2o6 on the new Mitsubishi Mirage

[2o6]

This is why I need a 2nd job, I can't have free time.



Well, today, had an interview at 9:30 Am, so after that I had a free day. Ended up going to drive a few cars, two out of curiosity (Mirage, new Beetle Turbo) ,one halfway serious (used '11 Fiesta going for like 10K, even if I only got like 3K for the Yaris, it would be a payment of only like $150.....and I would have a warranty. I will see what my finances look like after I transfer schools, if I don't drive as much a new car would be stupid as much. However, if something happened to Yaris right this instant, I would be driving that Fiesta. Had everything I wanted - hatchback, sunroof, 5MT, cruise, Ford SYNC, heated seats....etc)

The Beetle wasn't very interesting, IMO despite it being a turbo model. 2.0T feels un-special in this application, the car looks cool, but it's expensive. A GTI handles better and is more practical for the same price.


Anyways, I happened to be on my way home and I realized that a Mitsubishi dealer had two new Mirages, and I feel that I HAVE To drive this car. It's cheap as shit, and ugly, so I would have to love it, right?





Design


It is really, really, really, really uninteresting to look at. It's very dull, but it's on the slightly bad side of dull, it isn't pleasant and inoffensive like a typical Toyota small car, but just BAD.

There isn't much of a design critique I can do here since the car is so dull and old - simply not very interesting. The Spark, love it or hate it, with it's oversized headlights and all sorts of body swooshes actually go a long way to making the car look like something. Hell, the Honda Brio (it's competitor in a lot of Asian markets like India and Thailiand) looks like SOMETHING. Mitsubishi didn't even try to style this damn car at all.

I think what makes the car look even worse than it is comes down to one of three things

- Those really dull styled wheels that not only are very narrow, but look incredibly small underneath the flabby body. The offset is also strange; the track of the car looks too narrow for the body. Also, those rear wheels carry a lot of positive camber.

- That lame ass integrated spoiler (which is likely functional, BTW)

- those really ugly and cheap looking door handles.

To me, even a cheap car, it has to make me at least make me want it, give me a reason to spend 12K ish on you. This car doesn't do that; it just looks old, bland, but ugly.


Interior

For starters, I should say; there is a LOT of room in this car. I had just driven a Fiesta, and the Fiesta felt like a phone booth by comparison. The front feels very airy, with good room. It also has three belts in the rear, and a pretty roomy rear seat for being a small car. It's 15" shorter than a Fiesta hatchback, and despite this it has a rear seat that hits above these cars and even with some cars in the compact class (Focus). Driving position is typical new small car; quite high and upright with controls in an easy to reach manner. Shifter is on the floor, and IMO (at least in auto trim) is placed right, I find that the one in the Spark is too far backwards; in MT cars it's almost uncomfortable to shift.

Beltline is low-is for a new modern small car, so outward visibility is pretty good. Spark's dipping beltline makes forward visiblity slightly better than the Mirage, but the quickly ascending beltline and big DLO cheater panel at the C-pillar (for the integrated door handle) gives the Spark quite a big blindspot for a small car. Mirage does not have that problem, at all.

Hard plastics abound, but this car is only like 12K new - what did you expect? It feels slightly nicer than the Versa sedan. The piano black stereo bezel on all cars looks pretty good, and the buttons feel a little hard to push, but the enitre setup looks like it'll wear well and still look pretty good over the years. The Spark's may be more visually interesting, but the Mirage feels a little nicer (only slightly). There aren't a huge amount of stroage cubbies, but I don't mind.

Driving the damn thing

Power comes from a 1.2l three cylinder making a paltry 74HP. This particular car is mated to a CVT automatic. 5-speed manual versions are avaliable.


