The MITSUBISHI OUTLANDER Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) completed the challenge for the first time in the 2013 Asia Cross-Country Rally. For the second year running, the 2014 event included the newly established Electric Vehicle class. The OUTLANDER PHEV continued to participate with the Two and Four Motor Sports Team. The ground clearance was improved, as well as the car's ability to better take on the challenges posed by the severe road conditions encountered on the previous event by adopting a suspension system specially designed for competition purposes and strengthening the battery mountings. In addition, the S-AWC, Mitsubishi’s Integrated Vehicle Dynamics Control system was tuned for competition to enhance handling and traction performance. The competition specifications also included fitting a roll cage and an underbody skid plate, weight reduction of the bonnet, rear gate, interior parts, etc., mounting a snorkel (intake duct), as well as reinforcing the waterproof seals of each part. In terms of hardware, including the PHEV system, the specifications were almost the same as those of the standard production vehicles.

The 2014 event began with a ceremonial start at the beach resort of Pattaya, in Thailand. Over the next days, competition started in earnest, heading to Cambodia's World Heritage Site of Angkor Wat and reaching Phnom Penh, the country's capital. The total driving distance was approximately 2,200km, covering a variety of terrain such as mountainous and dense forest areas, muddy roads, river crossings, an extremely tough course that challenges the skills and endurance of the competitors.
The OUTLANDER PHEV finished 11th overall in the prologue run and 13th in the first day's stage, before moving up one position to 12th on the second day. On the third day, the team really showed its strength on the flat high-speed stages, upping its position to regain 11th place and thus displaying the PHEV’s powerful motor-driven acceleration and advantage of the S-AWC system. On the fourth day, the OUTLANDER further climbed up the leaderboard, shooting up to ninth overall. Then the crew’s fortunes faded as it dropped back to 15th place, due to severe road conditions with deep ruts, as well as the vehicle’s lack of sufficient ground clearance. However, on the final day, they started from Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, to tackle a flat high-speed stage, setting the second fastest time. As a result, they moved up to 14th overall. The OUTLANDER PHEV was taking part in the tough event for the second consecutive year and won the newly established Electric Vehicle class.

The Asia Cross-Country Rally races across one of the most treacherous terrains in Asia, where the competitors drive powerful pickup trucks and 4WD cross-country vehicles, making it a difficult task for a passenger car based crossover SUV such as the OUTLANDER PHEV, but it demonstrated top-level performance on various stages. There was little expectation that it would be able to achieve a top overall position. The severe conditions, through muddy roads and river crossings, require good traction performance and high torque at low speed, which the PHEV system and twin motor 4WD/S-AWC delivered, achieving a highly reliable, trouble-free performance.