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Mitsubishi Ralliart Australia Outlander PHEV Completes Australasian Safari 2014

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Mitsubishi Ralliart Australia Outlander PHEV

Team Mitsubishi Ralliart Australia Outlander PHEV finishes 19th, wins class in 2014 Australasian Safari

Mitsubishi successfully entered a sport-tuned version of its Outlander PHEV in the Australasian Safari 2014 CC Rally, finishing 19th overall and winning its class by crossing the finish line after an intense 57 hours, 49 minutes, and 14 seconds.

The Team Mitsubishi Ralliart Australia Outlander PHEV endured and survived two accidents during the fourth and sixth legs of the race, proving that the Mitsubishi’s plug-in hybrid system is capable of handling everything from a daily commute up to a high-speed race around the Outback.

“We proved just how reliable and durable the Mitsubishi Plug-in Hybrid EV System is in the Asia Cross Country Rally over the last two years, but in order to gather more data in a variety of environments, we decided to provide support for the Team Mitsubishi Ralliart entry in the Australasian Safari this year,” said Yoshihiko Ototake, Technical Director, Mitsubishi Ralliart Australia.


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The race began on September 19, and the team was able to climb as high as 13th overall by Leg 3 on September 23. The following day, however, the Outlander PHEV endured a substantial setback in the form of a smashed steering box. This caused it to withdraw from Leg 5 and eat a penalty time of 16 hours and 50 minutes.

Another setback came on September 26 during Leg 6 when its left side suspension took a great deal of damage and forced a stop for repairs and a penalty of 16 hours and 42 minutes.

Still, it finished the race and allowed Mitsubishi to prove the viability of the Outlander PHEV’s Twin Motor 4WD and S-AWC systems.

“The Australasian Safari presents an extremely demanding road environment with very long stages which are mostly over tough gravel surfaces as well as over craggy terrain and deep sand, surfaces which we were not able to experience in the Asia Cross Country Rally and which were more extreme that we had imagined,” added Ototake.

“I am looking forward to utilizing the many kinds of data we gathered in the course of the Safari in our future electric vehicle development.”