Mitsubishi Mirage driving in snow (how does it handle?)

[DylanM]

I'll share my experience with my 2014 Mirage CVT.

I live in Nova Scotia currently and they do a rather poor job maintaining there roads here compared to the Niagara Falls Ontario where I'm originally from.

Snow here is usually cleared after the snow storm is done.... in the city your driving in other peoples tire tracks, and on the highway there is only one lane remaining and kept somewhat clear...

The Mirage for a car so light I suppose it does fairly well, I got snow's on mine but in my area the Mirage would not be able to get anywhere without them.

But compared to a midsize car I find it rather terrible.
I had a 2006 Chrysler Sebring with Chinese branded winter tires and it felt nearly unstoppable, the Mirage on the same roads....
It would make it yes, but felt nowhere as near stable or confident on those roads.

Also keeping my driveway clear is mandatory with it! If the snow got to deep the car would just get stuck, my neighbour with his Mazda 3 has pulled me out before when that happened.

This is the smallest car I have ever owned, so I got nothing in it's class to compare it to.
It's much better in the Winter then some large RWD cars I drove in Ontario with all Seasons. (1988 Cadillac Brougham D'elegance) (2007 Chrysler 300)

But only car I can compare it to with my time spent in Nova Scotia is my big old 1986 Chevy K30 truck with locking rear differential and limited slip front that was truly invincible!
I decided not to go to work because of a huge storm, but then I needed to go to Walmart and drove down unplowed roads indifferent in it.

And had that Sebring that I felt was just allot more confident on the roads then the Mirage.

This winter I'll compare it to the 08 Lancer I just purchased this fall.

[Eggman]

Sounds like that's up to and over the bumper, right?

[Marklovski]

1 to 2 feet lol come on.

Forgot to bring my dash cam. Was really bummed out. As ypu can see my grill looks like it was filled with snow, but fell out once we were going faster.

[Canoehead]

I have a couple more observations:

I switched from 155/80r13 studded winter tires to 175/65r14 Nokian Hakkapelita R2 tires this year. I haven't really noticed a big difference in traction, but the Nokians are much quieter, more fuel efficient, and don't rattle the car as much when hitting pot-holes.

Yesterday it snowed just a little, and the streets were very slippery. I drove a van earlier in the day that struggled to even get going without fish-tailing and the stability control kicked in during a very low-speed turn. By contrast, driving the Mirage I won every "stop-light race" in that while others were spinning their tires, the light-weight-low-torque Mirage just walked away (albeit slowly, and with the traction control blinking a bit).

While taking a turn yesterday (again, very slippery), I started to drift sideways - and was pleased to discover that the Mirage seemed very balanced (no over or under steer - just a bit of lateral drift).

Given that this car has about the same ground clearance as a Mazda CX-3, and I put the Christmas tree inside this year, I've taking to calling it an SUV!

[Eggman]

I'm about to find out the benefit of snow tires on a Mirage, as I just put on a set.

Sounds odd to say it, but I'm looking forward to a little snow.

[inuvik]

I have a couple more observations:

I switched from 155/80r13 studded winter tires to 175/65r14 Nokian Hakkapelita R2 tires this year. I haven't really noticed a big difference in traction, but the Nokians are much quieter, more fuel efficient, and don't rattle the car as much when hitting pot-holes.

Yesterday it snowed just a little, and the streets were very slippery. I drove a van earlier in the day that struggled to even get going without fish-tailing and the stability control kicked in during a very low-speed turn. By contrast, driving the Mirage I won every "stop-light race" in that while others were spinning their tires, the light-weight-low-torque Mirage just walked away (albeit slowly, and with the traction control blinking a bit).

While taking a turn yesterday (again, very slippery), I started to drift sideways - and was pleased to discover that the Mirage seemed very balanced (no over or under steer - just a bit of lateral drift).

Given that this car has about the same ground clearance as a Mazda CX-3, and I put the Christmas tree inside this year, I've taking to calling it an SUV!

Too bad you didn’t get a pic of the tree stuffed into your Mirage. We have a thread dedicated to all the things people haul.

[DylanM]

Sounds like that's up to and over the bumper, right?

Hmm those memories are not fresh in my head any longer, last year we had a pretty easy winter overall, and we never needed to challenge the driveway without me clearing it first.

But from what I remember the snow was around the same height at the bottom of the bumper, to slightly taller or abit below in these cases.
I think it was abit taller in some areas when my neighbour with his Mazda 3 had to pull me out.

If the snow is over the bumper generally I won't even try!

This year I'll see how these cheap Chinese winters I purchase perform. I use to use brand name tires but when my Mirage was eating though the tires so fast and before my rear end was replaced (assuming the problem is indeed fixed)

I couldn't justify buying big brand named tires.
They finally replaced my rear end so I should be good now, but I still attend to use the tires I purchased!
If it treats these tires fine in the future moving forward I'll go back to respectable brands.

But these tires have a good feel so far, better then allot of other cheap tires I've used. but haven't had any deep snow to test them in. and my car was able to stop on my ice covered hill driveway fairly well, so that's quite good I suppose!

[Eggman]

Sounds like that's up to and over the bumper, right?

Hmm those memories are not fresh in my head any longer, last year we had a pretty easy winter overall, and we never needed to challenge the driveway without me clearing it first.

But from what I remember the snow was around the same height at the bottom of the bumper, to slightly taller or abit below in these cases.

My comment was directed to Marklovski's post:

There was a narrow road on Snoqualmie Pass where the truck didn't coming the other way didn't want to move at all. My brother drove his truck over the deep snow so I followed. I was cutting through a one to two feet of snow without any problems. Of course the traction control light was popping up but I wasn't losing control at all.

I should have included his quote!

Sorry for the confusion.

[Marklovski]

Yeah as you can see my grill was eating snow. I didnt stop to take pics. I probably should have lol.

[Wallythacker]

I'll share my experience with my 2014 Mirage CVT.

I live in Nova Scotia currently and they do a rather poor job maintaining there roads here compared to the Niagara Falls Ontario where I'm originally from.

The Falls are doing a fair job only on the snow this year. I think the works dept. is complacent because of the low snow fall the last 2-3 years. I lived in Barrie and that's a place that gets snow. Last spring where the snow seemed gone everywhere there were still 3' snowbanks at driveways end in Barrie.