Mitsubishi Not Dead Yet: Nissan Takes Control

[niky]

The previous Mirage was a rebadged Lancer, a compact car competing with the Civic and Corolla.

The new Mirage is a small car. It's larger than the Spark but smaller than the Mazda2. On price point, if assembled in America, a base model Mirage should sell for around $10-12k.

The Mirage's 1.2 liter engine should be good for 40-45 mpg at 60 mph, and 50 mpg or so at a steady 50 mph. (I've driven it, and I've gotten 50-55 mpg).

It's not as nice as, say, a Rio or Fit, but it's a lot better than a Spark, and certainly worth he money they sell it for here.

 

[a6m5]

GEO Metro lives?

Seriously though, I wished to see more cars like this, over hybrids & diesels. I grew up around kei-cars, what can I say?

I hope Mitsubishi price it low, and sell a ton.

 

[MisterWhiskers]

The US needs a fuel efficient car like this. The gas prices are still pretty high.

 

[RDF97]

Hope they don't kill off the Evolution...

I hope that there is some sort of special area in which this car is good at, otherwise, there are many other alternatives to this, so I can't see this helping Mitsubishi too much.

I have to agree with the mirage. I don't see that being a success, especially with the quality and the refinement of all the dominants of that given market.

Also on the Evo, the XI (11), (if it ever gets made), has a big chance of being ruined because the XI is said to be a stinken hybrid!!!

 

[YSSMAN]

It's not as nice as, say, a Rio or Fit, but it's a lot better than a Spark, and certainly worth he money they sell it for here.

I'd say that bodes pretty well for the car, then. Sparks have sold fairly well around here, especially in a post-Aveo world. The automotive press seemed to give the Spark a lukewarm thumbs-up, kinda. That's all I could ever ask for in the Mitsubishi. Oh, and a sport suspension. Maybe a real set of tires.

 

[homeforsummer]

I've also had a go in the Mirage, in largely the same spec you'll be getting in the U.S. (though our paint options are cooler...).

I like the engineering behind it (very light & aerodynamic) but it's sooooo dullllllll. We're a bit spoilt for small cars in the UK so the Mirage is by no means special by our standards. Probably one of the worst-handling cars I've driven in a long time too - zero steering feel and poor body control.

Respectably economical though. Not depressingly slow either, dead easy to drive, and good value. It has a purpose. I can certainly see the "new Geo Metro" connotations - the Metro was never anything special either, but it was dirt cheap and incredibly economical. That's basically exactly what the Mirage is.

Oh, and I agree with niky - it's better than the Spark. Just. Not as interesting to look at inside or out, and IMO doesn't handle quite as well (we're talking relatively here), but better built and more for your money.

 

[niky]

I felt the steering was okay on the model with the 15" wheels and Dunlop Sports (what do you get over there?) I mean, at least compared to what you can get in-class... the only cars in that size range with decent steering are the Spark and i10 (Picanto steering is garbage. Firm, but garbage with the wonky assist).

There are two trims here. One with an anti-roll bar, one without. The former wallows, the latter wallows like a pig. It doesn't handle too badly once you have the suspension settled, because the chassis is very stiff, but it takes a long time for the suspension to settle.

 

[sumbrownkid]

I miss my family's old 2000 mirage. Paint quality was cheap though. In fact the entire car felt cheap. But we did buy it fully loaded at like $17000. The Acura integra Type R was going for $25000 fully loaded I think and the insurance said have fun paying for teenagers.

 

[homeforsummer]

I felt the steering was okay on the model with the 15" wheels and Dunlop Sports (what do you get over there?) I mean, at least compared to what you can get in-class... the only cars in that size range with decent steering are the Spark and i10 (Picanto steering is garbage. Firm, but garbage with the wonky assist).

There are two trims here. One with an anti-roll bar, one without. The former wallows, the latter wallows like a pig. It doesn't handle too badly once you have the suspension settled, because the chassis is very stiff, but it takes a long time for the suspension to settle.

It was just... really really bad. Two major issues:

- Steering very light with zero feel. I don't mind lack of feel too much as long as it's accurate enough, or maybe has a bit of weight, but this had the trifecta: little accuracy, little weight, no feel.
- Atrocious body control. Springs are soft, but dampers not at all well matched to the springs. So it feels like the car has a good ride over sharp intrusions, but get it on a road with longer-frequency bumps (primary ride) and it actually starts wandering across the road as the dampers can't keep up with where the wheels are going. You then have to try and keep on top of this with the zero-feel steering...

On the plus side:

- A great turning circle.
- The benefit of light steering is obviously that it's incredibly easy to park or twirl around town.
- Pretty good grip, if you ignore your lack of trust in the chassis and push on regardless. Expect the low weight helps here.
- Decent secondary ride (small bump absorption).

A quick scan of my spec sheet says the one I drove had the 15" wheels and the anti-roll bar. If that's the best-case scenario I dread to think how bad it is without them.

And yes, Picanto steering is pretty bad too, and less grip, but has better body control. Deciding what has best steering "in the class" is a difficult one because the Mirage crosses two segments size-wise. And if you compare to the larger segment then you start talking Fiestas... but over here, you've got the Pug 107/Citroen C1/Toyota Aygo in the smaller class, which have better steering than most too. Hell, I prefer the Smart Fortwo's steering too. Kicks back like a bitch but at least it's accurate.

 

[GTPorsche]

I could be wrong about this, but isn't that 2013 Mirage just a Mitsubishi Colt?

 

[homeforsummer]

I could be wrong about this, but isn't that 2013 Mirage just a Mitsubishi Colt?

No. But it *is* a replacement for the existing Colt. And there's always a chance that it'll use the Colt name in one market or another, but far as I know it's being called the Mirage everywhere.

