SUMMER 2014 | WWW.DECISIVELATINO.COM
DECISIVE AUTO LATINO
drove came with the CVT and on a road trip to San Antonio, it reached an average 45.8 mpg. I beat that
record later while driving around town when it reached 50.1 mpg, my own personal best as well.
The standard five-speed manual should earn an EPA estimated city/highway mpg of 34/42. A
manual is always a plus with these leetle cars. The 1.2-liter produces a modest 74 horses with 72 lb.–ft.
of torque and with the CVT, it’s loud and struggles sometimes to accelerate. I did appreciate the standard
ECO light indicator that helps encourage fuel-efficient driving. My total accrued mileage came to
2839.3 and in that time I spent $183.85 on gasoline, or 53.49 gallons.
The test model did include the optional navigation system ($900) that comes with a back-up camera
and a touch screen display. Even on a little car, extra visibility, especially parked between SUVs in a
parking lot, comes in handy.
The navigation system does trump the mode button on the steering wheel so that it only turns the radio
on and off and does not scroll through the radio preset groups, e.g. FM 1, FM 2, and AM, and it replaces the
volume and tuning knobs with up and down toggles on the touch screen. This threw me for such a loop
that I took it to the local dealership, Roger Beasely Mitsubishi, to make sure it wasn’t broken. Great service,
by the way, from service department
manager James Henson and mechanic
Roy Medillon.
While the interior is rather plain, aside
from the purple cloth seats, the touch
screen for radio controls on the fully
loaded version was refreshingly intuitive
and simple to use. XM radio, however, was
not included nor is it available and more
than once, the navigation system took me
on routes that I knew to be incorrect.
Other idiosyncrasies included a push
start button located on the left side of
the steering wheel, no vanity mirror
on the front passenger side, and a light
adjuster for the instrument cluster that
was counter intuitive.
The Mirage is well equipped with
safety features including traction control
active stability control, airbags including
knee protection, and keyless entry with
panic alarm.
For a first-time car buyer, the Mirage
has great appeal as an affordable,
fuel-efficient compact with versatility.
The rear seats folded easily and offered
47 cubic feet of cargo room. Without the
seats deployed, there’s still 17.2 cubic feet
of space to hold grocery bags.
Mitsubishi goes back to basics with
the Mirage, and while it is a bit plain, the
fuel savings, affordability, and nice list
of standard and available features, were
mighty impressive.
Pricing for the 2014 Mirage starts
at $13,790 but the as-tested price
Mirage ES, considered fully loaded,
was $16,890.dD
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