Question from a reader: is Mirage the car to replace my old 1.0L Geo Metro?

[MetroMPG]

A U.S. website visitor submitted these questions today. Feel free to chime in, everybody...

I am presently looking for the highest-mileage, non-hybrid car that I can find in the lower 48 states. I am reading, with great interest, your articles about the Mitsubishi Mirage. I am hoping that this car represents a replacement for my much beloved, but now deceased Geo Metros. My questions are:

1.) Do you know if or when the 1.0 liter version will come to the USA ?

2.) Do you know of any other gas or diesel cars that can attain similarly high gas mileage?

3.) Do you know of any confirmation of the high gas mileage reported in that video from Thailand?

4.) Is there any way to get a VW Lupo into the USA?

Thanks,

1) Ain't never gonna happen. (My 2 cents, only.) I'd love to be wrong, but 1.0L sales would only be a fraction of Mirage sales -- not enough to make it worth the company's investment. Also, North American reviewers would savage the 1.0L car. Many of them already attack the 1.2L for being underpowered. I'd buy one, though! See Poll: 1.0L Mirage engine = 7.5% better fuel economy. Would you choose it?

2) Hmm. Well, the 5-speed Ford Fiesta 1.0L turbo is rated 45 mpg US on the highway cycle. That's the highest non-hybrid highway mileage you can get. If you want to spend $18k+ to get it. The Mirage with the CVT has the highest combined EPA rating for a non-hybrid. But due to the way EPA tests are performed, I think the 5-speed Mirage will return better fuel economy in the real world to a motivated driver.

3) Those economy run events are typically held at very fuel economy friendly speeds: 60-80 km/h (~40-50 mph) and only in MPG-friendly weather (warm to hot) and over relatively long distances (short trips get the worst economy). If that describes your typical usage, you would see excellent figures. Some of the contestants also use advanced driving techniques like pulse & glide or engine-off coasting to get super excellent numbers.

A stock Mirage with manual transmission will get very close to the mileage of a last generation Chevy/Geo Metro manual. See: 2014 Mitsubishi Mirage vs. Geo Metro MPG -- fuel economy showdown

Look through the MirageForum fuel economy logs to see what real owners are getting.

4) Don't know. Maybe someone else will chime in on that and your other questions.

[Ares]

There are ways of importing cars in. However it's usually a pain, both in the head and in the pocket.

[grsupercity]

Plus getting parts for an up would be a pain, nobody would have the tools to read the computers to work on one