Compare the2024 Hyundai KonaVS 2024 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Servicing Ease
Ergonomics
Recommendations

Safety

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For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Hyundai Kona have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision. The Mitsubishi Outlander Sport 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 Kona are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Outlander Sport doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

When descending a steep, off-road slope, the Kona’s standard Downhill Brake Control allows you to creep down safely. The Outlander Sport doesn’t offer Downhill Brake Control.

The Kona Limited has a standard Surround View Monitor to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Outlander Sport only offers a rear monitor and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the front or sides.

The Kona has a standard blind spot warning system that uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them. Only the Outlander Sport SE/SEL offers a blind spot warning system.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Kona has standard Rear Cross-Traffic Collision Warning and Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist automatically engages the brakes to help avoid a collision. Only the Outlander Sport SE/SEL offers Rear Cross Traffic Alert and the Outlander Sport’s Rear Cross Traffic Alert does not include automatic braking.

The Kona’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 Sport doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.

Both the Kona and the Outlander Sport have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact 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, rearview cameras 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 Hyundai Kona is safer than the Outlander Sport:

	Kona	Outlander Sport
Overall Evaluation	GOOD	ACCEPTABLE
Restraints	GOOD	ACCEPTABLE
Head Neck Evaluation	GOOD	GOOD
Peak Head Forces	0 G’s	0 G’s
Chest Evaluation	GOOD	GOOD
Max Chest Compression	28 cm	28 cm
Hip & Thigh Evaluation	GOOD	GOOD
Hip & Thigh Injury Risk R/L	0%/0%	1%/0%
Lower Leg Evaluation	GOOD	GOOD
Tibia index R/L	.46/.55	.68/.36

The Hyundai Kona has achieved the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) highest rating of “Top Safety Pick Plus” for the 2024 model year. This distinction is based on its exceptional performance in IIHS’ rigorous battery of safety tests. Specifically, it earned a “Good” rating in the latest, more stringent moderate overlap front crash test, a “Good” result in the updated side impact test, and a “Good” score in the revised pedestrian crash prevention test. The Outlander Sport is not even a standard “Top Safety Pick” for 2024.

Warranty

The Kona’s 7 year corrosion warranty has no mileage limitations, but the corrosion warranty on the Outlander Sport runs out after 100,000 miles.

Hyundai pays for scheduled maintenance on the Kona for 1 year and 6000 miles longer than Mitsubishi pays for maintenance for the Outlander Sport (3/36,000 vs. 2/30,000).

There are almost 3 times as many Hyundai dealers as there are Mitsubishi dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Kona’s warranty.

Reliability

To reliably power the ignition and other systems and to recharge the battery, the Kona has a standard 150-amp alternator. The Outlander Sport’s 130-amp alternator isn’t as powerful.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2023 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Hyundai vehicles are better in initial quality than Mitsubishi vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Hyundai above average in initial quality. With 5 more problems per 100 vehicles, Mitsubishi is rated below average.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the statistics that show that Hyundai vehicles are more reliable than Mitsubishi vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Hyundai third in reliability, above the industry average. With 35 more problems per 100 vehicles, Mitsubishi is ranked 14th.

Engine

The Kona N Line/Limited’s standard 1.6 turbo 4-cylinder produces 22 more horsepower (190 vs. 168) and 28 lbs.-ft. more torque (195 vs. 167) than the Outlander Sport SEL’s standard 2.4 DOHC 4-cylinder.

As tested in Motor Trend the Kona N Line/Limited 1.6 turbo 4-cylinder is faster than the Mitsubishi Outlander Sport 2.0 DOHC 4-cylinder:

	Kona	Outlander Sport
Zero to 60 MPH	7.7 sec	10.1 sec
Quarter Mile	16 sec	17.7 sec
Speed in 1/4 Mile	89.2 MPH	78.4 MPH

Fuel Economy and Range

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

			MPG
Kona
	FWD	SE 2.0 DOHC 4-cyl.	29 city/34 hwy
		SEL 2.0 DOHC 4-cyl.	28 city/35 hwy
		1.6 turbo 4-cyl.	26 city/32 hwy
	AWD	SE 2.0 DOHC 4-cyl.	27 city/29 hwy
		SEL 2.0 DOHC 4-cyl.	26 city/29 hwy
		1.6 turbo 4-cyl.	24 city/29 hwy
Outlander Sport
	AWD	2.0 DOHC 4-cyl.	23 city/29 hwy
		2.4 DOHC 4-cyl.	23 city/28 hwy

In heavy traffic or at stoplights the Kona’s engine automatically turns off when the vehicle is stopped, saving fuel and reducing pollution. The engine is automatically restarted when the driver gets ready to move again. The Outlander Sport doesn’t offer an automatic engine start/stop system.

Brakes and Stopping

For better stopping power the Kona AWD/SEL/1.6T’s front brake rotors are larger than those on the Outlander Sport:

	Kona AWD/SEL/1.6T	Outlander Sport
Front Rotors	12 inches	11.6 inches

The Kona stops shorter than the Outlander Sport:

	Kona	Outlander Sport
60 to 0 MPH	118 feet	125 feet	Motor Trend

Tires and Wheels

For better traction, the Kona N Line/Limited’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Outlander Sport (235/45R19 vs. 225/55R18).

