Mitsubishi Mirage 2016 Review

Mitsubishi Mirage LS
Road Test

Mitsubishi recently facelifted its tiny Mirage to keep pace with newer competitors that have raised the bar in the micro passenger-car segment. Changes inside and out do lift the visual presentation of the Mirage, and the updated model is said to offer improved dynamics and ride comfort. Mirage boasts a five-star ANCAP rating, albeit from 2013, and a five-year factory warranty. And it's affordable too – which all looks good on paper...

Mitsubishi's Mirage is the biggest selling car in the VFACTS micro passenger-car segment, and the importer appears determined to keep it that way.

A facelift earlier this year heralded revised suspension and (electric) steering tune, plus new colours, one of which was the Wine Red metallic option applied to the vehicle on test, a Mirage LS hatch with CVT (continuously variable transmission).

Powering the Mirage was a 1.2-litre three-cylinder petrol engine, driving to the front wheels via the CVT. Frankly, it's not the sort of powerplant that earns itself unmitigated praise. It sounds (and feels) like a chaff cutter at idle, and lacks any sort of real verve – or the soundtrack to go with that. Only the less-than-seamless operation of the air-condtioning compressor engaging at intervals dampened the engine's rough idle. Other cars in the micro segment –exclusively four-cylinder jobs – are significantly more refined.

Around town the Mirage can accelerate briskly enough to throw SUV drivers off the scent. In this it's assisted by the nature of the CVT – letting the engine build up to peak torque early in the hunt… and staying there. The fact that the Mirage comes without an idle-stop system means the engine is always ready to go and although it's no fire-breathing powerhouse, it at least responds immediately to throttle input.

A criticism often levelled at CVTs is that they allow the engine to drone. That is certainly true of the Mirage, which isn't blessed with a lot of power in the first instance. So the engine holds at the same revs for quite a long time, as a consequence, if the driver is using a lot of throttle.

There's a 'B' mode for the CVT, effectively stepping down the ratio for enhanced engine braking. This is as close as the Mirage comes to some sort of manual/sequential shift setup. It works, after a fashion, to provide more engine braking, but doesn't really dig up any more performance.

To its credit, the Mirage uses fuel at a fairly frugal rate. For the week in our possession the tiny hatch averaged a miserly 8.0L/100km in traffic, frequently doing better than that on the run into town during the morning peak. On one trip involving some freeway driving and flowing arterials, the Mirage's trip computer posted a figure as low as 5.3L. That's hybrid territory... and all without that idle-stop system to save fuel at the lights.

While its engine output is exploitable (up to a point), the Mirage is not a car to punt hard for a bit of fun and frivolity, which should surprise no one.

Yet despite its boxy dimensions, its inclination to roll, and its compliant ride, the Mirage actually holds the road very well. And there just isn't enough power available through the CVT for the Mirage to get seriously wayward mid-corner.

Throttle off, the Mirage handles neatly, with its soft rear suspension imparting a neutral stance. But the light steering is not outstandingly precise, nor communicative, and the front-end geometry is troubled by cross winds and bumps. Clearly the Mirage's forte is threading its way through narrow laneways and slotting into tight parking spots. The car's compact footprint is an essential element in that.

However, compact or not, the Mirage is impressively spacious inside. Entering and leaving is made easy enough, thanks to the Mirage's moderately high ground clearance and subsequent hip-point. Seats are oddly-shaped, however, and too short in the base for my liking. They're comfortable enough for short journeys at least, and they can be adjusted for a sensible driving position.

There's plenty enough room in the back for adults (two, but not three across that seat), and the front seats are perched high, leaving a heap of room for rear-seat passengers to place their feet.

A cord on the back of the rear seats can be pulled to lower the seats. They don't fold completely flat, and the boot floor is actually lower, so accommodating something long and bulky like a bar fridge-sized box (or even a bar fridge!) might be a challenge, and it would have to be supported at one end for it to rest flat.

The boot itself is small, but not unexpectedly so, since the car sells in the self-explanatory micro segment, after all. Despite its appearance, the boot could probably hold a week's load of groceries for a family of three or four, at a pinch.

While the interior of the Mirage is Spartan, it's fairly well put together, although the wet-dog shaking of the engine at idle or anywhere else in the rev range will induce bangs, thumps and rattles from the parcel shelf, or the spare-wheel cover in the boot or a loose exhaust hanger, or whatever. That said, there are fewer rattles in this Mirage than I recall for the last example I drove.

Where it's plain that the Mirage is built down to a price is in tell-tales like the exposed Phillips-head screws holding items of trim in place (as in the internal handgrips for the doors, as one example). But the doors close securely and with little effort or noise. The Mirage generally feels solid, notwithstanding the loose items that wouldn't normally rattle and bang if the car had a four-cylinder engine under the bonnet.

I keep coming back to that. Measured against its rivals, the Mirage is not a bad offering. It's a safe car for an inexperienced driver, there's no doubt about that. And the long warranty is a bonus.

It's the engine in the Mirage that lets the side down. For not much more money, the Kia Picanto and Holden's new Spark, are more refined alternatives for that reason alone.

But for ownership peace of mind – and for a very insecure driver who doesn't want to be stressed out by parking – the Mirage is a handy package indeed.

2016 Mitsubishi Mirage LS hatch pricing and specifications:
Price: $15,840 (as tested, plus on-road costs)
Engine: 1.2-litre three-cylinder petrol
Output: 57kW/100Nm
Transmission: Continuously variable
Fuel: 4.8L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 115g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety Rating: Five-star (ANCAP)

Also consider:
>> Holden Spark (from $15,690 plus ORCs)
>> Kia Picanto (from $14,990 plus ORCs)
>> Suzuki Celerio (from $13,990 plus ORCs)