A Weekend with a Mirage Rental

[MetroMPG]

Also, the hit *appears* to be bigger in a cars that gets high MPG readings to begin with.

In other words, you take a 20% efficiency hit in a "50 mpg" car and you drop to 40 mpg. But the same 20% drop in a 20 mpg car puts you down to 16 mpg. The 10 mpg drop looks much worse than a 4 mpg hit, but it's proportionately the same.

[MetroMPG]

PS: enjoyed your review. Really thorough. Bump this thread when you post on your site, please.

[cinder]

Thanks for all the effort and the astounding views . Like the picture of the Mirage in front of the Hummer .

[cookiemonster]

- Radio reception was poor; stations I can get on other cars during this long trip were just static on the Mirage. The power button on the radio did not work and the radio could not be turned off.

Are you sure you were pressing the power button correctly? I thought mine wasn't working either after a quick press ... then I found out that I had to hold it down for about 3 seconds to actually turn it off.

[festiboi]

Are you sure you were pressing the power button correctly? I thought mine wasn't working either after a quick press ... then I found out that I had to hold it down for about 3 seconds to actually turn it off.

Maybe that was the problem, I was just pressing it quickly as well; which is often how it works on most cars. Yet another Mirage quirk. I'll have to try that again. Thank you for offering a possible solution

[floridamissionary]

Are you sure you were pressing the power button correctly? I thought mine wasn't working either after a quick press ... then I found out that I had to hold it down for about 3 seconds to actually turn it off.

I wish it was like every other car and would just turn off when i hit the button, i usually just hit the auxiliary button when i want it muted then hit the fm button to bring back to the radio

[grsupercity]

hmmm enterprize. I wonder if I can get my hands on one?

Thanks for the review, enjoyed the info and pics

[kerc]

Are you sure you were pressing the power button correctly? I thought mine wasn't working either after a quick press ... then I found out that I had to hold it down for about 3 seconds to actually turn it off.

This is correct, that's how it works.

[Ares]

My Yaris is pretty neutral -- come into a turn a little hot, lift, give the wheel a little flick and the back will come right around. It is a little surprising the first time around, but feels totally natural once you feed in a little countersteer.

Not me:

While those do give the false impression of oversteer, when using that technique in racing, you actually:
1. Lose a whole lot of time
2. Use more rubber than you're supposed to
3. Stress parts more than they're supposed to

Oops, you're welcome to correct me if I'm wrong (which happens a lot!!!). I thought it was oversteer, the back wheels would give out and start to slide on some sharper bends. I always get confused, is that understeer? It was kinda like those videos that adrew posted above in the Yaris; I was wasn't that extreme at all and much more responsible with public safety, but I do push cars hard through mountain turns and it did some minor back end slides (still not anywhere as crazy as the video).

I have had three close calls like that first video in my younger days and drive much more cautiously now.

Those posted above were, in fact, oversteer.

Understeer usually happens when you're turning one direction and the front wheels lose grip - which makes you turn LESS than what you're trying to turn.

FWD cars and cars with heavier front/rear distribution usually have this problem.

The mirage, in my personal tests do not - or show little signs of understeer.

[M-88]

You can get a FWD car to oversteer. Quite confusing the first time it happens.

I don't push the limits when driving, but I just didn't like how my Focus handled from the factory. It just felt like it was going to understeer into the guard rails on tight turns .... even when driving it lightly. I installed a junkyard rear swaybar (didn't come with one) and felt much better.

Was very surprised the first time the rear end stepped out on me! Wasn't bad as it was on dry pavement. Got ... interesting ... first time I was in heavy snow, tried to turn quick and ended up with the back end sliding around.