For enhanced safety, the front and second-row seat shoulder belts of the Mitsubishi Outlander have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Dodge Durango doesn’t offer pretensioners for its second-row 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 Outlander are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Durango doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
The Mitsubishi Outlander 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 Durango doesn’t offer a front passenger side knee airbag.
The Outlander has a standard front seat center airbag, which deploys between the driver and front passenger, protecting them from injuries caused by striking each other in serious side impacts. The Durango doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.
Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Outlander has a standard Rear Automatic Emergency Brake that use rear sensors to monitor and automatically apply the brakes to prevent a rear collision. The Durango doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
When descending a steep, off-road slope, the Outlander’s standard Hill Descent Control allows you to creep down safely. The Durango doesn’t offer Hill Descent Control.
The Outlander’s standard lane departure warning system alerts a temporarily inattentive driver when the vehicle begins to leave its lane and gently nudges the vehicle back towards its lane. A lane departure warning system costs extra on the Durango and is not available with SXT.
The Outlander SE/SEL has a standard Multi View Camera to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Durango only offers a rear monitor and front and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the sides.
The Outlander’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 Durango doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.
Both the Outlander and the Durango 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, daytime running lights, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning and available all wheel drive.
A significantly tougher test than their original offset frontal crash test, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety does 40 MPH small overlap frontal offset crash tests. In this test, where only 25% of the total width of the vehicle is struck, results indicate that the Mitsubishi Outlander is safer than the Durango:
|
|
Outlander |
Durango |
| Overall Evaluation |
GOOD |
MARGINAL |
| Restraints |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
| Head Neck Evaluation |
GOOD |
GOOD |
| Head injury index |
101 |
119 |
| Peak Head Forces |
0 G’s |
0 G’s |
| Steering Column Movement Rearward |
3 cm |
9 cm |
| Chest Evaluation |
GOOD |
GOOD |
| Max Chest Compression |
18 cm |
26 cm |
| Hip & Thigh Evaluation |
GOOD |
ACCEPTABLE |
| Femur Force R/L |
1.5/.9 kN |
5.3/2.5 kN |
| Hip & Thigh Injury Risk R/L |
0%/0% |
6%/0% |
| Lower Leg Evaluation |
GOOD |
POOR |
| Tibia index R/L |
.6/.41 |
1.53/.59 |
For its top level performance in IIHS driver and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, side impact, roof strength and head restraint tests, its standard vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention system, its standard vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention system, and its standard headlight’s “Good” rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Outlander its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2022, a rating granted to only 112 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Durango is not even a standard “Top Safety Pick.”