The Mitsubishi ASX has been around for nine years, but there is no end in sight. Now the compact SUV gets a facelift donated again. The most important novelty: A fresh engine and finally four-wheel drive and automatic.
For about seven years, a car is usually built before the successor follows in the footsteps - tendency rather falling, because the rapid development times in the IT industry are also increasing pressure on carmakers. So it's high time that the Mitsubishi ASX, which has been available since 2010, has left and made room for the new edition. But the Japanese compact SUV keeps it like the Queen, and does not even think about abdicating. Instead, the ASX gets a facelift in the now ninth year and the already announced successor can wait another two or three years to come. Freshly decked out is the Mitsubishi from September for expected around 18.000 euros at the dealer.
Externally dusty may be the 4,37 meter long ASX quite, but completely old-fashioned he is not. There have already been two refreshments every three years. After the recent facelift, the compact, which in the meantime was also the basis for Citroën C4 Aircross and Peugeot 4008, even looks pretty fit. It is based on the big brother Outlander and the sloping SUV coupe Eclipse Cross and acts with the new, beefy front self-confident than ever: Wide grille, narrow LED headlights and an implied Kuhfänger the Japanese are good to face. At the rear, the designers have emphasized the width and thus the robust appearance of the SUV.
On the other hand, not much has changed on the inside, new are the climate control and the revised infotainment system. The touchscreen has grown from seven to eight inches and the navigation function provided by TomTom works flawlessly and gets real-time traffic data via the driver's smartphone - but vainly searches for games like an inductive charging cradle or a head-up display. Otherwise, Mitsubishi has mainly tried to make the interior a bit higher quality. With dubious success: The materials are still rather cheap, the processing here and there a bit inaccurate. In terms of space, nothing has changed with the facelift, in front you are sitting quite well, in the back it gets really tight for the head; in both rows, the seats are mounted quite high. The trunk is usual with 406 to 1.206 liter class.
The biggest revolution took place under the hood. Although the ASX still only has a single engine, the last remaining 1,6-liter petrol engine has had its day and is being replaced by the two-liter four-cylinder that has already been in service in the US models. Not only does 110 kW / 150 PS deliver more power around 30 percent, but it also increases the torque of 154 to 195 Newton meters. The lie only at high 4.200 tours, because a turbo renounced Mitsubishi. If you switch the five gears quickly, you can now bring the ASX to 10,2 in 12,2 instead of 100 seconds, the top speed increases moderately from 183 to 190 km / h, the trailer load increases by 100 kilograms to 1,3 tons. Much more important than the dynamics plus: With the new engine and the all-wheel drive returns to the offer, the end of 2018 together with the diesel had to take his hat off.
The 4 × 4 system works in the classic manner: the rear axle is supplied with power as required by means of an electronically controlled clutch; if the road is dry, only two percent of the power goes to the rear, and if the system detects slip, it sends half of the power astern. The maximum torque on the rear axle can be forced via the lock function, which can be an advantage when starting off on poor ground; the front-wheel drive 2WD operation is said to save fuel. How much the ASX consumes is not yet clear, on our first, leisurely test round with the exceptionally calm, balanced all-wheel drive, the on-board computer attested to us a good eight liters.
And there is another novelty to report: While the all-wheel diesel has also flown the six-speed automatic from the program, the ASX is now at least again available with a continuously variable CVT transmission, which takes the shifting work off the driver - for the all-wheel drive the quasi-automatic is always on board, for the front-wheel drive version it is available at an additional cost. The CVT does not quite come close to the comfort of an automatic converter, responds to the brisk gas command sometimes with a time delay and is still quite loud under full load, but is by no means as inharmonious as its predecessors and definitely one in everyday life good alternative for switching lazy. The two-second plus in the hundred sprint that the front-wheel drive handset can retract compared to the predecessor, however, partially destroys the continuously variable transmission - the 2WD version with CVT takes 11,7 seconds, the all-wheel drive 12,2.
