Hello and Happy New Year

[Paco]

Hi Everyone,

I decided to buy a Mitsubishi Mirage SE 2018 for commute 190 miles on a daily basis to commute. I was unsure between the Mirage and the Sonic but the 100K warranty make me get the Mirage.
I would like any advice on how to make the car more responsive on the freeway. What I mean is when I get into the freeway. I have no problem keeping up with the speed. Only when I’m integrating to the coming traffic, I couldn’t find a manual transmission and I had to get the automatic with CVT.
So far I love my little car. I already make some upgrades like tinting the windows, adding the storage box between seats, all weather mats including the cargo area, I also upgrade the shift knob for the sporty one. I’ll accept any sugestions on how to make my car look better.
Last but no least let me know if you have my club on the SF Bay Area or East Bay that I can join.
I wish you the best in this new year to all of you!

[Eggman]

Hello Paco and welcome to the forum.

The Mirage has a three-cylinder 1.2L engine that develops 78 horsepower. There have been no modifications to increase the engine's power output in any significant & measurable way. It is what it is - a small car with a small engine that requires different driving technique from larger, more powerful vehicles.

I have a manual transmission in my Mirage. I understand the automatic CVT has a Sport mode that may help your on-ramp acceleration. Perhaps another CVT owner can chime in with advice.

Again, welcome. Glad to have you join.

[inuvik]

If you want better merging or taking off from a stop or slow speed downshift your CVT into “L” (B) on the older models. This keeps the transmission in the,lower range. You can go 70mph in “L” so no problem there and punch the throttle. Upshift into “D” at 50 or 60 mph.

[Daox]

Welcome to the site Paco. Its good to have you here.

Weight is a big deal when accelerating. Make sure you aren't carrying around a ton of stuff you don't need.

There are other things you can do like add a header, but I don't think you can get away with that in California.