It is slow as hell....but I really adore this motor. It does not have much, but what it does have it gives so willingly. The motor is almost unrefined, at lower revs, it feels really uneven, but smash on the throttle (which is what you will be doing a lot) and it really makes a throaty, slightly raspy noise. Perhaps I'm being unfair about performance - the car is very light; MT models come in at under 2000 lbs. AT models are slightly over it, at IIRC like 2050lbs, so although 74HP is not a lot at all, there isn't a lot of mass to move around. AFAIK, the car doesn't have any sort of direct injection or anything - quite honestly with a small turbo and DI, I would be all over this motor. I really like this motor, makes me excited for the 1.0T Ford is putting in the Fiesta. The CVT is pretty adept at finding a low ratio, and I suspect that the wind cheating shape (IIRC, 0.27cd) really helps with the lack of power. Even at 70 MPH, the car finds a good ratio to keep it at sub 3K, which IMO is impressive for such a small car. I can see how the car tests at 44MPG EPA; I think if I owned one I would match, if not beat that.

Three Cylinders FTW


Where it falls on it's face, is the handling department. The car has very narrow tires, 165/55/14, but honestly that is not an excuse. The ride is pretty good for a little car, at least on freeway speeds. What I presume is a small development budget does shine through at low speeds; it really feels a little bouncy and wallowy at slow speeds on choppy roads.

The handling is not very good at all. Partially, I had just driven a Fiesta and that's a great driving small car, but the Mirage does not do well, which IMO is a shame. Small cars should be easy and manouverable; they should feel comfortable caning the fuck out of them, they should feel fun in the curves - the mirage is not that car.

70MPH sweeper on the freeway

- Fiesta - I could take this thing at 120MPH without batting an eye

- My Yaris - I'll do it, I even grip pretty well, but expect a lot of body lean, sweetie

- Mirage - slow the fuck down, or I will kill us both, and they will not be able to recognize your body

Not only does that overly soft suspension kill the handling, but the narrow tires make the car roll and handle like utter shit. It's also paired with a steering ratio that is too slow and has a strange ass on center dead spot. The steering has some weight to it, but not much feel - it's vague and imprecise. Yaris and Fiesta (especially fiesta) feel downright telepathic by comparison. The Spark is actually a fun to drive car, but the Mirage isn't.

Yet and still, I feel like there's a decent base there. It's very light, and if the springs were stiffer and the steering was fixed, I think it could be an interesting alternative to the other B-segments. It's actually light, and if that motor had DI/and or a Turbo, I would be intrigued. The motor made up IMO for the somewhat bad handling.

Conclusion

The car is very cheap. The car I drove snickered at 15K even, mostly because of those ugly wheels and the automatic trans. Base DE models have hubcaps, but still come with Power Windows, Power Locks, Keyless Entry, a decent sound system (better than the outrageously Korean Economy 4 cheap speakers that is in the Spark), and 40+ MPG. Just for 16K, you can have a loaded Mirage, IIRC coming with a pretty decent looking Navigation screen.

I didn't hate it. I actually liked a lot of elements about it, mostly because of that plucky little powertrain - that three Cylinder is nifty. It's also a very light car, literally 1000lbs lighter than cars like the Chevy Sonic. It's also roomy.

However, that dull styling, awkward steering, and bad handling makes it an uncompelling choice in the segment.

It's almost there, which is sad. If Mitsubishi had put more effort into the styling and handling, they'd have a car someone might actually want to buy. Now, people will only buy this car because it's cheap as hell, which IMO isn't a super good reason.



I've heard Mitsu is mitigating the EVO from the Lancer to this platform. I think a EVO ish or at least a Ralliart version of this car, with the 3CYL could be really interesting.

[ifcar]

I agree with you that better looks would have gone a long way. I guess they're trying to give off an air of apologetically cheap, with too many styling flourishes looking like it's pretending to be something it's not. But it's just lumpy and sad. Even without better handling, a mix of style, roominess and value (the price and fuel economy) would have gone a long way -- think Versa level of success.

And yes, the Versa has been able to get by with no styling to speak of, but being part of a major brand means you're automatically going to be noticed.

