US: nasty cars.com review

[Yttrium]

On Chicago's Lake Shore Drive, it struggled up gentle hills, rivaling The Little Engine That Could. Chevy's Spark has only 84 hp but feels much less lethargic. I did, however, have the Mirage loaded with people and cargo during my weekend test; other editors said power was acceptable in the flatlands of Illinois when saddled with less weight.

Does anyone in North America actually buy a Mirage with plans to regularly load it up with five people + gear and drive it on the interstate? When I got mine I viewed it as a two passenger commuter car with a back seat that will get sat in once every few years.

[MetroMPG]

Good point. Too bad you can't comment directly on the review page.

[Alpha_One]

Does anyone in North America actually buy a Mirage with plans to regularly load it up with five people + gear and drive it on the interstate? When I got mine I viewed it as a two passenger commuter car with a back seat that will get sat in once every few years.

Hey, my Mirage is a carpool workhorse. It regularly sees 2-5 passengers (including the driver) depending on what day of the week it is.

Granted, that is city driving, not highway.

[Mikhail]

Does anyone in North America actually buy a Mirage with plans to regularly load it up with five people + gear and drive it on the interstate? When I got mine I viewed it as a two passenger commuter car with a back seat that will get sat in once every few years.

This really reminds me of Top Gear UK (Series 18 Ep. 3), when James May tested the Fiat Panda.
The Stig took the car and did the 0-70-0 mph test:

Thus, with the Stig alone Panda took only 305 meters for the whole test and 177 meters more (482 m total) with the "average family".



Couldn't find a good video on Youtube, only this:


AND you can also check-out Top Gear web-site (Doesn't work for me for some reason.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00pf2wx

[festiboi]

In back, there's seating for three passengers so long as long as they're three people you don't like. I sandwiched my family back there and it was a bad experiment. The backseat would be adequate for two passengers (like the Chevy Spark's setup), but three is a real stretch.

It's aggravating when these reviews focus on that the Mirage can seat five, as opposed to four (such as in the Spark). Sure, it's not going to be comfortable to have five adults in such a small car, but at least it has the extra seat belt just in case. It seems like there would be less criticism if the Mirage removed the seat belt altogether and reduced some of the car's usefulness

[Ares]

^ Don't know about that. Another thing that appeals me about the mirage is the fact that it might be able to seat 5.

I'll be test driving both the mirage and the spark, and if you compare base-vs-base, they're pretty even.

I usually haul younger cousins around in my car, so I suppose I don't care how squished they are back there.

[grsupercity]

I sell sparks, there headlights are way to big lol. The back door handle is funky and there warranty is ehh

[Ares]

Sorry in advance for the threadjack, but have you heard about something funky going on with cyl#4? Heard horror stories about it going bad around 24k miles.

[Yttrium]

Hey, my Mirage is a carpool workhorse. It regularly sees 2-5 passengers (including the driver) depending on what day of the week it is. Granted, that is city driving, not highway.

You're also not in North America....

I figured in other places where public transportation is good and/or gas costs a lot there would be people buying Mirages for that purpose.

[Flange]

Ares, the #4 cylinder in ours has never worked from day one but the car still does 100mph+, and still returns 50mpg. If only I could get that fourth cylinder to kick in...

On a more serious note, it's interesting to compare the tester's comments with those of people who actually own them - I see the owners average out at 4.5 out of 5.

Moral ? Don't buy a Mirage for a tester: Do buy a Mirage for a user.