2nd Aug 2015, 00:00
I test drove a manual and automatic, and liked them okay, though the revs seemed a bit high for today's cars. What RPM does yours show at 60 with the CVT? I found the stick much peppier and more fun to drive. Neither one seemed to like to go over 65 on the highway, and even a slight hill called for more throttle. They rode well to me. I would say for what it is, it is a great car... for $10000, not $14000 MSRP for the base automatic.
16th Apr 2016, 18:22
I do enjoy small cars and am a fan of the Fiat Panda and Renault Twingo. Too bad they aren't offered in the US.
16th Apr 2016, 18:29
Trying to recall off the top of my head, I think the engine revs about 2,000 RPM at 60mph. To me that's very low for a small engine city car. I remember the 90s Dodge Neon revved 3000 RPM at 60, which was pretty typical for economy cars of that era. I haven't driven the manual version of the Mirage, but have heard it's peppier, but engine RPM sits higher at highway speeds.
24th Dec 2016, 14:02
Awesome review, that really looks at the Mirage within the context of its price and mission. I'd love to link to this page whenever someone spouts off about this car being "pointless", or a failure of Mitsubishi to design something better.
18th Mar 2017, 15:43
I rented a base model CVT and at 60 it was at 2000 RPM. The stick was 3000 RPM. The CVT is far better for 75 mph cruise. Why make the gearing so short? I loved the car, but CVT trannys have issues from what I have read. I rented a 2017 Sentra and got 45 MPG average and a 2017 Elantra and got 53 MPG average. The CVT Mirage got 42. Why so little when those much bigger cars did better?
9th Apr 2017, 20:29
*45,500 MILE UPDATE*
Still enjoying my Mirage. A couple of issues to report.
I, like pretty much everyone who owns a Mirage, have encountered the issue of rear wheel misalignment with no ability to fix it, other than replacing the rear axle.
The other issue involves an erratic engine idle. It happens very infrequently, but under very specific conditions. When the engine is started cold on warm, high humidity days. The RPMs jump up and down until I either give it a little throttle or put the transmission in gear. Of course it won't do this for the dealership.
4th Jul 2015, 11:59
Great review! I love my Mirage as well. And I also have learned to be careful about the car 'bottoming out' on things like speed humps and steep driveways.