 

[YSSMAN]

A quick scan of my spec sheet says the one I drove had the 15" wheels and the anti-roll bar. If that's the best-case scenario I dread to think how bad it is without them.

As do I, now that I hear about that. It does make me wonder if Mitsubishi will be stiffening the suspension at all for the American market if that is a problem. The amount of highway use here will likely be quite high, and if that's a major issue, I can't imagine the NHTSA would be too happy about that. And they sure as hell don't need a Consumer Reports **** storm...

Wasn't this what happened to the Fiat 500 when it came over here? They retuned a couple of things and it turned out to be so good that they exported it back across the pond. I seem to remember it including a stiffened rear suspension and a modified front end. Might come in handy on the Mitsubishi...

 

[RDF97]

The Mirage looks like it has traveled through time from the 1990's, in a bad way.

Are you saying the previous one was a looker?

 

[homeforsummer]

Might come in handy on the Mitsubishi...

On the few sections of freeway I traveled down (which the AUP requires me to say were done at the speed limit, whether this was the case or not...) it actually wasn't too bad - noisy, but felt stable enough.

It was really our country roads throwing it out of kilter. I went down a perfectly straight but quite uneven section of road at 60-odd mph during the test. It's a road a Ford Fiesta would barely notice even with an extra 20 mph on the clock, but the Mirage was behaving in all kinds of weird ways. Getting pulled off line, seemingly bouncing from one bump to another etc.

I don't think the press department had quite intended it that way, but it felt like the road had been chosen to show us all how inept the Mirage was at tackling something most other vehicles would shrug off.

I've remembered something else I didn't like about the steering too - very little self-centering. Felt very unnatural.

I don't want to sound like I have a total downer on it, as it's actually a decent enough car, spacious, good value and economical without resorting to diesel or hybrid. But it just feels like Mitsubishi half-assed most of it.

 

[Clark]

Nevermind. Delete.

 

[Dan_]

Are you saying the previous one was a looker?

I said the new one looks like it was designed in the 90's. So no.

 

[YSSMAN]

I don't want to sound like I have a total downer on it, as it's actually a decent enough car, spacious, good value and economical without resorting to diesel or hybrid. But it just feels like Mitsubishi half-assed most of it.

No, I don't think you're being a downer. It's a critique I'm seeing an awful lot. As a city car, it sounds perfectly acceptable. But Mitsubishi didn't quite try hard enough. That's the exact opposite of what they need right now.

 

[RDF97]

I said the new one looks like it was designed in the 90's. So no.

Firstly, they haven't bothered styling the new one.

Secondly, it's easy to tell whether a car was designed in any given time period. By the sounds of it, you seem about 7 and don't know what cars came out of the 90's and don't have a clue to what they looked like.

Thirdly, the only modern looking cars to have come out of the 90's were the Toyota Supra, the Honda S2000, the R34 Nissan Skyline and the Mazda RX-7.

Think before you bother posting something online.
G'z

 

[homeforsummer]

Firstly, they haven't bothered styling the new one.

Secondly, it's easy to tell whether a car was designed in any given time period. By the sounds of it, you seem about 7 and don't know what cars came out of the 90's and don't have a clue to what they looked like.

Thirdly, the only modern looking cars to have come out of the 90's were the Toyota Supra, the Honda S2000, the R34 Nissan Skyline and the Mazda RX-7.

Think before you bother posting something online.
G'z

Easy tiger. He was just expressing an opinion. And for anyone who took his comments figuratively (us) rather than literally (that'd be you) it's easy to see what he meant - the new Mirage is typical of the rounded but generally bland shapes of 1990s small cars.

 

[Dan_]

Firstly, they haven't bothered styling the new one.

Secondly, it's easy to tell whether a car was designed in any given time period.

I'd gladly address your pathethic tone, but Ant's post just did it. I said it was poorly designed as if it were a 90's styling project that was shelved and then brought back as is to the present market. It is called "opinion", learn to respect it.

Thirdly, the only modern looking cars to have come out of the 90's were the Toyota Supra, the Honda S2000, the R34 Nissan Skyline and the Mazda RX-7.

So the only modern looking cars to come out in the 90's were japanese?

See? It's called taking things literally. Use with moderation.

By the sounds of it, you seem about 7 and don't know what cars came out of the 90's and don't have a clue to what they looked like.

Really? You dug a relatively old post, hammered your keyboard with a lot of nonsense and made things up that I did not say and I'm the one who is 7. Right.

This ends here, I'm not boosting your post count.

 

[RocZX]

Mitsubishi Attrage
The sedan version of the Mirage

 

[G.T.Ace]

Looks like it has 10" wheels on this picture.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

Mitsubishi Attrage
The sedan version of the Mirage

Hood looks like it was from a Ford Fusion just shrunk, the back looks like a Nissan Versa, overall exterior shape reminds me of a Hyundai accent...And the grill reminds me of something but not sure what

 

[niky]

Those are likely 14" to 15", actually. Tiny car, but tall.

 

[TorqueHappenS08]

I see awkward proportions from the Fiesta, so it will probably have alot of room,small car big room.

 

[JacoJa]

I laughed, and then instantly threw-up in my mouth.

To be fair, they didn't exactly start off with a looker as a base car, so I expected the proportions to look a bit iffy.

 

[Omnis]

Attragcious.

 

[niky]

You mean Attrageous?

 

[homeforsummer]

Kill it with much, much fire.

The hatch is dull. This is just awful. I don't think I'll ever understand the eastern markets' attraction to sedans based on subcompacts.

 

[Clark]

They're styling isn't what'd expect from Mitsubishi, the Lancer Sportback was a great looking thing, shame they never did an Evo version of it. I know it's a different model class to this but a smaller version would've been great.