Mitsubishi Colt Cabrio 2007 Review

Road Test

Overall rating: 2.0/5.0
Engine/Drivetrain/Chassis: 2.5/5.0
Pricing/Packaging/Practicality: 1.5/5.0
Safety: 3.0/5.0
Behind the wheel: 1.0/5.0
X-factor: 2.0/5.0

Well done to Mitsubishi for being so creative with its new Colt, revising the range to include cheap and capable entry models right up to a turbocharged rocket, and for keeping up with the industry's latest must-have -- a CC in the line-up.

In doing so, Mitsubishi joins an ever-increasing small car coupe-cabrio market, where more customers are prepared to contemplate open-top ownership now that we can keep a 'proper' roof and not worry about soft-top issues such as security and wear marks in canvas.

Italian styling and Spider specialist Pininfarina designed and fit Colt Cabrio's folding metal roof, which takes 20-odd seconds to open or close, and is stowed in the uppermost space in the boot. Extra body strengthening, obligatory for convertibles and the roof mechanism adds around 50kg extra weight when compared to the base-model five-door Colt.

Opening the roof requires manual release of latches which is easy enough, with hinged clips that slide easily into place. You'll find convertibles with fully automatic mechanisms that do away with manual lock/unlock, such as MINI Cabrio and VW's upcoming Eos but none of them come as cheap as Colt.

Indeed, the Mitsubishi's price point is relatively low for a convertible with folding hardtop and that probably goes some way to excusing the semi-automatic mechanism and other cost-cutting measures. The roof hinges are partly exposed to allow folding but the plastic trim covering the fixed structure is flimsy and untidy. We've seen better attempts at hiding the necessary mechanicals in other drop-tops. Several trim fixtures were also loose throughout the cabin on the test car.

Colt Cabrio has a harsh ride over city streets and even minor bumps will unsettle its foundations and roof, and while topless, so too the windscreen and even the dash, side-view mirrors, doors... The shakes eventually subside at highway speeds and open-air driving is quiet and calm for passengers -- the turbulence cut considerably with its four windows up and Colt's tall windscreen. A wind deflector is available as an option.

The naturally aspirated 1.5lt four-cylinder has enough of what you need for around town (80kW/145Nm) and is economical. Officially it'll return 6.6lt/100km -- we handed it back after a week and 407kms with the tank still a quarter full. The five-speed manual is smooth and well-sorted.

Colt Cabrio's steering is consistent but consistently dull; remaining vague at all reaches no matter how hard it's pushed. Sure, it goes where pointed but feedback is blunt. Disc front and rear drum brakes are decent, and the Cabrio comes standard with 16-inch alloys. Its sibling the Cabrio Turbo comes with sports suspension.

The Cabrio models are offered with a different colour palette than the rest of the Colt range. The test car was a striking 'Oriental Orange', with matching interior trim but not all duco choices are teamed with our tester's 'Energetic Orange' fabric, instead getting the 'Lounge Grey' trim.

Colt's interior has a plethora of nonsense cubbies, one in particular that could only serve to keep sandwiches vertical, should you wish. A strange surface pattern over the super-sized dash catches dust and is too light-skinned, causing unwanted windscreen reflections and glare.

The long, sloping hothouse-like windscreen allows plenty of sunlight in the cabin and during our summer-time drive the aircon had to be full crank before we were comfortable. Redirecting the vent over the windscreen for awhile didn't help. Evidence that mass-market exports don't always suit climates such as ours...

Colt's gangly looks benefit from Pininfarina's chop and style, the cute boot creating a nice counterpoint to the segment-leading cargo space of the donor hatchback. Boot space with the roof up is good (460lt) for a mini CC and inevitably cramped (190lt) with the roof down.

It's best to consider the token rear seats as extra storage, as travel for three, let alone four, adults would be intolerable with front passengers having to compromise position in order to make room.

Nominal rear seating, shakes and rattles -- if you're mad for top-down motoring these won't matter and may well be fobbed off as some of the 'charms' of convertibles. For our money, however, the Colt Cabrio is not a patch on the donor car range it heads.

The turbocharged model may help tune your ears away from the rattles and scuttle shake, but we're not convinced. There are very definitely better small convertibles out there...