Darin's review notes: base 2014 Mirage 5-speed manual (Mitsubishi Canada loaner)

[Mitsuman]

Great review so far, MetroMPG! The car sounds great. I'll keep reading to hear the latest from you on it. Hey, have you heard of The Tragically Hip? They're my 3rd best rock band and they hail from Kingston, Ontario. I don't know if they'll ever come to New Mexico, Texas or Arizona but I sure wish they would. Love 'em! But I digress.

[Alpha_One]

People even seem to really like its looks. (More than I do!) I'm on a mission to ask 50 people what they think of the styling, and so far (6 people in) it's doing surprisingly well: 7.8 out of 10, average. Early trends? People like the rear spoiler, they like the colour, but they aren't crazy about the bulbous, bull nose front end.

Frankly I think it's because most non-car enthusiast types aren't really up to date with the latest car-styling fashions. My mom's 2004 Honda Jazz (Fit for you North Americans) is immaculately maintained and is very often mistaken for a "brand new car". It's a 10-year-old car for crying out loud. The girls think my Mirage is really cute, even if the styling is supposedly "90's Hyundai" according to the Interwebs. Perhaps Mitsubishi had more market research on the styling than we give them credit for.

[Donut]

btw, I have just noted from the photos the slight differences between the Mirage's Canada and US base versions.

My Mirage is DE trim and I got alloy wheels, door handles/rear mirror in green, and AC as standard features. I have paid USD 12800,- out of the door, including all fees and taxes...


Do the US customers get more value for the same buck? (I didn't get Bluetooth, though)

[MetroMPG]

How are you liking the clutch, and shifting? How does it compare to your firefly?

The Mirage's clutch is easily the lightest I've ever used. It makes the Metro/Firefly clutch feel like driving a truck! The difference is surprisingly big.

It's easy to modulate, too. I take pride in driving smoothly -- starting up from a stop, upshifts & downshifts, the works. And this car makes it very easy to do that.

Shift action is also light & smooth. (I'm reluctant to compare to the Firefly there because the trans in the car has a lot more miles on it than the car itself -- probably ~180k+ km, vs. 34k on the car. I swapped it in for the taller final drive.) The Mirage's shift feel is nowhere near as direct/positive as, say, a Miata -- wouldn't exactly describe it as "fun".

But for anyone who thinks they shouldn't get a manual Mirage because they drive a lot in traffic, I say the manual is so easy to use, that's no reason not to.

Also, I wasn't joking when I said the pedals are positioned decently for heel & toe work.

EDIT: also, the position of the friction point seems OK to me. I know some owners (Alpha) have adjusted it after driving the car for a while. Maybe it's one of those subjective preferences... or maybe mine was set up just right.

[MetroMPG]

Hey, have you heard of The Tragically Hip? They're my 3rd best rock band and they hail from Kingston, Ontario. I don't know if they'll ever come to New Mexico, Texas or Arizona but I sure wish they would. Love 'em! But I digress.

Kingston is just down the highway from here, and yup, I'm a Hip fan! I've seen them a bunch of times -- actually, I've probably gone to see them more than any other single band/musician.

I actually went to the States to see them once - they played a festival in Vermont. Maybe 15 years ago? I don't really keep up on their tour schedule though.

[MetroMPG]

Alpha: I wouldn't disagree with you on any of those points. Several women have specifically said "cute!" when I asked them what they thought of its looks.

Donut: I've seen base Mirages in the U.S. that look exactly the same as ours, but it also seems more than a few are getting the upgrades you got. I haven't seen enough base ones in Canada to know if some of ours are getting those upgrades too.

[Alpha_One]

For anyone who thinks they shouldn't get a manual Mirage because they drive a lot in traffic, I say the manual is so easy to use, it's no reason not to.

Yes. This. Take it from the guy who drives in Manila!!!

I actually prefer the Mirage's manual to the Fiesta's DSG as the former is so easy to precisely modulate and the latter tends to hesitate in stop-and-go traffic.

[MetroMPG]

Not to mention you can do things with the manual you can't do with a DSG!

[fusion210]

Will you be posting your own steady state speed vs mpg test? It's one of my favorite bits of reviews!

[MetroMPG]

Hi fusion -

Yes! We do already have some speed vs. MPG numbers for the CVT & 5-speed, but the more numbers, the better. I plan to do those runs next week.

I'm also hoping to do a fuel economy comparison with a CVT Mirage (with the owner I met last week) on their normal 25 km daily commute (one way).