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Thread: Quality of Life Improvements for a 15 Mirage?

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    Quality of Life Improvements for a 15 Mirage?

    Hello everyone.

    It's been a while since I've been on the forum. I started here asking for advice on buying a Mirage and I am happy to report that I have owned my 15 Mirage for over a year now and I love it. It does have some cosmetic wear due to it being previously a rental. But it was mechanically sound and it was really cheap, so I took it. No issues whatsoever.

    My commute to work right now isn't too bad, about 5-10 minutes through light town traffic. However, I will be transferring to a new position soon that's going to take me 45-60 minutes in heavy highway traffic. While I love my Mirage, there are definitely some things that can be improved and I was looking for ideas or suggestions to make the commute just a bit more bearable.

    My first idea was to add some sound deadening to the car. I found a thread on the forum that I'll use as a guide. My next step was to add a bit of leather or vinyl wrap to the interior to contrast against the black plastic. And afterwards maybe add a double din unit.

    Anyone have any other suggestions/ideas for modifying the Mirage for comfort? I don't expect it to rival an S-Class Mercedes, but I'm willing to put in the work and money (within reason) to make it as comfortable as possible. I plan on driving this thing til it dies and seeing as I have 85k miles on it, that might be a while.

    For reference, it's a grey 2015 SE Stock with 14" steel wheels. Thanks.



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    Quote Originally Posted by Lalo64 View Post
    Hello everyone.

    It's been a while since I've been on the forum. I started here asking for advice on buying a Mirage and I am happy to report that I have owned my 15 Mirage for over a year now and I love it. It does have some cosmetic wear due to it being previously a rental. But it was mechanically sound and it was really cheap, so I took it. No issues whatsoever.

    My commute to work right now isn't too bad, about 5-10 minutes through light town traffic. However, I will be transferring to a new position soon that's going to take me 45-60 minutes in heavy highway traffic. While I love my Mirage, there are definitely some things that can be improved and I was looking for ideas or suggestions to make the commute just a bit more bearable.

    My first idea was to add some sound deadening to the car. I found a thread on the forum that I'll use as a guide. My next step was to add a bit of leather or vinyl wrap to the interior to contrast against the black plastic. And afterwards maybe add a double din unit.

    Anyone have any other suggestions/ideas for modifying the Mirage for comfort? I don't expect it to rival an S-Class Mercedes, but I'm willing to put in the work and money (within reason) to make it as comfortable as possible. I plan on driving this thing til it dies and seeing as I have 85k miles on it, that might be a while.

    For reference, it's a grey 2015 SE Stock with 14" steel wheels. Thanks.

    This is coming from someone who embraces simplicity.

    Adding a rear sway bar has made me like my Mirage more. They take on a lot of stress, however. I am on my second one.

    Every cheap economy car should come with a kick ass stereo system. That's one area Mitsubishi shouldn't have skimped on. It's really hard to believe they found such a horrible system for this current century.

    I liked my 1990 Ford Festiva better, & it came with nothing (no antenna, radio, or speakers). Whatever cheap piece of crap I had installed in that car was 10 times better than my current Mirage system, and I am talking 30 years ago. Our tractor radio installed on the fender of our tractor in the 1970s was better than the Mirage radio!

    Will I upgrade the current system? No! If it came with nothing & I had something installed, I would have been happier. Past experience confirms that I guess.

    A cheap economy car with more features is still a cheap economy car. Adding more features makes me like the car less, but every car should have a good stereo system in it these days. I am old fart & think that. Imagine what a young kid buying a car expects!
    Last edited by Mark; 01-05-2022 at 04:55 AM.

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    Nicer headlights, grippier/wider tires make the power steering more confidence inspiring. Unlike Mark i think the stock radio is plenty good. Heated seat upgrade instructions are available on this forum. Small time saving things like remote starters are also nice to have.

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    If you have to drive 45 to 60 mins one way, you may want to consider a modification to the driver seat.
    There is a how to for lumbar support in this forum.
    I have a latex foam cushion under my butt, much better than cheap PU foam.

