Compare the2023 Honda CR-V HybridVS 2022 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV

For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Honda CR-V Hybrid have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision. The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the CR-V Hybrid are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Outlander PHEV doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

The Honda CR-V Hybrid has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags helps prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Outlander PHEV doesn’t offer a front passenger side knee airbag.

Using vehicle speed sensors and seat sensors, smart airbags in the CR-V Hybrid deploy with different levels of force or don’t deploy at all to help better protect passengers of all sizes in different collisions. The CR-V Hybrid’s side airbags will shut off if a child is leaning against the door. The Outlander PHEV’s side airbags don’t have smart features and will always deploy full force.

Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The CR-V Hybrid has standard Low-Speed Braking Control that uses rear sensors to monitor and automatically apply the brakes to prevent a rear collision. The Outlander PHEV doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.

The CR-V Hybrid’s driver alert monitor detects an inattentive driver then sounds a warning and suggests a break. According to the NHTSA, drivers who fall asleep cause about 100,000 crashes and 1500 deaths a year. The Outlander PHEV doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.

Compared to metal, the CR-V Hybrid’s plastic fuel tank can withstand harder, more intrusive impacts without leaking; this decreases the possibility of fire. The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV has a metal gas tank.

Both the CR-V Hybrid and the Outlander PHEV have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, available all wheel drive and rear parking sensors.

The CR-V Hybrid’s corrosion warranty is unlimited miles longer than the Outlander PHEV’s (unlimited vs. 100,000 miles).

Honda pays for scheduled maintenance on the CR-V Hybrid for 2 years and 24,000 miles. Honda will pay for oil changes, lubrication and any other required maintenance. Mitsubishi doesn’t pay scheduled maintenance for the Outlander PHEV.

There are over 3 times as many Honda dealers as there are Mitsubishi dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the CR-V Hybrid’s warranty.

A hardened steel chain, with no maintenance needs, drives the camshafts in the CR-V Hybrid’s engine. A rubber cam drive belt that needs periodic replacement drives the Outlander PHEV’s camshafts. If the Outlander PHEV’s belt breaks, the engine could be severely damaged when the pistons hit the opened valves.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Honda vehicles are better in initial quality than Mitsubishi vehicles. With 43 fewer problems per 100 vehicles, JD Power ranks Honda higher than Mitsubishi.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2021 Auto Issue reports that Honda vehicles are more reliable than Mitsubishi vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Honda 15 places higher in reliability than Mitsubishi.

As tested in Motor Trend the Honda CR-V Hybrid is faster than the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV:

On the EPA test cycle the CR-V Hybrid gets better mileage than the Outlander PHEV running its gasoline engine:

The CR-V Hybrid has 2.7 gallons more fuel capacity than the Outlander PHEV (14 vs. 11.3 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups.

The CR-V Hybrid has a standard cap-less fueling system. The fuel filler is automatically opened when the fuel nozzle is inserted and automatically closed when it’s removed. This eliminates the need to unscrew and replace the cap and it reduces fuel evaporation, which causes pollution. The Outlander PHEV doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

For better stopping power the CR-V Hybrid’s brake rotors are larger than those on the Outlander PHEV:

The CR-V Hybrid stops shorter than the Outlander PHEV:

For better traction, the CR-V Hybrid has larger tires than the Outlander PHEV (235/60R18 vs. 225/55R18).

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the CR-V Hybrid Sport Touring has standard 19-inch wheels. The Outlander PHEV’s largest wheels are only 18-inches.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the CR-V Hybrid’s wheelbase is 1.2 inches longer than on the Outlander PHEV (106.3 inches vs. 105.1 inches).

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the CR-V Hybrid is 2.7 inches wider in the front and 3.4 inches wider in the rear than the track on the Outlander PHEV.

The CR-V Hybrid Sport Touring AWD handles at .79 G’s, while the Outlander PHEV GT pulls only .76 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

For greater off-road capability the CR-V Hybrid has a greater minimum ground clearance than the Outlander PHEV (8.2 vs. 7.3 inches), allowing the CR-V Hybrid to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged.

The Honda CR-V Hybrid may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 300 to 500 pounds less than the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV.

