Originally Posted by
Tinker1980
So why does the cvt version spin so much slower than the 5 speed? I haven't driven a cvt mirage, but I'll bet the instant you breathe on the gas pedal, the little thing slams into low range and spools the engine up to 3,000+ rpm. The 5 speed can't do this. Mitsubishi was worried that if they geared the car too high, people in the US would be trying to run the car at 45-55 in 5th gear, and engines would die as a result. So they did what a lot of other manufacturers of small cars did - they geared it low. It still gets amazing mileage, and now it will run forever too. It just spins faster doing it.
I think it is more about being not psychologically acceptable to downshift for passing or on 5% highway hills, and this is not Mitsu only, all cars offered with auto and manual have the same issue.
To complement this good post on wear, there are a couple more dimensions to consider:
1) 80-90% of the engine wear happens during cold start, when you have cold oil which doesn't wanna flow, time delay for oil pressure to go up and dry metal to metal contact. Using oversized filter and 0w20 oil helps, but still. To reduce this mfg going to electric oil pumps which pre-pump oil prior to start.
2) many engine wear issues especially on OHV engines are related to valve gasket condition. After 5-6 years they harden and start letting oil pass on intake valves. That if left alone will destroy engine in 20-30k.
__________________________________________
View my fuel log 2015 Mirage DE 1.2 manual: 46.4 mpg (US) ... 19.7 km/L ... 5.1 L/100 km ... 55.7 mpg (Imp)