    For sound deadening, there are a several threads in this forum. You may want to read all of them first before actually proceeding. From experience, the firewall and floor treatment makes the most difference, but don't forget wheel wells and roof.

    Of course you could install better 4Ohm (not 8 ohm!) speakers up front or a louder radio, but noise on top of more noise does nothing to make noise more appealing.
    Wider tyres and snazzy aluminium wheels realistically don't make the car any better, maybe a bit more pleasant for the ego of a certain type of driver.

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    Senior Member Dirk Diggler's Avatar
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    High quality seat covers.

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    I'm siding with those guys who have mentioned things that add to comfort. Like the seat covers. A center arm rest if you don't have one. Inexpensive stuff like that. There was one member that is doing / has done like a strip down to the bare bones adding insulation project. While that is way far above and beyond what I would do, I think that is probably the only way to really dampen out the noise.

    However, the noise is not that bad in my opinion. Originally I was thinking to improve the sound system a bit. Yet, if you do and have to turn it up over the road noise, that would tend to wear on a person (noise on top of noise as someone else said, is a good point).

    My biggest suggestion is that when you wear out your tires, research to find the quietest tires that fit the car, and go with those. I recently put really quiet tires on my wife's Toyota Matrix. Oh man, what a difference ... especially at highway speeds. HUGE improvement.

        __________________________________________

        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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    Earplugs are way cheaper and easier than tearing the car apart for sound deadening which will reduce your fuel mileage. Required PPE for any extended range commuting imo.
    Resident Tire Engineer

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 44.4 mpg (US) ... 18.9 km/L ... 5.3 L/100 km ... 53.3 mpg (Imp)


  8. The Following User Says Thank You to Basic For This Useful Post:

    Wil B (01-06-2022)

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    Quote Originally Posted by Basic View Post
    Earplugs are way cheaper and easier than tearing the car apart for sound deadening which will reduce your fuel mileage. Required PPE for any extended range commuting imo.
    While I do 100% agree with the earplugs, in most locals earplugs / earbuds are illegal. Because they would also block (much more effectively than the stereo system) outside noises like emergency vehicle sirens. I think that's a bigger problem on city streets, not so much an interstate problem.

        __________________________________________

        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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    Quote Originally Posted by 7milesout View Post
    I'm siding with those guys who have mentioned things that add to comfort. Like the seat covers. A center arm rest if you don't have one. Inexpensive stuff like that. There was one member that is doing / has done like a strip down to the bare bones adding insulation project. While that is way far above and beyond what I would do, I think that is probably the only way to really dampen out the noise.

    However, the noise is not that bad in my opinion. Originally I was thinking to improve the sound system a bit. Yet, if you do and have to turn it up over the road noise, that would tend to wear on a person (noise on top of noise as someone else said, is a good point).

    My biggest suggestion is that when you wear out your tires, research to find the quietest tires that fit the car, and go with those. I recently put really quiet tires on my wife's Toyota Matrix. Oh man, what a difference ... especially at highway speeds. HUGE improvement.
    What would be the quietest tires for a Mirage?

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    Quote Originally Posted by 7milesout View Post
    While I do 100% agree with the earplugs, in most locals earplugs / earbuds are illegal. Because they would also block (much more effectively than the stereo system) outside noises like emergency vehicle sirens. I think that's a bigger problem on city streets, not so much an interstate problem.
    Yeah yeah... I know people will disagree with me on this, but that's not how they work at all (for me). My Dad farmed and worked in Heavy Equipment and knew the heartache of tinnitus at a very young age and thus had earplugs in our ears from birth basically. Anytime we were mowing or riding dirtbikes or whatever. I have continued that my whole life, concerts and factories obviously, but have found that they make pretty much any situation better. Because they don't reduce your hearing... they filter out all the background roar and actually make it easier to hear the things you want/need to hear. And because of this I still have perfect hearing at 43 whereas I meet people all the time much younger than me saying "huh, couldn't hear you" all the time.


    Resident Tire Engineer

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 44.4 mpg (US) ... 18.9 km/L ... 5.3 L/100 km ... 53.3 mpg (Imp)


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