Mirage vs competitors, power to weight ratio comparison

So, we know from our last compairison on curb weights (http://mirageforum.com/forum/showthr...ge-curb-weight) that the Mirage is a really light car compared to most. We also know from reading pretty much every review that it doesn't have an overabundance of power. But, does that matter since it is so light? Light cars don't need as much horsepower to accelerate. So, in this compairison we're going to look at power to weight ratios of the Mirage and its competitors. All the weights are the U.S. 5spd manual version unless there isn't one available (as is the case for the iQ and ForTwo).

	Car	Horsepower	Weight (lbs)	Weight / Horsepower
1.	Hyundai Accent	138	2396	17.4
2.	Kia Rio	138	2410	17.4
3.	Mini Cooper	121	2535	21.0
4.	Ford Fiesta	120	2537	21.1
5.	Honda Fit	117	2496	21.3
6.	Nissan Versa (sedan)	109	2354	21.6
7.	Toyota Yaris	106	2295	21.7
8.	Scion iQ	94	2127	22.6
9.	Mazda 2	100	2306	23.0
10.	Fiat 500	101	2363	23.4
11.	Smart ForTwo	70	1808	25.8
12.	Mitsubishi Mirage	74	1973	26.3
13.	Chevrolet Spark	84	2337	27.8

So, despite the very lightweight design of the Mirage, its still on the low side of the power to weight ratios of its competitors. Is this bad? Not necessarily. It really just means you have to push your gas pedal down a bit further and that you'll be getting better gas mileage. It also means you probably won't be winning any races with your Mirage though. :D

Interesting. So, better power:weight ratio than the porky Spark, which will be the Mirage's main rival in the U.S.

It will probably fall into 12th position behind the Smart, though, once we get the U.S. weight for the Mirage (it's bound to be a bit heavier than the Australian version).

interesting info.. i thought Mirage is so light that power-to-weight ratio becomes better than others

arsu: the Mirage may get a more favourable comparison in your market. Daox posted U.S. competitors only. But you guys get a bunch of other competing cars in your region that we don't get on this side of the pond.

I suspect that Mirage has better power:weight than most of the other cars produced under Thailand's ECO-car program.

In this side of the world, the entry-level versions of the Accent, Rio, Fit, Yaris, and Mazda 2 come with smaller, less powerful engines. With the Mirage being much lighter as well, it beats cars $3000 more expensive in the power-weight ratio department.

at the end of the day, what cost you the gasoline. I am driving through a jammed street everyday, 2 hrs in the morning, 1.5 hrs in the evening. Average per week around 140 km, consumption around 8km/L.

I guess the efficiency will be on higher speed, as it will be conserving the momentum. On jammed street and stop-n-go traffic is a bit tricky, too high power will be gasoline waste. Too light power will also consumes more petrol to move the car. I had a feeling the Mirage's CVT is a kind of putting the transmission on "neutral" while moving, so it will be less engine brake and conserving the movement momentum (but it costs you the brake pads). Hence the ECO saving...

just a guess..

Will the mirage do better then we think from that comparison when the aerodynamics are taken into account at least in the higher speed acceleration and climbing ability?

Well, you're right: power to weight doesn't tell the whole story. Aerodynamics and gearing could change which car actually has better acceleration.

Arsu: sounds like just about the worst kind of driving for any car!

With the new info we just got today on the official curb weights for the US Mirage, I've updated the first post with the new data. This has dropped the Mirage down to 12th place on the chart where as it was previously tied for 11th with the Smart Fortwo.

Prius C 99hp 2500lbs 25.3