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I test drove one yesterday. Was VERY surprised with it!
First - I really do NOT care for the exterior styling. Seems like they took the "two box" shape, tried to modernize it , tried to make it aerodynamic ... but it was all half ###ed. The looks on this thing are horrible.
Seconds - I do NOT trust Mitsubishi products. They had some pretty bad vehicles for a while (especially when they got mixed up with the most unreliable American car manufacturer, Chrysler). I also do not trust JATCO CVTs - they are awkward to say the least.
Just some observations:
- EPA mileage rating is way off. I was testing a bit on the highway and slow going roads (no city) and on the highway, at 55MPH, it was getting 56MPG. Going slow, around 40, with no stop lights it was 65MPG! Much better than that of the Spark at those speeds.
- Interior is rather large. I had no problem fitting in the front seat of it. MUCH larger inside that Ford's Fiesta ... I can actually fit in the back seat of this comfortable. It's not Versa large, but seems to be a bit bigger than the Spark inside.
- Rear storage area is larger than that of a Spark (or at least seems to be). Plus, there is a spare tire! I have had to use them a few times, so that's a big deal for me.
- Did not get blown around in traffic.
- Not as slow as I thought it would be. Like the Spark, the Mirage is geared extremely low so it will pick up decently. It is also easy to take off from a stop light; no gas needed.
- Even with electronic climate control, the interior is pretty conservative. Conservative interior is good.
Things I did not care for:
- 3 Cylinder engine makes a lot of racket and vibration when taking off from a stoplight ... they do not like to lug below idle speed, apparently. My concern is - how will this engine be at 50,000 miles when the external balancing wears out and it has bad motor mounts? The 3 cyl will shake the car apart.
- Engine "whines" - for some reason it sounds like it has a super charger.
- The shifter is bad, but not as bad as the Spark! I could actually find the gears in this easily, unlike the Spark. The Spark reminded me of the trucks I grew up driving (18 wheelers), with worn out shift forks and gates that would leave the shifter wobbling around and guessing for gear. However, I could feel the shifter cables stretching! That's scary!
- Oddball tire size. There are not many on the market. I can find new tires for $50 for my Focus - those same ones were $75 or $100 for the Mirage. There are also no good snow tire sizes. Anyone would have to seemingly go up to 15 or down to 13s.
Other neat things:
- Looks like there is no belly pan or underbody aerodynamics
- Grille block could easily be added (1.3L getting > 50MPG probably will not make much heat)
- Pretty common bolt pattern so aftermarket wheels should be easy to come by.
Most people will buy on styling. This just doesn't have it. Also, they will REALLY need to advertise the gas mileage of it, because at nearly $14K ... there are better options (not for mileage) only another $1000 away.
It *is* priced a few thousand more than a Versa - but this has power windows, power locks. To get a Versa with power windows and locks is a bit more than this starts.
Not a bad little car. I will admit, I was really impressed with it!
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