The 2027 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport regains a FWD option, bringing the starting price down to $25,505.
Finding a truly “affordable” car these days can be a daunting task, depending on where your definition of affordable lies. If you’re shopping the most popular small SUVs out there like the Subaru Crosstrek, Honda HR-V or Toyota Corolla Cross, you can expect to drop at least $27,000 to $28,000 for the absolute base models. The 2027 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport is still one of the cheaper options out there across its whole trim stack, and for the new year it actually starts a little bit lower than it did for model year 2026.
Why? The Outlander Sport is getting a front-wheel drive option once again, according to new information from Car and Driver, so that effectively drops the base price by about $1,500 to $25,505 including destination. That’s for the base S model with a 2.0-liter, 148-horsepower engine. Higher trims get a 2.4-liter engine that bumps the output up to an admittedly still underwhelming 168 horsepower, and you’ll get a continuously variable transmission (CVT) either way.
For being as old as it is — keep in mind, our Outlander Sport has been around since the 2011 model year with a few minor facelifts along the way — Mitsubishi’s entry-level SUV still has a fairly robust trim stack. While the base S is now only available in front-wheel drive, you can still add on some more features through the 2.0-liter ES, LE, SE, Trail Edition and Ralliart, as well as the 2.4-liter SEL. For all the jumbled letters, you can spec in more features or touches like different wheels, trim and power for relatively minor price bumps along the way. That said, at the top end, the AWD-only Outlander Sport SEL, Trail Edition and Ralliart models round out the lineup around the $31,620 and $31,965 (for the Trail Edition and Ralliart, respectively) points.
It’s still relatively inexpensive, but…
So, with a price tag in the $25,500 to $32,000-ish band, the 2027 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport does bring a value proposition against most of its direct rivals. That said, the significantly newer Nissan Kicks starts at $24,275 for the base S model, at least for 2026. The Kia Seltos gets a major update for 2027, with a price tag about $985 higher for the base LX model (but a new look and better tech/standard features).
There’s another wild card in the equation to consider, and that’s dealers actually willing to do some dealing to get these SUVs out the door. At least with the lower models, you may have some luck getting at least a few hundred dollars shaved off the MSRP, and that matters when you’re looking for the best value. Despite the Outlander Sport’s aging platform, it’s still selling remarkably well, with first-quarter 2026 sales up 75% year-over-year (and we’ll get updated numbers for Q2 in a few days).
With the Mirage now officially in the history books, Mitsubishi contends the Outlander Sport is a strong value play. Its summers sales is also offering up 0% financing for four years (48 months) right now, and the automaker backs its cars with a 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty and 2-Year/30,000-mile complimentary maintenance.
Is it worth it? Well…if you’re looking to stretch your dollar as far as it will possibly go while still getting a new car, I’ll always advocate shopping around and trying everything in your price band. There are closely priced and much more modern rivals in the field and Mitsubishi itself is planning to bring a new Outlander Sport (or a similarly sized equivalent) to the U.S. in the next couple years. It just depends on what your specific priorities are.
