Yesterday I got my Mirage. In part thanks to things I read on this forum. So for that, thanks all.
Like any car, there were some pluses and some things not so good. Overall I'd give it about an 8 out of 10.
The fun is figuring it out. I put about 130 miles on it. I still don't get all the dials, but little by little they're coming to me. The radio with all the high tech stuff is something I've never had. I pretty much just listen to the radio. Sirius and all that other stuff I have no real interest in.
Setting the radio was easy enough. The touch screen push buttons on the screen were new to me. I'm used to physical button type controls. It felt weird that buttons 3 and 6 felt far away in such a small car. I pretty much listen to one station (Positive Country) about 90% of the time. It's commercial free and plays the music I like. It doesn't have a strong signal though. Sometimes at the end of my route (25 miles away) the station comes in. Other times it doesn't. The steering wheel button flipping through the stations came in handy.
The comfort was an odd experience. When I sat in the thing, I loved it. I get comfort is subjective. I've read on here those who don't find it comfy. I could have put the seat back and dozed. It was that comfy. As my day went on though, it felt a bit more un-comfy. By the end, I was thinking I'm going to carry my Purple Pillow, which I used when I drove a truck- with me on my 400 mile trip.
The turns at low speed were great. The turning radius on this puppy is great. There's a round-about in my route that 90% of the people- including me- take up part of 2 lanes to make their turn. I stayed in my lane. Also there were a few places on my route that can save a few seconds per stop. Doing a U-turn and always going forward beats pulling in and backing up.
Turning at higher speeds is tougher. There's a few entrances to the highway on my route that it can't really handle at a fast enough speed. There's one entrance that is essentially a 25MPH U-turn, hardly any runway to get on, and then ya have to merge into traffic. My route is later at night, so not much traffic. During the day I'd avoid that entrance, even though it would add a few miles.
The fuel economy was fun. For starters, the gauge barely went down. Took a second to realize it was a right/left type gauge. I like it!! Then going through the MPG, I got 36.8 on the city part. At the highway part I got up to 39.4. My take is that means I'm getting over 40 on the highway. I didn't reset it or anything. Then when I got back to city driving, for the last 10 miles or so it went down to 39.3. Nice!! It sure beats 20. That right there is why I bought the car. When I get more used to it, my goal will be 40. I'm not sure how accurate the gauge is, but I'll find out. My Fusion gauge would say 17-18, but I got about 20.
I pretty much kept it under 70MPH. I passed a truck for a bit and got it up to 75, but not so sure I'd feel comfortable keeping it at that speed for any length of time. Maybe as I get used to it that will change. For now 70 is my top cruising speed w/ the occasional 75 to pass someone.
Seat belt chimes drove me batty. I've disconnected those in my last 3 vehicles. They all disconnect pretty much the same way. It didn't work with the Mirage. I get in/out of the thing about 45 times a day. A lot of those times are bunched together. So I don't want the belt on for 1000 feet. I called the dealership to make sure I wasn't going to void any warranty. They said there was no way to do it. No biggie. I'll order some clips from Amazon. They cost about $5 or so.
The back up cam was new. I'd never had one. I guess it's nice, but I still think it's better to simply look.
I hesitated to put this in here. I DON'T want any advice just yet. I want to figure it out. The fan is odd. If I put the temp down, the fan speeds up. I'm not running AC, just the fan. When I have the temp at 62 or so, the fan blows as if it's on high. When I have it at 72, it slows down some. I'd rather set the temp and fan speeds independently. I tried the auto button on/off and a couple of other things. It's not bothersome or anything. I'm not going to focus on that while driving. It's hardly a priority. I just want to figure it out. In time I'll either figure it out or realize that's how they designed it.
I love the manual. This would apply to any car. I catch way more green lights. Downshifting lets ya cruise into em at 15MPH (or whatever speed) that w/ my mini van or an automatic ya just get to the red light, stop a few seconds, and then it turns green. If someone is right behind ya, I'll either tap the brakes so they know I'm slowing down- or just go to the light and stop like I'd do in an automatic. Time of day, a quick peek in the mirror, and a few other things determine how I'll approach a stop light. At least with the 5 speed ya have options.
Overall I'm giving it an 8 out of 10. The pep was more than I expected. More than my mini van for sure. I'm not going to win any drag races, but that's ok. I'm not going to enter any. The fuel economy seems to be great. It drives nice. Handles well most of the time. The comfort I'll figure out what fits for me. I love it on the many times I get in/out of it the first half of my route. It's a bit less comfy on the 2nd half, where I have two 25 mile stops.
Driving this thing is fun. Other than the MPG, that's the main thing. I loved my HHR. That was a great car. My mini van was ok, but not fun. That makes a great back up vehicle, but I didn't care for it as a primary. The Fusion was a nice riding car. Love it on the highway, but the MPG was brutal. After 1 day, it looks as if the Mirage will be a good combination of great MPG, fun to drive, practical- and the things that aren't great about it I can live with.
Thanks to all those who helped me buy it. Not just those who replied to a comment I had, but I also read a lot of these pages for a few days there. Thanks a ton and looking forward to starting to get to know some of ya's online and your experiences w/ your Mirage.
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