[12,000 RPM]

Yea they could have done some more interesting things with its looks. This is like the Fiat Panda but fucking generic as shit

[Colin]

This car was designed for Asian markets.... and I guess Mitsu have figured that if they can sell a few more in other markets that's worth doing, but they must surely realise that it is not going to be a main stream volume sales proposition in US or Europe.  Same as Nissan did with the current Micra - which went from being made in Europe and quite good, to be ing made in Asia and utterly shite. But making the maths up to make a profit on the Euro version did not compute, so I guess you can understand the logic. 

[12,000 RPM]

At this point Mitsubishi has nothing to lose

Sent from my SGH-T959V using Tapatalk 2

[MX793]

This car was designed for Asian markets.... and I guess Mitsu have figured that if they can sell a few more in other markets that's worth doing, but they must surely realise that it is not going to be a main stream volume sales proposition in US or Europe.  Same as Nissan did with the current Micra - which went from being made in Europe and quite good, to be ing made in Asia and utterly shite. But making the maths up to make a profit on the Euro version did not compute, so I guess you can understand the logic. 

It costs a lot of money to federalize a car for the US market.  If you're going to go through to the trouble, you should probably be sure the car you're selling is actually going to sell.

[2o6]

It costs a lot of money to federalize a car for the US market.  If you're going to go through to the trouble, you should probably be sure the car you're selling is actually going to sell.

Unless it was designed to accommodate the US market from the start in the original design process



The problem with this car, it that in Europe, it replaced the much-loved Colt. Instead of a follow up to a good car, they've half assed it. And they don't care.

[MX793]

Unless it was designed to accommodate the US market from the start in the original design process



The problem with this car, it that in Europe, it replaced the much-loved Colt. Instead of a follow up to a good car, they've half assed it. And they don't care.

It's not just the design work, it's all of the additional required testing that is required to verify that the car meets requirements.

[12,000 RPM]

Mitsu is a zombie company

Three's a term for this in Japan, I think it's zombie company. They are just going through the motions

[2o6]

Mitsu is a zombie company

Three's a term for this in Japan, I think it's zombie company. They are just going through the motions

They've got Thailand and other parts of non Japanese Asia on lock. They also source a lot of engines and old platforms for upstart Chinese companies.

[cawimmer430]

Sounds like a decent and affordable city car for people who will do most of their driving in an urban environment.

That's it.

[2o6]

Sounds like a decent and affordable city car for people who will do most of their driving in an urban environment.

That's it.

Actually, it's a comparative piece of shit, and other cars in the class do things better for about the same price.


Versa sedan is ugly as hell, but has even more room and a lower cost of entry.

Spark is actually a nice driving car, and has style to it. Can't match the fuel economy, I guess.

Kia Rio/Hyundai Accent feel 100 times more refined for about the same price.

Fiesta will run circles around it.

[Raza]

15 grand!?  I feel like that's not that cheap for a cheap shitty car. 

[2o6]

15 grand!?  I feel like that's not that cheap for a cheap shitty car.

The base car starts at 12,995. It's very cheap.

[cawimmer430]

The base car starts at 12,995. It's very cheap.

We can only dream of such prices for a shitbox here!

[Galaxy]

We can only dream of such prices for a shitbox here!

You can get this....




... for € 7,990.

[cawimmer430]

You can get this....




... for € 7,990.

How could I forget?

[Secret Chimp]

At this point Mitsubishi has nothing to lose

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Sidebar menu -> Settings -> Tapatalk Signature -> None

It is not that hard.

[93JC]

Sidebar menu -> Settings -> Tapatalk Signature -> None

It is not that hard.

All the sessions I've been on since my first have been pretty cool.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 4

Add me, I'm having the same problem :p

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[Vinsanity]

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/10/mitsubishi-makes-the-mirage-even-more-desirable/

[cawimmer430]

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/10/mitsubishi-makes-the-mirage-even-more-desirable/

Oh my god! I wish there was a "Helly Kitty" 1974 Dodge Monaco edition!!!! 

[2o6]

I drove a manual one of these today thinking it would be better with a stick.


It manages to be worse.