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Thread: New owner, moved up from a smart car.

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    New owner, moved up from a smart car.

    My old Smart car finally needed more work than was worth putting into it so we have added a 2021 ES HB to the family. It will mostly be for my daughter to drive. She commented on how peppy and smooth it was compared to the Smart car.
    My only complaint is that there is no center armrest and custom seat covers seem hard to come by. I ordered a cheap ($28) armrest from ebay and for seat covers Dash Designs were talked about in a long thread here, but they say they do not have covers for 2021 yet. The seats look the same, was there any change from 2020 to 2021 for the seats?


    Last edited by applezz13; 06-12-2021 at 01:40 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by applezz13 View Post
    My old Smart car finally needed more work than was worth putting into it so we have added a 2021 ES HB to the family. It will mostly be for my daughter to drive. She commented on how peppy and smooth it was compared to the Smart car.
    My only complaint is that there is no center armrest and custom seat covers seem hard to come by. I ordered a cheap ($28) armrest from ebay and for seat covers Dash Designs were talked about in a long thread here, but they say they do not have covers for 2021 yet. The seats look the same, was there any change from 2020 to 2021 for the seats?
    I have Dash Design seat covers. As you may have seen, you can buy them cheaper through rockauto.com verses the factory. When I bought mine through rockauto.com, they still came directly from the factory. I see there is a 9-day wait, which isn't bad. I am very happy with mine.

    I would contact someone like Erik. He owns a 2018 Mirage, & he just bought a 2021 Mirage for his wife a couple months ago. Erik seems to response to comments on his youtube channel, and he is a member of this forum.

    I will provide a link to one of his Mirage clips, and a thread you can find him on here. I would ask your question in his comment section & private message him from the forum. He goes by Mrfixit on the forum. You can click on his name on any of his posts & private message him. He may notice your post, but this may be quicker for you.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTKrYAVx9eQ

    https://mirageforum.com/forum/showth...Farpoint-Farms

    Erik just did a fog light install on his wife's 2021 Mirage recently. That can be found on youtube, & he shared it on the forum.

    My guess is the seats are basically the same. You could ask a dealership, or compare the two at a dealership, too.

    Hope this helps! Welcome to the forum!
    Last edited by Mark; 06-12-2021 at 03:21 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by applezz13 View Post
    My old Smart car finally needed more work than was worth putting into it so we have added a 2021 ES HB to the family. It will mostly be for my daughter to drive. She commented on how peppy and smooth it was compared to the Smart car.
    My only complaint is that there is no center armrest and custom seat covers seem hard to come by. I ordered a cheap ($28) armrest from ebay and for seat covers Dash Designs were talked about in a long thread here, but they say they do not have covers for 2021 yet. The seats look the same, was there any change from 2020 to 2021 for the seats?
    Hello applezz13 and welcome to the forum.

    Pretty sure there were no design changes to the seats so the Dash Designs seat covers should work. Maybe they haven't had their hands on a 2021 to verify? I've seen a 2021 in my dealership and didn't notice any big changes. Hopefully you share your results.

    Question - what engine did your Smart car have? Isn't it supposed to be the same 3-cylinder in the Mirage?

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 49.6 mpg (US) ... 21.1 km/L ... 4.7 L/100 km ... 59.5 mpg (Imp)


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    The Smart had a 1l 70hp 3 cylinder in it. It is rear engine (just behind the seats) so much louder as well.

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    Quote Originally Posted by applezz13 View Post
    The Smart had a 1l 70hp 3 cylinder in it. It is rear engine (just behind the seats) so much louder as well.
    Yep, that sure sounds like the Mitsubishi 3B2. You should find the 3A92 in your new Mirage to have better performance both in power and fuel economy. And you get to enjoy all the new-found room! Imagine all the cargo you can now haul. I think you'll find the Mirage an improved version of the Smart car.

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 49.6 mpg (US) ... 21.1 km/L ... 4.7 L/100 km ... 59.5 mpg (Imp)


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    Quote Originally Posted by applezz13 View Post
    ...seat covers seem hard to come by.
    I emailed Wet Okole for years asking about Mirage seat covers. The Mirage shows up on their available seat cover list, but it you try and order them, they will cancel your order and tell you they don't have patterns for Mirage seats. The last time I emailed them was maybe 18 months ago. I gave up and got the Dash Design covers.

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 52.2 mpg (US) ... 22.2 km/L ... 4.5 L/100 km ... 62.6 mpg (Imp)


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    Welcome applezz13 - Nice title. Move "UP" from a SmartCar. I've always had a healthy respect for the SmartCar, but never considered owning one due to the lack of utility it offers. But otherwise I was OK with it.

    I'm curious though, I'd like to know what you like better about the Mirage over the SmartCar ... you know, from an actual owner of both. I would imagine the Mirage feels ginormous inside compared to the smartcar. Maybe better efficiency? Not sure about that. I think our manual transmission Mirages do better than the CVT Mirages, and I think the Smart Car sports a CVT as well.

    Anywho, welcome, and would be interested in your take.


    7milesout

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2020 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 42.4 mpg (US) ... 18.0 km/L ... 5.6 L/100 km ... 50.9 mpg (Imp)


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    Move up as in space, and mileage. The Smart was getting mid 30s and required high octane. It actually has an automatic manual transmission, which could be quite jerky. It was mostly my daughters car for driving to school and work and also helped out there as I knew she couldn't haul a bunch of kids around that would distract her. The Mirage is much smoother to drive and has a lot less road noise. If the reviewers who hate on the Mirage had to drive a gas Smart car for a week before their review I bet we would here a different viewpoint on the Mirage.

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    I miss my fortwo; TBH I miss most of the cars I had in the past.
    Hope you enjoy your new Mirage.
    2018 Mirage

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2018 Mirage GT 1.2 automatic: 38.0 mpg (US) ... 16.1 km/L ... 6.2 L/100 km ... 45.6 mpg (Imp)


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    Aren't smart cars the ones with the automated manual transmissions, how did you like that?



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