Poll: What's the longest trip you've taken with your Mirage?

[Alex1a1f]

Just wondering round trip? I took my Mirage from Portland, OR to Moorhead, MN, over 3000 miles round trip, and was wondering how many have driven such a distance.

I drove through plains, deserts, and mountain passes. I thought the car did great and never really felt underpowered at all. I averaged 39 mpg through the whole trip, going speed limit and not over, so 70 mph in Oregon and Washington, 80 in Montana, and 75 in North Dakota. She kept up with traffic without a problem, and I was generally impressed. Many reviews say they're not cut out for freeway travel, but I disagree. The Ds was perfect to not lose speed in the passes.

I will say some things that did bother me though. Taking the corners in the mountains definitely lead to an unsafe feeling in the way the front-end plowed. I need to fix that somehow without the lowering that many do. The headrest should be adjustable too, I would like it farther back. I can't quite think of anything else, except I am happy with this little bugger.

[cyclopathic]

East coast to west, from Mexico to Canada, 11.5k and counting. Will be around 17k when we get home.

[cyclopathic]

Just wondering round trip? I took my Mirage from Portland, OR to Moorhead, MN, over 3000 miles round trip, and was wondering how many have driven such a distance.

I drove through plains, deserts, and mountain passes. I thought the car did great and never really felt underpowered at all. I averaged 39 mpg through the whole trip, going speed limit and not over, so 70 mph in Oregon and Washington, 80 in Montana, and 75 in North Dakota. She kept up with traffic without a problem, and I was generally impressed. Many reviews say they're not cut out for freeway travel, but I disagree. The Ds was perfect to not lose speed in the passes.

I will say some things that did bother me though. Taking the corners in the mountains definitely lead to an unsafe feeling in the way the front-end plowed. I need to fix that somehow without the lowering that many do. The headrest should be adjustable too, I would like it farther back. I can't quite think of anything else, except I am happy with this little bugger.

With upgraded shocks and springs and rear ARB it is a rock solid performer we passed many cars and motorcycles on PCH en route from LA to Olympia, many mountain passes in rockys, Cascades and Sierras. The biggest issue was bottoming out on those rain deeps so common in NW. This car is a fine handler with minimal upgrades it will do 4-wheel drift. You just need to keep it up in powerband 3rd/2nd gear depending on corner. Drop to 3rd while passing.

Yeah and don't put 85 octane fuel, it is a major killer mpg and power-wise

[Eggman]

I agree about the headrest. I wish it were a little further back in order to rest my neck during long drives.

[Minihaha]

Just had Zero on a 2000+ mile jaunt thru nearly all KS (east to west), eastern CO, eastern WY and southwest South Dakota, with my 2 teenage kids along, and hatch mostly full with all our 'luggage.'
Trip was a wonderful time.
If you see my other posts I am definitely a 'speed' guy (I've had Zero on the track!) and one's first impression for me owning this car would seem to be a WTF - and it kinda is... I mean 74HP, *really?* Nonetheless, circumstances lead me to the Mirage (I am a motorcycle racer and also own an S2000 - so they feed my speed need - though Zero comes thru as a DailyDriver in the most delightful ways!, OK enough digression)
Zero held up fantastically. My overall trip MPG was 33.5, right inline with my lifetime overall. I routinely go the 9+ over the speed limit (was loving WY's 80 MPH limit, though there was doing only about 7+). I once passed a row of about 8 cars stacked behind an RV in WY; I couldn't believe no one else was making the pass - so I did. It was *wide* open and a slight down hill, I definitely felt like a champ - (safely) motoring past everyone in the least horsepowered vehicle. The Mirage, if driven spiritedly (up to the high side of the RPM range), makes short work of most peoples' driving norms. The whole "only has 74HP" is semantic, when driving with some oomphh Zero is rarely (if ever) the slowest car on the road.
So, with 1 adult and 2 teenagers (+ luggage) in high altitude settings too, the Mirage did great. My only complaint was that I don't have cruise control, western KS and eastern CO & WY can tire out the leg... But that's an option I just don't happen to have. I am 6'3" too, while the Mirage is definitely a compact car it wasn't (isn't) something that bothered me. I wouldn't hesitate to go on another multi-thousand mile roadtrip in Zero again. My chief complaint actually is all the other behemoths out there... in a tangle I fear that the Mirage would fare worst, but I drive to avoid that - and - the 7 airbags are a reassurance.... On this note: it makes me wonder *why* everyone has these monstrosities for vehicles, if it's for "safety" than it's nothing but an ignorant 'arms race,' - just keep getting bigger than the next guy, if everybody went to a sensible size we'd all be just as 'safe' from one another.

