Today’s crowded subcompact crossover segment means it takes a lot to stand out from the crowd. With a specific price point in mind, manufacturers have to find a perfect balance all while making their product attractive enough to sway consumers into signing that check for said crossover.
When it was time for Mitsubishi to reenter the subcompact crossover market with the Xforce, it brought a combination of features and compromises that were unique enough to make people take notice. But is it enough to tackle the stiff competition, especially with this base GLS CVT variant that costs P1,367,000?
The styling of the Xforce is one of its biggest draws, looking unlike other crossovers on the road right now with a very futuristic motif while looking distinctly Mitsubishi, unlike other crossovers that have slowly started to resemble each other. This bright two-tone Energetic Yellow Metallic and Jet Black Mica roof completes the head-turning design.
The T-shaped LED headlights and taillights are unique and uniformly lit with silver accents underneath for contrast. The various patterns and textures found on the grille and plastic cladding give the design personality, and those two-tone 18-inch wheels look good enough to keep aftermarket junkies satisfied.
Mitsubishi’s designers have done well on the outside and have done even more with the interior.
The GLS comes with black leatherette trim on the dashboard, door cards, and center armrest, which helps add a premium flair to the cabin, alongside the three-spoke leather steering wheel. Otherwise, the rest of the trim and switchgear are your typical hard-wearing plastics found in this segment, and the seats are upholstered in two-tone fabrics that do wonders in terms of heat rejection.
There’s a creative take on the “single slab of glass” trend, where the eight-inch digital instrument cluster is recessed, while the 12.3-inch infotainment screen is flush on a single pane of glass. Not only does it provide a sense of depth, but also shades the driver’s display from direct sunlight, improving legibility.
Both screens have crisp graphics and simple interfaces, support for wired and wireless smartphone integration, and a few cute throwbacks to the Pajero with a three-pod-inspired data screen and even an aircraft-inspired Avionics screen.
Unfortunately, the infotainment can get slow and buggy as you use it, and I experienced the entire system freezing and rebooting as I connected my phone via wireless Android Auto.
The sound from the eight-speaker Yamaha Dynamic Sound Premium system is one of the best in this segment, only lacking some low-end punch that a subwoofer can fix. Bonus points to the dual-zone automatic climate control with air purification and the crotch vent that helps keep other regions of your body fresh.
The Xforce’s other ace up its sleeve is its incredibly roomy cabin with lots of clever storage spaces. The driving position and visibility offered are very SUV-like as you sit high up, and the front seats are well-bolstered and supportive with tons of cubby holes up front, including a cooled center storage, and a slide-out tray underneath the passenger’s seat.
The rear bench offers generous leg and headroom, plus eight different levels of backrest recline, and is one of the very few to offer 40:20:40 split-folding capabilities. The center part can also act as an armrest with two cupholders, and there are rear vents and USB-A and USB-C ports for charging.
For the cargo bay, there’s a clever two-stage floor that will allow you to load taller or longer items with ease, and a spare tire underneath with some more storage to spare.
Unfortunately, one part where the Xforce is let down is in its powertrain. It retains the 1.5-liter, naturally aspirated four-cylinder gas engine (the 4A91) from the Xpander, which is now mated to a continuously variable transmission (CVT).
With 103hp and 141Nm, it’s perfectly fine for low-speed driving within the city as very responsive and smooth, but it can struggle once you load up the vehicle or have to overtake at highway speeds. Putting it into Sport mode does make the task easier, but you give up the frugality this powertrain is capable of. In heavy city traffic, I saw figures of 8.2km/L, and regular expressway driving saw 18km/L.
But yet another redeeming factor is this vehicle’s handling on and off the road. On the road, the Active Yaw Control sharpens up cornering, and there’s great steering feel, response, and weight. It’s a relatively quiet and comfortable ride with decent noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) performance.
With the various driving modes (Normal, Gravel, Mud, and Wet), the 193mm of ground clearance, and the capable suspension setup means that even if this is a front-wheel drive crossover, it should have no issues going over uneven terrain.
Being the base variant, the GLS only comes with the essentials for safety (like airbags, hill start assist, stability, traction control, ISOFIX anchors, and a reversing camera), which may make its starting price a bit steep, especially when compared to its loaded Chinese competitors.
Despite that, the Xforce delivers a supremely stylish, practical, and cohesive package for buyers, even if it is a little rough around the edges in some aspects.