The Kona SE’s standard tires provide better handling because they have a lower 60 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Outlander Sport S’ standard 70 series tires. The Kona N Line/Limited’s tires have a lower 45 series profile than the Outlander Sport ES/LE/SE/SEL’s 55 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Kona SE has standard 17-inch wheels. Smaller 16-inch wheels are standard on the Outlander Sport S. The Kona N Line/Limited’s 19-inch wheels are larger than the 18-inch wheels on the Outlander Sport ES/LE/SE/SEL.

Suspension and Handling

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the Kona is 1.9 inches wider in the front and 2.4 inches wider in the rear than the track on the Outlander Sport.

The Kona Limited AWD handles at .83 G’s, while the Outlander Sport 4WD pulls only .76 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The Kona Limited AWD executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 1.8 seconds quicker than the Outlander Sport SE (27.2 seconds @ .62 average G’s vs. 29 seconds @ .55 average G’s).

Chassis

The Hyundai Kona may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs up to about 250 pounds less than the Mitsubishi Outlander Sport.

The front grille of the Kona 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 Sport doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

Passenger Space

The Kona has 3.7 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Outlander Sport (101.2 vs. 97.5).

The Kona has .5 inches more front headroom, .1 inches more front legroom, 2.2 inches more front hip room, .6 inches more front shoulder room, .4 inches more rear headroom, 1.9 inches more rear legroom and .8 inches more rear hip room than the Outlander Sport.

For enhanced passenger comfort on long trips the Kona’s rear seats recline. The Outlander Sport’s rear seats don’t recline.

Cargo Capacity

The Kona has a much larger cargo volume with its rear seat up than the Outlander Sport with its rear seat up (25.5 vs. 21.7 cubic feet). The Kona has a much larger cargo volume with its rear seat folded than the Outlander Sport with its rear seat folded (63.7 vs. 49.5 cubic feet).

To make loading and unloading groceries and cargo easier when your hands are full, the Kona Limited’s power liftgate can be opened just by waiting momentarily behind the back bumper, leaving your hands completely free. The Kona’s power liftgate can also be opened or closed by pressing a button. The Outlander Sport doesn’t offer a power or hands-free opening liftgate.

Servicing Ease

The Kona uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Outlander Sport 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.

Ergonomics

The Kona’s power parking brake sets with one touch and releases with one touch or automatically. The Outlander Sport has a lever-type parking brake that has to be strenuously raised to engage properly. It has to be lifted up more and a button depressed to release it.

The power windows standard on both the Kona and the Outlander Sport have locks to prevent small children from operating them. When the lock on the Kona is engaged the driver can still operate all of the windows, for instance to close one opened by a child. The Outlander Sport prevents the driver from operating the other windows just as it does the other passengers.

The Kona’s optional front power windows open fully with one touch of the switches, and the driver’s window also automatically closes, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths, or when talking with someone outside the car. The Outlander Sport’s passenger windows don’t open or close automatically.

The Outlander Sport’s standard power locks don’t automatically lock the doors. The Kona’s standard doors lock when the transmission is engaged. 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.

The Kona has a standard Proximity Key that allows you to unlock the doors from either front door handle, open the cargo door, and start the engine, all without removing the key from the pocket or purse. Only the Outlander Sport SE/SEL offers FAST-Key.

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

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

Standard air-conditioned seats in the Kona Limited keep the driver and front passenger comfortable and take the sting out of hot seats in Summer. The Outlander Sport doesn’t offer air-conditioned seats.

On extremely cold winter days, the Kona Limited’s standard heated steering wheel provides comfort, allowing the driver to steer safely and comfortably before the vehicle heater warms up. The Outlander Sport doesn’t offer a heated steering wheel.

The Kona SEL/N Line/Limited’s standard dual zone air conditioning allows the driver and front passenger to choose two completely different temperatures so people with different temperature preferences won’t have to compromise. This makes both the driver and front passenger as comfortable as possible. The Outlander Sport doesn’t offer dual zone air conditioning.

Both the Kona and the Outlander Sport offer rear vents. For greater rear passenger comfort, the Kona SEL/N Line/Limited has standard rear air conditioning vents to keep rear occupants cool in summer or warm in winter. The Outlander Sport doesn’t offer rear air conditioning vents, only heat vents.

To keep a safe, consistent following distance, the Kona (except SE) offers an optional Smart Cruise Control, which alters the speed of the vehicle without driver intervention. This allows the driver to use cruise control more safely without constantly having to disengage it when approaching slower traffic. The Outlander Sport doesn’t offer an adaptive cruise control.

To quickly and conveniently keep personal devices charged without cables tangling and wearing out, the Hyundai Kona (except SE) offers an optional wireless phone charging system (Qi) in the center console. The Outlander Sport doesn’t offer wireless personal charging.

The Kona Limited’s Smart Parking Assist can parallel park or back into a parking spot by itself, starting, stopping and changing direction automatically. Remote Smart Parking Assist will park and retrieve your car remotely: press a button and watch it park itself. This is ideal for tight locations. The Outlander Sport doesn’t offer an automated parking system.

Recommendations

The Hyundai Kona outsold the Mitsubishi Outlander Sport by over five to one during 2023.

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