The front grille of the CR-V Hybrid uses electronically controlled shutters to close off airflow and reduce drag when less engine cooling is needed. This helps improve highway fuel economy. The Outlander PHEV doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

The CR-V Hybrid uses computer-generated active noise cancellation to help remove annoying noise and vibration from the passenger compartment, especially at low frequencies. The Outlander PHEV doesn’t offer active noise cancellation.

The CR-V Hybrid has .4 inches more front legroom, 3 inches more front hip room, 1.5 inches more front shoulder room and 2.5 inches more rear legroom than the Outlander PHEV.

The CR-V Hybrid has a much larger cargo volume with its rear seat up than the Outlander PHEV with its rear seat up (39.3 vs. 30.4 cubic feet). The CR-V Hybrid has a much larger cargo volume with its rear seat folded than the Outlander PHEV with its rear seat folded (76.5 vs. 66.6 cubic feet).

A standard locking glovebox (which can’t be accessed with the valet key) keeps your small valuables safer in the CR-V Hybrid. The Outlander PHEV doesn’t offer locking storage for small valuables.

To make loading groceries and cargo easier when your hands are full, the CR-V Hybrid’s liftgate can be opened and closed just by kicking your foot under the back bumper, leaving your hands completely free. The Outlander PHEV doesn’t offer a hands-free gesture to open its liftgate, forcing you to put cargo down if your hands are full.

The CR-V Hybrid uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Outlander PHEV uses a prop rod to support its heavy hood. It takes two hands to open the hood and set the prop rod, the prop rod gets in the way during maintenance and service, and the prop rod could be knocked out, causing the heavy hood to fall on the person maintaining or servicing the car.

When two different drivers share the CR-V Hybrid Sport Touring, the memory seats make it convenient for both. Each keyless remote activates different, customized memories for the driver’s seat position. The Outlander PHEV doesn’t offer memory seats.

The CR-V Hybrid Sport Touring’s standard easy entry system glides the driver’s seat back when the door is unlocked or the ignition is switched off, making it easier for the driver to get in and out. The Outlander PHEV doesn’t offer an easy entry system.

On a hot day the CR-V Hybrid’s driver can lower all the windows from a distance with the keyless remote or at the outside door handle. The driver of the Outlander PHEV can only operate the windows from inside the vehicle, with the ignition on.

The Outlander PHEV’s standard power locks don’t automatically lock the doors. The CR-V Hybrid’s standard doors lock when a certain speed is reached. This is an important feature for occupant safety. Locked doors are proven to open less often in collisions, and they are also effective in preventing crime at traffic lights.

To improve rear visibility by keeping the rear window clear, the CR-V Hybrid has a standard rear fixed intermittent wiper with a full on position. The rear wiper standard on the Outlander PHEV only has an intermittent setting, so in a hard rain visibility isn’t as good.

The CR-V Hybrid’s LED headlights produce a whiter, brighter light (up to 3x) using five times less power than the Outlander PHEV’s standard halogen headlights. LED lights also light instantly and last over twenty times longer than halogen.

To shield the driver and front passenger’s vision over a larger portion of the windshield and side windows, the CR-V Hybrid has standard extendable sun visors. The Outlander PHEV doesn’t offer extendable visors.

To direct the driver from any location to a given street address, a GPS navigation system is standard on the CR-V Hybrid Sport Touring. The CR-V Hybrid’s navigation system also has a real-time traffic update feature that offers alternative routes to automatically bypass traffic problems. (Service not available in all areas.) The Outlander PHEV doesn’t offer a navigation system.

To quickly and conveniently keep personal devices charged without cables tangling and wearing out, the Honda CR-V Hybrid Sport Touring has a standard wireless phone charging system (Qi) in the center console. The Outlander PHEV doesn’t offer wireless personal charging.

The CR-V Hybrid is available in both front-wheel drive and four-wheel drive configurations. The Outlander PHEV doesn’t offer a two-wheel drive configuration.

The CR-V was chosen as one of Car and Driver’s “Top Five/10Best Trucks” for 3 of the last 21 years. The Outlander PHEV has never been a Car and Driver “Top Five/10Best Truck” pick.

Motor Trend selected the CR-V as their 2018 Sport Utility of the Year. The Outlander PHEV has never been chosen.

The Honda CR-V outsold the Mitsubishi Outlander by almost six to one during the 2022 model year.