Compare the2024 Mitsubishi Outlander SportVS 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe

The Mitsubishi Outlander Sport has a standard driver’s side knee airbag mounted low on the dashboard. The knee airbag helps prevent the driver from sliding under the seatbelts or the main frontal airbag; this keeps the driver better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. A knee airbag also helps keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Santa Fe doesn’t offer knee airbags.

The Outlander Sport has standard Active Front Headrests, which use a specially designed headrest to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the Active Front Headrests system moves the headrests forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. The Santa Fe doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.

Both the Outlander Sport and the Santa Fe have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, 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, rearview cameras, available blind spot warning systems, rear parking sensors and rear cross-path warning.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Mitsubishi Outlander Sport is safer than the Hyundai Santa Fe:

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

As tested in Consumer Reports the Mitsubishi Outlander Sport 2.0 DOHC 4-cylinder is faster than the Hyundai Santa Fe 4 cyl.:

On the EPA test cycle the Outlander Sport gets better mileage than the Santa Fe:

The Outlander Sport has a standard continuously variable transmission (CVT). With no “steps” between gears, it can keep the engine at the most efficient speed for fuel economy, or keep it at its peak horsepower indefinitely for maximum acceleration. The Santa Fe doesn’t offer a CVT.

The Outlander Sport has vehicle speed sensitive variable-assist power steering, for low-effort parking, better control at highway speeds and during hard cornering, and a better feel of the road. The Santa Fe doesn’t offer variable-assist power steering.

For better maneuverability, the Outlander Sport’s turning circle is 2.6 feet tighter than the Santa Fe’s (34.8 feet vs. 37.4 feet).

For greater off-road capability the Outlander Sport has a greater minimum ground clearance than the Santa Fe (8.5 vs. 8.2 inches), allowing the Outlander Sport to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged.

The Mitsubishi Outlander Sport may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 400 to 800 pounds less than the Hyundai Santa Fe.

The Outlander Sport is 1 foot, 4.5 inches shorter than the Santa Fe, making the Outlander Sport easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

The Outlander Sport’s rain-sensitive wipers adjust their speed and turn on and off automatically based on the amount of rainfall on the windshield. This allows the driver to concentrate on driving without constantly adjusting the wipers. The Santa Fe SE/XRT/SEL’s standard manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

The Outlander Sport’s standard outside mirrors include heating elements to clear off the mirrors for better visibility. Hyundai only offers heated mirrors on the Santa Fe SEL/XRT/Limited/Calligraphy.