Car has: wider wheels (&tires) and a rear anti-roll bar from UltraRacing, as well as their strut tower brace. Car still rolls thru turns more than I'd like, but compared to stock it's a sports car now. I couldn't imagine having the Mirage sans these basic modifications.

Oh yeah - and all of this was with the AC on! Though for some passes I clicked it off in conjunction with the downshift.

[inuvik]

Well stated. The most significant thing about the 3A92 1.2 is that it's not a crappy agricultural implement. Mitsubishi makes outstanding motors and with MIVEC, DOHC and a timing chain this motor is not afraid to rev so no one should be afraid to wind up to 5-6k in rpm.

[spork]

My odometer read exactly 500 miles when I got home after purchasing. No other long trips in the Mirage, yet.

[Mirage_Sydney]

I bought a Mirage new in 2001 (see pic below of an identical car). They were a different car, obviously. Performance and handling wise, I think, it was slightly superior to my current Mirage. But my current Mirage is much better for carrying passengers and luggage. In my old Mirage I drove from Sydney to Adelaide and back a couple of times. In those days I thought it was fun to do the whole drive each way in one hit - 900 miles (1440 km) - with one stop halfway for fuel. In those days it was easier to get away with going slightly over the speed limit, so I'd do the whole trip, door to door, in 12 hours.



As a family we love our road trips. We are off to the snow tomorrow (it's winter here) but we'll be taking my wife's SUV. I'm looking forward to doing a decent road trip in the new Mirage.

[bkessinger1109]

My mirage has over 47,200 miles, been in every state south and west of ND (16 total), have done 3 major trips: 7600, 5500, and 6400 along with several 700+ mile trips.. The mirage never missed a beat, always got great gas mileage, and was comfortable for driving 20+ hours straight.. I have no complaints with its traveling abilities

[2of9]

Just took her on a 560 mile round-trip from St. Paul, Minnesota to Gran Marais, Minnesota. Had no issues. She drove very comfortably too! My average speed was 70-75mph going there and back. Lots of dead bugs you can't see in the pictures, I gotta get her a wash soon. At highway speeds, there were no issues. Wasn't an issue to pass someone on the slow lane. The only issue was an extremely steep hill in Duluth, seemed like she struggles to get up really steep roads but other than that, the highway corners and small curves were handled really well. I didn't feel like it was going to lose grip but i can still feel that huge body roll (time for some suspension upgrades >)

Gas mileage was GREAT. With the average speed of 72-75mph on the highway, the gauge was showing 42-44 mpg with the AC on. From our starting point to Grand Marais, my gas gauge was at halfway. We did make a few stops but it only took $12 to refill it back to a full tank of gas!

Overall, the car did very well. We didn't pack too much in the car because this was just a weekend trip but if we did pack some luggages for the wife and I, I would have easily rested in the rear trunk space. More spacious than I thought it would be. She handled through the highway corners really well. Never felt like I was going to lose grip. Power was there when I just gave it more gas. Getting it up from 50 to 65mph didn't take too much effort as well. I think I would definitely take more trips with her in the near future. Just gotta upgrade my suspension for less body roll and maybe wider tires just to get a tad bit more grip, sure, it will effect the fuel economy by a bit but I am still amazed at how well it did for what it is.

Here she is at Gooseberry Falls!


Here she is at Split Rock!