Mirage vs Kia Picanto

[R01k]

I rented a new 2011 Picanto in the Caribbean and drove it for about 500 miles. As far as I can remember, the steering was much firmer than the Mirage.

[foama]

Reliability is definitely good.

[cyclopathic]

This always seems to come down to a question of handling/responsiveness. And the Mirage has been roundly criticized in the enthusiast press for dull steering & its soft suspension... which on the other hand is surprisingly comfortable, able to soak up rough roads (its design goal, after all).

Mirage's handling issues are centered around 3 shortcomings: bad tires, bad alignment and soft suspension set up to navigate dirt roads at low speed.

The strength of the Mirage is clever packaging, MPG, tons of interior space and simplicity. If 2017 fixes handling most pro reviewers will shut up and pretend that this car and what they said about it never happened.

For me maybe with exception of the Mazdas most of the cars at this price point will have handling issues and will need some level of corrective action.

[25Plus]

I like the Bridgestone tires we get here in germany and brakes are as good as the brakes in the Kia/Hyundai. I drove the Hyundai ix20 several times and I don´t like some features of the korean cars. The ix20 drove better than the mirage, the clutch was better and the gearbox was very short. But it wasn´t fun to drive, too.

The Space Star has more room inside and fuel consumption of the Kia is about 20 % higher.

Space Star 1.0: 4,9 l/100 km
Space Star 1.2: 5,1 l/100 km

Picanto 1.0: 6,0 l/100 km
Picanto 1.2: 6,1 l/100 km

The Space Star is a good offer if you buy a special model with a good feature list. On the IAA Mitsubishi only had two Space Star with very unattractive equipment, I wouldn´t have bought one of this models. But I will post a few pictures in another thread.

The Eibach springs are comfortable, too, and handling is much better and much more neutral with less understeering.

[Clessy]

Thanks, you confirmed many of my impressions. How would you say the Mirage fares against the more expensive small cars such as Mazda 2, Honda Jazz, and Toyota Yaris? Does the difference between the Mirage and the three menitioned models equal a quantum leap so to speak?

The mazda 2 came off as a real cheap effort. In America the cars already cancelled. Its visual styling wasn't considered appealing at all. I think that was the biggest issue against it. Most people just absolutely hated how it looked. The engine was also kinda noisy and should of offered more hp for it larger 1.5 displacement.

[cyclopathic]

2

The mazda 2 came off as a real cheap effort. In America the cars already cancelled. Its visual styling wasn't considered appealing at all. I think that was the biggest issue against it. Most people just absolutely hated how it looked. The engine was also kinda noisy and should of offered more hp for it larger 1.5 displacement.

Where does this come from? I've seen Mazda2 in Canada and it was a real looker. Would have picked it up over Mirage without thinking twice. It got postponed b/C of much higher profit margins on CX-3 and situation with Scion iA.

Mazda Mexico plant is running at full capacity and there' no money to be made by selling subcompacts. Even if you charge premium look at 500, Mirage, Smart, etc. Everyone in US of A wants an SUV. Just compare CX-5 and Mazda3 sales

[MetroMPG]

^ The rest of the world got the next gen Mazda 2 about a year ago. It's a vastly better car than the old one, from what I've read.

Mazda has decided (for now) not to sell it in the U.S. (not sure about Canada, but I think we're getting it in 2016).

BUT you can still get it in the States in sedan form, re-badged as a 2016 Scion iA (Toyota sub-brand). It's supposedly very good -- American review: http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/201.../#more-1105937

And it has comparable EPA fuel economy ratings to the Mirage: 37 MPG combined, 42 on the highway for the 6-speed auto.

[cyclopathic]

^ The rest of the world got the next gen Mazda 2 about a year ago. It's a vastly better car than the old one, from what I've read.

Mazda has decided (for now) not to sell it in the U.S. (not sure about Canada, but I think we're getting it in 2016).

BUT you can still get it in the States in sedan form, re-badged as a 2016 Scion iA (Toyota sub-brand). It's supposedly very good -- American review: http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/201.../#more-1105937

And it has comparable EPA fuel economy ratings to the Mirage: 37 MPG combined, 42 on the highway for the 6-speed auto.

Yes Canada is getting Mazda2, we saw one in the streets of Montreal last week. USA is only getting it in Puerto Rico.

It is better than Mirage in any possible way, except there is no way they could sell it for less than 16k.

iA is for sale and the cheapest it had been listed for 15.5k to 17.5k.

Mazda cx-3 is for sale and listed from 19.9 to 26k. It is basically 95% Mazda2 with 2.0 engine sitting higher. If you consider that it costs them almost as much to build CX-3 as Mazda2, no wonder they've chosen one over other.

[Clessy]

Checked into that new one badged under a scion. Looks rather nice. Its good to see Toyota is actually trying to make the scion brand cool. They've got 3 sporty fun cheap cars now. tc, frs, and the iA.

[philby]

Mirage's handling issues are centered around 3 shortcomings: bad tires, bad alignment and soft suspension set up to navigate dirt roads at low speed.

Bad tires and alignment? How severe are these faults? Will they cause the car to come apart if I regularly transport heavy loads?