Mirage vs Prius C review

[cyclopathic]

Great post, thanks for writing it up!

Can you clarify how the Mirage interior is soft vs the Prius? As far as I know there isn't any soft material in the Mirage minus the seats. I haven't sat in a Prius C.

I don't know but the roundness creates soft feel. Honestly for a while I thought it is soft, that until I touched it.

Another plus for Mirage that while it is also black it doesn't seems to heat up as bad as in Prius. It must be reflective in infrared spectrum or something. The solar gain is much worse in "C".

They're up to 25 comments on the Green Car Reports article about this. (Yeah, a bunch are mine. )

I will go and comment too

Says a lot about my under 13k car that it would even be compared with the Prius C, (somewhat sarcastic). I prefer compliant to softly sprung, goes around turns fine and doesn't beat me up otherwise. Difference in mileage would be less than 10% ?

It is hard to make the judgement, b/c it was on specific route. From what I've seen if it is freeway at steady 55-60MPH it could equal or even beat "C". "C" is definitely has advantage where electrics work, in stop and go, slowing down to traffic lights and A/C. But my last full tank on very green Mirage (900mi on odo) was 51.25MPG actual, and last tank on "C" was 59.-something calculated (the real MPG would be 2-3MPG less).

With respect to cushiness yeah I hear you. Suspension is great in swallowing potholes, see someone appreciating it. Especially in flat lands (though there are some nice roads your area.. had been on a bike there) Where this turns bad when you need to change directions. Too much roll and bad side grip from tires.

But this is fixable. We have coilovers on order, and when it gets sorted out we will take it to Blue Ridge and Deals Gap, stay posted

And yes while it looses to "C" in many aspects it does it by the buzz beater not by country mile. And the 6K+ difference on 12-18K car is huge.

IMHO if Mitsu had up'ed spring rates by 20-30%, put stiffer rear shocks (which would cost them nothing) and put 15" tires in common size (say 185/60R15) it would have been much closer. Slightly better speakers would be good too.

Fix those points and you have an equal car with almost as good MPG for thousands less - a clear winner in my view. Right now it is just a better value, and if "C" and Mirage were the same price "C" would have been a winner.