Oops, I did it again! Bought another cheap, 3-cylinder Mirage. Mods in progress...

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

For how cheap these cars are now, I'm impressed.

Not sure how hard the downturn caused by the Chinese virus hit Canadian economy, but anyway, in times like these it would be supposed to push people from gas-guzzlers to something more affordable to run, just like the 2008 recession did for older subcompacts such as the Ford Festiva and the Suzuki Swift.

[Fat Charlie]

You'd also think a contagious, deadly respiratory disease would push people to wear face masks.

This is a different kind of recession, normal economic realities and motivations for recessions don't apply well here.

[Piotrsko]

Don't forget gas is relatively cheap

[MetroMPG]

Mirage sales are down significantly. (This yr.)

Pickup truck sales continue to dominate.

If I had to bet, I'd say there won't be a 7th gen Mirage coming to North America. We'll get a refreshed fascia (2nd refresh, 3rd "face") on the car for the 2021 model year, at which point the platform will be in its 9th year. Mitsu may stretch it to 10 years of production as they did with the Lancer.

So if the last Mirage is sold in Canada in 2021 or 2022, that means I can reasonably expect to still find decent used ones for sale in the 2030-2035 timeframe.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

If I had to bet, I'd say there won't be a 7th gen Mirage coming to North America. We'll get a refreshed fascia (2nd refresh, 3rd "face") on the car for the 2021 model year, at which point the platform will be in its 9th year. Mitsu may stretch it to 10 years of production as they did with the Lancer.

Either this, or they turn it into another SUV, attempting to replace both sedan and hatchback with a single bodystyle. Maybe this could also mean the Mirage would finally come to Brazil, as the local branch of Mitsubishi focuses only on SUVs and the L200.

[MetroMPG]

52 MPG on my latest fill (also the longest I've gone between fills in many years):





Could it be the winter grade fuel? Is it due to winter weather conditions? Am I getting lazy in my old age and putting less effort into eco-driving? Am I using cruise control instead of driving with load? Did I use the car for some shorter trips that I might have biked otherwise?

Yes.


For comparison, here's the previous Mirage's fuel log - much better winter numbers:

[Gasoline Fumes]

Maybe you should use days per gallon.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Am I getting lazy in my old age and putting less effort into eco-driving? Am I using cruise control instead of driving with load? Did I use the car for some shorter trips that I might have biked otherwise?

I would not be surprised if those factors are more relevant to the decreased fuel savings than winter grade fuel.

[MetroMPG]

With winter gone, I'm thinking of trying these old 15" Civic wheels that I have in my junk pile. Civic tires are 185/65/15, where the Mirage stock size is 165/65/14.

I plugged the tire numbers into this tool: https://www.blocklayer.com/tire-size-calculator.aspx

And it tells me that change would reduce engine RPM (in all gears) by ~8%.

At 80 km/h (~50 mph), the engine is turning around 2250 RPM on the stock tires. Those Civic wheels & tires would drop it to ~2070 rippems!

The final drive swap I did to my Firefly dropped cruising RPM by 20% and increased steady state cruising fuel economy by about 5%.

So all else being equal (it's not), this might net around 2% better MPG's.

Assuming I remember to adjust speed because the speedometer will be off (reading lower).

Pontential downsides that might cancel the gearing change:

A: They're heavier.
B: Multiple aero penalties: extra width, plus they'll raise the ride height a bit.

[Ecky]

Heavier and wider tires impact (stock) Insights pretty significantly, but I'm interested to see what comes of this on your Mirage.