Hi!
Today I bought a new 2014 mirage 5 speed!
My poor 94 protege developed an intermittent spark loss and even being a mechanic I am tired of my fleet of old vehicles braking down.
It was time to upgrade!
Had to drive about 70 miles to a dealer that had a 5 speed. Funny thing is I work at a buick-gmc-mitsu dealer but we only have the cvt automatic ones.
I was concerned about the gearing of the manual,but my concern about high rpms quickly went away on the test drive. I consider the rpm-vehicle speed great for such a tiny powerplant.
40 MPH = 2000 RPM (5th gear)
50 MPH = 2500 RPM (5th gear)
60 MPH = 3000 RPM
70 MPH = 3500 RPM
Sorry for some bad pictures,I tried snapping several times but without perfect lighting conditions my phone cam just can't handle it.
This is on the way home following my wife through a mix of city traffic (Jacksonville FL) and highway/country roads.
The average MPG reading started at 37.X at the dealer, but I reset it on the way home as we came to a stop at a red traffic light.
I never shut the engine off but did my best to hypermile this thing while not loosing my wife ahead of me. (following her). Including some neutral coasts when beneficial. By the time we got home (night,headlights on about 70 mile trip) the MPG on the display was showing 57.4 MPG.
This is stock straight from the dealer,no tire pressure bump or any mods.
We shall see how she does on my normal commute in the future!
Just thought I would share!