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Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV gets more power, range and capabilities

We've driven the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV a couple of times now, and enjoyed it quite a bit. Even though it's the same version that's been kicking around other markets in its current form for a while now, it was efficient, pleasant to drive, and offers something that is pretty rare right now: a relatively affordable plug-in hybrid midsize crossover. Now, in its home market of Japan, the 2019 Outlander PHEV is getting some significant updates, including more electric power and a bigger gas engine, a bigger battery, improved suspension, two new drive modes and some design tweaks. To start, the PHEV's battery capacity increases from 12 kWh to 13.8 kWh. That boosts its all-electric driving range from 37.8 miles to 40.4 (under Japan's testing cycle). The rear electric motor/generator also gets a slight boost in power. The gas engine increases its displacement from 2.0 to 2.4 liters. The vehicle now offers Sport and Snow modes, and its 4WD Lock mode has been adjusted to better handle poor road surfaces. To improve its ride and handling, Mitsubishi added larger front and rear dampers with a new type of damper valve to the Outlander PHEV. A faster steering ratio and retuned electric power steering control promise better steering feel and response. Mitsubishi has also increased the structural rigidity in parts of the body. Design-wise, the updated Outlander PHEV gets full LED headlights and an updated grille up front. In the rear, there's a new spoiler that improves aerodynamics and gives it a sportier look. Inside, the leather seating gets a new diamond-quilt pattern, along with the door trim. The front seats are also reshaped for more support. The new updates seem like they'll make the Outlander PHEV even more attractive both in terms of performance and design. We doubt that Mitsubishi would choose not offer these improvements in other markets, including the U.S. We've reached out to Mitsubishi to see if and when we can hope to see the improved versions stateside, and we'll update if we hear back. Related Video:

Here are a few of our automotive guilty pleasures

It goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway. The world is full of cars, and just about as many of them are bad as are good. It's pretty easy to pick which fall into each category after giving them a thorough walkaround and, more important, driving them. But every once in a while, an automobile straddles the line somehow between good and bad — it may be hideously overpriced and therefore a marketplace failure, it may be stupid quick in a straight line but handles like a drunken noodle, or it may have an interior that looks like it was made of a mess of injection-molded Legos. Heck, maybe all three. Yet there's something special about some bad cars that actually makes them likable. The idea for this list came to me while I was browsing classified ads for cars within a few hundred miles of my house. I ran across a few oddballs and shared them with the rest of the team in our online chat room. It turns out several of us have a few automotive guilty pleasures that we're willing to admit to. We'll call a few of 'em out here. Feel free to share some of your own in the comments below. Dodge Neon SRT4 and Caliber SRT4: The Neon was a passably good and plucky little city car when it debuted for the 1995 model year. The Caliber, which replaced the aging Neon and sought to replace its friendly marketing campaign with something more sinister, was panned from the very outset for its cheap interior furnishings, but at least offered some decent utility with its hatchback shape. What the two little front-wheel-drive Dodge models have in common are their rip-roarin' SRT variants, each powered by turbocharged 2.4-liter four-cylinder engines. Known for their propensity to light up their front tires under hard acceleration, the duo were legitimately quick and fun to drive with a fantastic turbo whoosh that called to mind the early days of turbo technology. — Consumer Editor Jeremy Korzeniewski  Chevrolet HHR SS: Chevy's HHR SS came out early in my automotive journalism career, and I have fond memories of the press launch (and having dinner with Bob Lutz) that included plenty of tire-smoking hard launches and demonstrations of the manual transmission's no-lift shift feature. The 260-horsepower turbocharged four-cylinder was and still is a spunky little engine that makes the retro-inspired HHR a fun little hot rod that works quite well as a fun little daily driver.

Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV gets major powertrain updates, Geneva reveal

Mitsubishi will put seven of its wares on display during press days at the Geneva Motor Show, the headliner being an updated 2019 Outlander PHEV. Engineers have upgraded the entire hybrid powertrain, starting with the switch from a 2.0-liter Otto cycle gas engine to a 2.4-liter Atkinson cycle gas engine. Mitsubishi hasn't revealed output numbers, but the carmaker promises "higher torque, smoother operation, and overall higher efficiency." Generator output, rear motor output, and lithium-ion drive battery output all go up by 10 percent, and battery capacity gets a 15 percent boost. Going off the specs on the Mitsubishi Cars site, that would take the rear motor up to 66 kWh and the battery capacity from 12 kWh to 13.8 kWh. Along with the extra battery output, the 2019 Outlander PHEV should be expected to switch into EV mode more often, and stay there longer. Two drive modes join the current programming, Sport and Snow sidling up with Normal and 4WD Lock. One must look closely to note the exterior revisions, almost all of which are up front: a new graphic on the front grille, new LED headlights, rectangular foglight bezels, and a more prominent front skid plate. A "more elaborate" two-tone, 18-inch wheel shakes things up along the flanks, a larger rear spoiler holds things down out back. We probably won't get a look at the interior until Geneva, but "new quilted fine leather upholstery, all-new hip-hugging front seats, revised switchgear, a new instrument panel, new trimming, rear A/C outlets, and more" await us. The new Outlander PHEV gets to Europe in late 2018, likely greeted with the same fever that's seen the SUV move 100,000 units there in three years. Related Video: