2014 Mitsubishi Mirage 3-cyl coming to U.S. & Canada this year - 40 MPG (US) combined

[MetroMPG]

Thanks niky - even if you can't post your words here, a link to the finished piece would be good.

(If you do post stuff here, mind if I crosspost to mirageforum.com? Or feel free to post there yourself - that would be most welcome!)

One mystery I've not quite solved (the fun of Japanese-English translated material) is the MIVEC continuously variable valvetrain. If you have access to technical info, it would be nice to know whether it's on the intake side only, or on both sides. I've seen it described both ways. Mitsu's corporate web site isn't up to date with the latest info.

[MetroMPG]

PS - the Japan market Mirage would be a good place to look if you want to see how far they've taken the car, technically: 0.27 Cd, 1.0L with stop/start, infinitely variable intake valve lift/timing, smart alternator, regen braking, CVT with 2-speed sub-gearbox (= widest gear ratio in any car transmission) plus "idle-neutral" feature, eco-meter (instant fuel consumption) in the cluster in addition to numeric trip-level fuel consumption display. 27.2 km/L / 64 mpg (US) on the Japanese cycle.

Details in: Social and Environmental Report 2012 - MITSUBISHI MOTORS CORPORATION

[niky]

I'll see what I can do. I'm trying to spin off a Mirage solo for the web-portal, and that I can quote and link to.

I'm hearing highway economy well in excess of 20 km/l for our local model... so even without stop-start, the aerodynamics and engine are worth a whole lot. And the CVT might actually make it cheaper to run than the smaller automatic Spark and Kia Picanto. It's already hurting sales of those two quite badly, from what I'm seeing, but we won't get numbers till later this year. Very difficult to beat the cost-savings of Thai production!

Originally Posted by Old Mechanic

Great article Nicky. Wish they would bring those small cars to the US. I would drive one. Compare it to a 1958 Volkswagen with something like 28 HP. I managed to survive 70 MPH Interstates in that VW before the 1973 oil embargo.

regards
Mech

Thanks for the kind words. Kinda embarrassed that my pictures on the lift and dyno came out so bad (dark shop and no flash diffuser), which is why I had to hand-draw illustrations instead. I was inspired by Edmunds' similar pieces on his website, but I'm definitely nowhere near his level of knowledge!

Had to call in a favor for the gearing chart, as Hyundai doesn't publish gear ratios for the car. By my calculations, it seemed that it was the same gearbox as the i10/Santro with a shorter final drive, but apparently all the ratios were bespoke!

[MetroMPG]

FYI: gearing charts for the Mirage are on MirageForum... found them in the Malaysian brochure (if I recall...), but nowhere else:

Gear ratios: 2013/14 M irage transmissions, 5-speed manual & CVT (speed vs. RPM chart))

And we're already thinking top gear is too low for the open road. Sigh. What else is new.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

the Japan market Mirage would be a good place to look if you want to see how far they've taken the car, technically: 0.27 Cd, 1.0L with stop/start, smart alternator, regen braking, eco-meter (instant fuel consumption graphic) in the cluster in addition to numeric trip-level fuel consumption display. 27.2 km/L / 64 mpg (US) on the Japanese cycle.

I hope the Mirage to retain these same features when its Brazilian version come.

[niky]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

FYI: gearing charts for the Mirage are on MirageForum... found them in the Malaysian brochure (if I recall...), but nowhere else:

Gear ratios: 2013/14 M irage transmissions, 5-speed manual & CVT (speed vs. RPM chart))

And we're already thinking top gear is too low for the open road. Sigh. What else is new.

Hmm... nice. Probably should drop by the dyno before I return the car so I can do a torque versus speed graph and get some good shots of the undercarriage, as well.

[MetroMPG]

Think you could do a speed vs. fuel consumption graph too? Pretty please? That would be gold.

[niky]

I could try that. Let me see if the Mirage has an onboard display. The other cars in the test, unfortunately, don't.

[MetroMPG]

It does have a factory, resettable display:

factory fuel economy gauge/display (MID): details, accuracy

[niky]

Cool, then! I'll have a few days with the car to try it out. Won't have a V-Box with me or a ScanGauge, but at the very least I can get ballpark figures.