Mitsubishi is stepping up its game in the next year to help boost its sales and target the desires of potential car buyers. To do this, they’ve chose to focus on the booming business of fuel- efficient vehicles, specifically hybrids- both electric and plug-ins- and overall smaller vehicles.

One of the upcoming additions to the Mitsubishi lineup is a slight alteration to the standard crossover vehicle, the Outlander. This time they’ve added a word in its name that brings a whole new element of driving to the mind of car buyers: “Sport”. This Outlander Sport model is set to hit the U.S. market- while simultaneously being sold worldwide- in the fall of 2010.

Not many details have been released about these changes coming to the standard Outlander that you can currently find at your Bloomington car dealer but we can only assume they’re going to speed up the performance, literally, and possibly take up less space on the road with a more aerodynamic design. Sounds similar to the concept cX model released in 2007, huh? Sure does- and we’re pretty sure that’s the sole inspiration for this new Sport.

Though we don’t know much about this new Mitsubishi that will be arriving at local Bloomington car dealerships in 2010, we know a few things. The new Sport is to be built on the same platform as the Mitsubishi Lancer sedan. In addition, it will be powered by a 2.0L 4-cylinder engine, with drivers being able to choose between front or all-wheel drive. In my experience test driving cars at Bloomington, IL car dealers, I’ve learned that nothing is quite so satisfying as a compact, peppy SUV on a car frame. The bumps become afterthoughts, while the storage space and big-vehicle capability remain.

Refreshing our knowledge of the current Outlander that I’ve test driven at Bloomington IL new car dealerships, only assuming the Sport will up the ante, we can first focus on the safety features. First, to show off, the Outlander was named a top safety pick by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. This reassuring title is attributed to its extensive passenger protection: dual-stage front SRS airbags, front seat mounted airbags and back front and side- curtain airbags. In addition, the Outlander comes equipped with standard ABS (anti-lock brakes), ASC (Active Stability Control) and EBD (Electronic Brakeforce Distribution). These fancy names make it sound real safe, right?

The current Outlander, seating 5-7 passengers, achieves a 20 mpg city and 26 mpg highway average. We’re hoping the Sport does improve on this sector, as their goal is to perfect the fuel-efficient side of their vehicle production.

All we can do is wait. It’s going to be a long year until we’re able to see how Mitsubishi will surprise us with the birth of one of its most popular model’s fraternal twins. Until then, come into to your local Normal Mitsubishi dealer, O’Brien Mitsubishi, and test-drive any of the new or used models. See you next fall Outlander Sport!