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Originally Posted by niky
Still... points in favor of the stick.  |
For sure!
I'd love to compare the sub/urban economy of each -- head to head. I'm confident the stick would prevail despite the CVT's better rating (without resorting to P&G).
The problem for me is Mitsu's limited dealer network. I can't just drop in for a test; the closest one to me is 100 km away (60 mi).
Quote:
Originally Posted by UltArc
The only thing I didn't like compared to the other is that the rear seats aren't split, and that it doesn't come with rubber flooring.
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I'm reasonably sure they are 60/40 split in the Mirage.
Quote:
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For the price, the Spark doesn't seem that bad, it seems like GM did a good job making a little car.
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I really wanted to like the Spark, but its underwhelming mileage turned me off. And its slushbox automatic gets particularly horrid mileage. (GM knows this and is switching to a CVT next year, I believe... but that won't cure its portly curb weight.) The CVT Mirage is the way to go in a small/cheap car if you must have an automatic (which ~95% of U.S. buyers seem to need/want).
It'll be interesting to see how Mirage does vs. Spark -- it's really the closest U.S. competitor. But GM has an enormous U.S. dealer network (~7000 before the financial crisis/bankruptcy); Mitsu has ~400 dealers. That contributes to GM being able to sell ~34k Sparks in the last 12 months, vs. Mitsu's modest prediction of just 7k Mirages/year.