2026 Mitsubishi Destinator: The fun family SUV you’ve been waiting for?
First Drive: 2026 Mitsubishi Destinator
2024 was an interesting one for Mitsubishi Motors in the Philippines.
Our market is something they consider to be a miracle one for their brand, as no other place in the world do they enjoy a consistently strong presence and solid business operations. That is why they held the very first world premiere of a concept vehicle in the country at the 2024 Philippine International Motor Show: the DST Concept.
It’s a rejuvenation of sorts for Mitsubishi Motors here. The Spirit of Competition, while seemingly an almost forgotten mantra, is alive and well. That’s why, after the introduction of more exciting models like the Triton and XForce, Mitsubishi then pressed forward with the production SUV derived from DST: the Destinator.
Yes, there are a lot of hopes and expectations riding on the Destinator. The company has been a consistent force in the local compact MPV segment with the Xpander and its cladded brother in the Xpander Cross. Still, they need to expand -no pun intended- and the Destinator is that expansion they sought. It’s targeted towards the market who have prospered and is ready to advance to the next level with a more premium family SUV. You’d think that’s a bit common, right?
All the right notes will be there for parents looking for a family vehicle: seven seats, the latest connectivity features, lots of cupholders, and the versatility brought about by complex seat mechanisms that give you a flat floor. The engineers at Mitsubishi Motors however, think a little bit differently: they believe that being a parent doesn’t mean you should stop having fun.
Lucky for them that they already have a dynamic-looking compact crossover to start from: the XForce. While it may not have as much force as we would like, it was efficient and does have some cool tricks up its sleeve, like the different drive modes and Active Yaw Control (AYC). Now they step it up even further with the Destinator with ‘Tarmac mode’ and a new turbocharged 1.5-liter MIVEC four banger. Now we’re talking, so let's get driving!
The drive
We are back in Okazaki. This is Mitsubishi’s main R&D center in Japan and one of its larger factories in Japan. But apart from those, this also has a very nice proving ground for their vehicles; a key element for any R&D center.
The last time we were here, they let us loose on a nice tarmac course with the Triton pickup, but this time we have the new 7-seat compact crossover SUV to play with.
We’ve already been familiarized with the engine of the Destinator – an updated version of the 4B40 found in the Eclipse Cross. This 1.5-liter direct injection turbo four cylinder features an air-water intercooler with 8 injectors (4 port and 4 direct). That’s very unusual, but it was done to maximize the balance between efficiency and performance. More importantly, this new power unit delivers up to 163 PS with 250 Nm of torque for the Destinator.
Truth be told, we would have wanted a better driveline for that engine, as this Destinator comes with CVT and Front Wheel Drive. Yes, we miss having an all-wheel drive Mitsubishi just like the old days of the Evo and even the Outlanders, but such a system would have added significant complexity, and with that also comes added cost. Boo.
Where Mitsubishi did make it up was with an upgraded drive mode system. From the Xforce’s current normal, gravel, and mud modes, the Destinator adds a new wet mode and tarmac mode. Family vehicles don’t normally excite me, but somehow this strikes a different vibe, so let’s get it on.
Our “test drive” is akin to an omakase tasting menu: they divided the tasting courses into tarmac handling, off-road mud course, gravel course, wet slalom and wading course, and the high-speed ring course.
The tarmac course was perhaps the most exciting and impressive one as we got to experience the AYC in a very proper way: with a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X Final Edition. This thing just grips and rips, and it shows that Mitsubishi can build exciting cars, and we believe they should revive it.
Back to the Destinator, we activated tarmac mode and went for it. The rather tall family vehicle maneuvered quite impressively despite its high center of gravity compared to the purpose-built sport sedan and a Ford Territory, oddly.
The off-road mud course demonstrated the rugged driving potential of this front-wheel-drive family SUV on road tires. The system is a means of making up for the handicap of not having all-wheel drive and knobbier tires by preventing excessive wheelspin when it detects it. It really does work -within reason- and you can take some slippery muddy roads with a fair degree of confidence. It won’t be to the same level as a 4x4 pickup or SUV, but it can get through if you use it right.
The gravel course was the same course we drove the Tritons on two years back, and this “family vehicle” performed quite impressively, showing off its AYC, chassis engineering, and new engine. Coming from the quite challenging off-road mud course and tarmac rally style course, I was not at all surprised by its capabilities.
Our penultimate course was a wet slalom; I was not quite sure if it was planned or if the skies just opened and poured down on us. It took on the slalom course with ease and even did a 360-degree obstacle with good balance. We were then asked to proceed to a wading test at a significant splashing speed of about 30 km/h. Why? Because the Destinator can; the bumper was designed in such a way that it would produce the splashing effect up to that speed.
The final course was the high-speed ring track, where we were able to run it “as fast as we could”. We didn’t need a second invitation, and the MIVEC Turbo certainly delivered the performance we wanted. It was definitely the “force” missing from its smaller 5-seat sibling.
What’s in a name?
Yes, the Destinator is quite an interesting drive that certainly has a lot of appeal. Even the name itself seems like it belongs on some kind of robot like Gigantor, Dominator, or Terminator.
Style-wise, the Destinator looks like a proper, dynamic Mitsubishi vehicle with the premium touches for that distinguished appeal to subtly say you’ve moved up in life. The interior is pretty much carried over from the Xforce, starting with the 8-inch digital instrumentation and 12.3-inch infotainment system.
More importantly, we can see that this was built with our market in mind. We say that because it has a ground clearance of 214mm, which is only 4mm less than that of the Montero Sport, and a “water flood countermeasure” air duct at 891mm, which engineers say is even taller than that of the Honda CR-V’s 850mm.
No, it’s not a body-on-frame SUV like Montero Sport/Pajero Sport, but they took what customers want out of that vehicle, such as seating, ground clearance, and respectable wading, but didn’t put in the weight penalty of a frame by going monocoque.
Where it fits
Measuring in at 4680mm long, 1840mm wide, and 1780mm tall, the Destinator is comparable in size to the 5-seat Ford Territory, Honda CR-V, and Toyota Zenix. What will be interesting will be the pricing, as the Destinator will start at PHP 1.289 million for the GLX, PHP 1.499 million for the GLS, and up to PHP 1.799 million for the GT. Mind you, those are discounted prices; the SRP is slightly higher for each variant.
The arena is getting interesting with competitors heavily discounting due to competitively priced hybrid alternatives from Chinese marques. The main challenge for Destinator, however, will be the lack of electrification that could help bring down fuel consumption, which we have yet to test. More importantly for city dwellers in Metro Manila and other highly urbanized (read: traffic-congested) cities around the country, there won’t be any hybrid coding exemption for the Destinator either.
But still we expect Destinator to fare well among customers, but do chime in. Let us know what you think of Mitsubishi’s upcoming entry into the 7-seat crossover class.
