Article: Mirage Success Surprising Even to Mitsubishi

[MetroMPG]

Ward's Auto posted a piece today about the surprising success of the Mirage in the U.S.

Apparently people inside the company were split over whether it would sell or not.

After saying that changes were made to the car to make it more "palatable" to U.S. buyers, there's an interesting quote about engine power:

Even after the 5-door went on sale, Mitsubishi engineers were concerned the car’s 74-hp 1.2L 3-cyl. wasn’t powerful enough.

“We brought in 10 consumers who bought (the) Mirage, and we talked to them with our Japanese engineers in Dallas a few months back…(but) not one of the 10 brought up power as an issue”

They also mention that the Mirage sedan is coming to the U.S. later this year, and that the styling is "sportier" than the hatch. And while they expect it to cannibalize some hatch sales, they also expect a net increase.

Full article: http://m.wardsauto.com/auto-makers/m...ven-mitsubishi

[MetroMPG]

Jalopnik picked up the Ward's article and ran with it:

While most critics panned the Mirage as a sub-par econobox, perhaps our Jason Torchinsky was on to something. If you need a vehicle and like the idea of buying something brand new with a full warranty for the least amount of money possible, the Mirage is a decent little car. It’s not exciting, it’s not fancy, but it will get the job done.

Just reading it now... I'm sure the comments will be interesting.

Full article: At What Price Is A Car Good Enough?

[Ares]

Agreed on both.

[Dodger]

They make one Very good point in the article that it is an easy upsale for people looking for a used car that is where I was with ours then my wife showed me the Mirage and I did some research on them and others in the category and desided for what we where looking at in a used car we could get our first ever new one and did the 10/100 warranty sold me on the car.

[R01k]

I'd have bought the sedan any time.

[alex16]

Nice! I love reading about how people say a 3 cylinder car will never sell well in America and it will fail. I also like reading about how my Mirage is a throwaway car and putting quality oil and filters on it is a waste of money when people with Sparks are actually having engine problems and we've only had 1 engine problem I have seen so far and 98% of us have had no engine issues. People will find something to talk bad about... for 13K ES 5 speed... what more could you ever want for that money?

[debburyl]

I was really inpressed with the post!! And glad the they see the need to make some improvements .

[debburyl]

I couldn't agree more with your post!!! Alex16,,,, that's a Plus for Mitsubishi !!! To prove to the people that they are wrong !!!with their Silly reasoning ! About a car that gets over 50mpgs on freeway! It saves money all the way around!

[deleted user]

Paid $7500 for a new 84 CRX, no radio, no AC. 44 mpg
Paid $13,500 for a new 06 Corolla. 35 mpg
Paid $12,964 for the Mirage. 54 mpg

Common sense, fantastic mileage, cheaper than the CRX and the Corolla considering inflation.

To top it off, all the negative press, combined with gas proces that fell under $1.90 @ gallon.

The perfect storm for getting a really great deal on a new car. The warranty is just icing on the cake, I hope I never need it.

regards
mech

[Canoehead]

Power is an interesting thing. I never feel the need for more power in typical driving. On the other hand, taking off from a light in busy traffic I rev it up around 3000rpm. Bigger cars can go the same speed at lower rpm, but they are still going the same speed. In a race, I would likely lose, but for day-to-day, there is plenty there. I grew up on an '88 F-150, and this thing has better acceleration than that did, despite the old Ford being able to tow anything you could get a hitch on!