good on what I feel is the nicest looking CUV on the market?
I hope so.
Honestly, I prefer the styling of the current generation of Outlook to the VAST majority of other CUV's on the market. Somewhere like 95%.
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Psychogun 10:53PM (9/15/2008)
Powertrain options will include the new 2.2l 4-cylinder clean diesel Mitsubishi developed with the help of Mitsubishi Heavy. Why else would engineers be testing an existing model in the U.S.....
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Damian 11:58PM (9/15/2008)
How many times is Dodge going to use a cross hair grille for their vehicles, and how many times is Pontiac giong to use the split grille design on all their vehicles? What about Audi, Mercedes and Aston Martin?
Automotive companies like to make their cars recognisable, giving their cars a similar grille design is Mitsubishi's way of doing this and they're not alone.
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Damian 11:59PM (9/15/2008)
That was meant to be in reply to hankfidel... I'll learn to click the right button next time.