1 week now (base Mirage DE manual - paying for itself in gas savings)

[m4v3r1ck]

CVT's just laziness Manual transmission's the way to drive a car!
Welcome here and glad to have another happy driver here.
I'm averaged 19 km/litre and i dun think it's economical but hey it's still half of what my Galant is using!!

[RedDE5Spd]

Mitsuman-
The manual transmission works out great, the clutch is light and the gears shift smoothly.

[Mitsuman]

RedDE5Spd-great color choice, great gas mileage and I am so happy that you gave me the news you did on the notchiness of the stick shifter. Great ta hear that! Now I can keep this car on my futures list in all crispness and brightness. Ya know, I am a fan of the old Chevy Sprint and Ford Festiva (built for Ford by Kia Motors) and this new Mitsubishi Mirage is a new world order vesion of those old rigs. I am really impressed by the gas mileage of this car. RedDE5Spd...are you OK with the car's handling? Also, apparently the steering has a dead spot top-dead center that's annoying some of the reviewers. Might be a bunch of hot air, though, what is your take on the steering and handling of the little mighty-might?

[RedDE5Spd]

The car handles well for me up to 75 and then it can get a little wobbly but not terrible. I've noticed a small dead spot at the dead center, however it hasn't bothered me. Rather it has been comforting having a little slack (not more than maybe a half degree either way if I had to guess) from center, our roads have been either icy or snowy about every day I've driven the car since buying it.

The steering and handling along with suspension and brakes work great on this car considering it's size and weight, and we have to remember that it's a $13,000 economy car not a performance car. Compromises had to be made to get the fuel mileage out of it, but at the same time it's a better equipped base model vehicle than most if not all vehicles in its class. I looked at the Spark but it didn't even have a CD player in the base model, and it was more expensive.

[Mitsuman]

Thanks for that, Billy. I learn more from the regular people who buy cars I'm also interested in than reading reviews from Consumer Reports, Car and Driver, etc. Reviewers from those magazines are spoiled by whatever people find "hot" these day, BMW's, Audi's, whatever. They put down cars I like so I have gotten to the point that I would rather ask people who aren't reviewers how they like their new cars.

So far I like what I see in this new small, tight turning hatchback from Mitsubishi. Loving what I'm reading and I'm starting to like the car more every few days!

[RedDE5Spd]

I hadn't seen the reviews until just lately, and they totally contradict my opinion of the car. I filled up today (8.2 gallons) and got 34.7 mpg out of tank. Idle time to warm up, we had negative temps. also some speeding and testing the ESC/traction on the snow and ice to get used to how the car handles it (quite well).

[Mitsuman]

RedDE5Spd-this pup is really starting ta interest me now, because if it handles decently up to 75 mph, I'm covered. I drive like an old Grandpa! I take really good care of my rigs, too. I know that Mitsubishi engineers will design any car they build to handle decently at least.Thanks for your input...I will look for your posts throughout the board to continue to see how you like your Mirage. I love red (our '08 Lancer GTS is painted Rally Red) but I also like the blue Mitsubishi's painting the Mirage and I also am starting to really like the Apple Green color of the '14 Mirage, too. Thanks for your comments. I can tell you're like me and pretty much everyone on this board...we love and take care of our cars plus we're unlike a lot of U.S. consumers-we picked up that Mitsubishi knows their stuff very well and they also love automobiles. Take a minute sometime (if you haven't yet) and go to the worldwide Mitsubishi automotive website and read up on the history of Mitsubishi carbuilding. Absolutely incredible write-up on their inception and history. They love cars, trucks and SUV's and it shows in their carbuilding. They are my favorite and I don't see myself straying from them when it comes time ta buy a new rig again.

My next rig might very well be a new Mirage, however, I love my '08 Lancer GTS so much that our next rig might very well be a new hybrid Lancer GT, if they build them that way. Because of the gas savings, though, a new Mirage might grace our driveway one day. I love these cars from Mitsubishi!