what is the one (or 2) things that drives you insane about your Mirage

[Fummins]

That's possible? The power steering is probably the biggest user of power afaik. Or probably just cold,thick grease in the steering rack,steering column, steering shaft u-joints,etc... Nothing works properly in -40.

I find the steering in my 2014 is stiff compared to a 2017 with similar mileage that I just drove. Mine doesn't return to center but the 17' did just like a real car. I know things changed for 17' but can't remember/don't know what. Power steering module programing or steering motor changes? The parts all look the same. I've never compared part numbers. One year I might look into that further...

And I agree with the sluggish cvt in the cold(-20c/-4f and colder mostly) it takes a long time for the cvt fluid to get warm.

[ylekot]

Yeah that was rough. Coldest I saw the other day was -28F. She started, a little sluggish but that’s normal for any car at that temp. That transmission is NOT happy at those temperatures. The little beast gets the job done! It is definitely growing on me, it’s a good little car that has seen me through some sketchy weather already. The heater works well once you are rolling, doesn’t get real warm until there is a load on it. The wipers work quite well which is important when conditions suck. The traction control comes on easy but tries to do it’s job, I believe the tires are the weak link here. The stock speakers have got to go, and the passenger side front has a buzz. 39 miles to the gallon is doggone nice!

[Fummins]

My glove box buzzed when I first bought it, someone before me put foam tape or something like that in spots around the glove box. Presumably to stop it from rattling. I removed all the tape and emptied out the glove box and then it shut up. But now it's back. Time to dump out the glove box again.

And the exhaust squeak that I "fixed" last summer is back. I have a good used exhaust gasket to try. I saw rockauto has both fwd and rear donuts. I found sometimes the jobber stuff doesn't fit properly when it comes to exhaust though.

[Nifty_Biscuit]

My glove box buzzed when I first bought it, someone before me put foam tape or something like that in spots around the glove box. Presumably to stop it from rattling. I removed all the tape and emptied out the glove box and then it shut up. But now it's back. Time to dump out the glove box again.

Here's some free advice: fill your glovebox with so much random **** that it is too full to rattle anymore. That's what I did at least

[Wallythacker]

That's possible? The power steering is probably the biggest user of power afaik. Or probably just cold,thick grease in the steering rack,steering column, steering shaft u-joints,etc... Nothing works properly in -40.

I find the steering in my 2014 is stiff compared to a 2017 with similar mileage that I just drove. Mine doesn't return to center but the 17' did just like a real car. I know things changed for 17' but can't remember/don't know what. Power steering module programing or steering motor changes? The parts all look the same. I've never compared part numbers. One year I might look into that further...

And I agree with the sluggish cvt in the cold(-20c/-4f and colder mostly) it takes a long time for the cvt fluid to get warm.

Maybe the silicone heaters are best used on the CVT and oil pan, or maybe 2 on the CVT, but that sounds like overkill. Just when I thought the temp here would drop enough to properly test the silicone heaters it warmed up again.

[klroger]

Just when I thought the temp here would drop enough to properly test the silicone heaters it warmed up again.

You should have been in the Ottawa Valley last weekend. It was -37C when I plugged the Pumpkin in. (the Queen took a pic of the dash of her car showing -40 just outside of town)... 2 hrs warmed the engine up to 0C (as per my scangage) & made it an easy start. After 10 mins warm-up it seemed to drive pretty normal...

[Wallythacker]

You should have been in the Ottawa Valley last weekend. It was -37C when I plugged the Pumpkin in. (the Queen took a pic of the dash of her car showing -40 just outside of town)... 2 hrs warmed the engine up to 0C (as per my scangage) & made it an easy start. After 10 mins warm-up it seemed to drive pretty normal...

Oh, that's brutal. When you consider -40 is the same for both C & F and that's roughly the temp @30,000 feet it's insane our cars even function. But they do. Is that the Kats heater? That did a fine job in heating.

[Mark]

In my personal opinion, the Kat's engine block heater does a very good job. For an item that only cost me about $30 at the time & was somewhat simple to install (no tools needed), it's a very nice thing to have for those really brutal cold morning starts.

I still place a trash car or something by the driver's door whenever I plug mine in. I haven't driven off with it plugged in, YET!

[Fummins]

In my personal opinion, the Kat's engine block heater does a very good job. For an item that only cost me about $30 at the time & was somewhat simple to install (no tools needed), it's a very nice thing to have for those really brutal cold morning starts.

I still place a trash car or something by the driver's door whenever I plug mine in. I haven't driven off with it plugged in, YET!

Yeah, I agree. They're easy to install and I'm sure the Kats is the same as the one you get from the dealer.

We bought a few used Mirages with block heaters already installed. I assume they're the Kats model cause the cords were noticeably shorter than the ones that come in the Mitsu box. I've seen drivers and myself back out of a stall with the car still plugged in. They're zip tied in well enough that no damage was done.

I remember seeing pics of someone that had their block heater(cartridge heater) pull out of the hole and melted something when it was plugged in. I haven't ran into that ever though.

[klroger]

I think mine must be a kats. It came from an Amazon vender for ~$30.00 & as others have stated, took very few mins to install. When I bought the car, the Dealer wanted $250.00 to put in a block heater when it was new... NOT GONNA HAPPEN to this lad!!!