Mitsubishi Mirage once played an important role for the car in the 1.2-liter city car hatchback segment. This car is a competitor for hatchback cars from other companies. This amazing car was released at the 2011 Geneva Auto Show and launched at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show.
Mitsubishi Mirage is included in the City Car category which has many features. This car also has the title of City Car Of The Year 2013 which makes the Mitsubishi Mirage one of the best city cars ever. If you buy a Mitsubishi Mirage car, you will get a 3 year or 100,000 km warranty, which will be an advantage for you when you buy this car.
Mitsubishi Mirage is supported by a DOHC MIVEC engine which has an engine capacity of 1,200 ccs which is supported by the ECI-MPI (Electronic Control Injection-Multi Point Injection) feature. This car is also known as a very economical City Car. For its appearance, the Mitsubishi Mirage has a small but attractive design, so it’s only natural that many young people use this car for their vehicles.
About Mitsubishi Mirage
Mirage’s golden era began from 2012 to 2017. This car once dominated the hatchback segment, compared to its competitors at that time. The Mitsubishi Mirage even reached its highest sales in 2016 June. At that time, MMKSI sold Mirage at 22,721 units. This figure is a very good sales figure for a city car. In 2016, Mitsubishi launched a new variant of the Mirage under the name New Mirage. Unfortunately, two years later in 2018, Mitsubishi did not officially produce this car.
Mirage has several advantages such as a light steering wheel, economical fuel, climate control, nice interior, and very compact dimensions. Another advantage of this car is that it has a braking system that is quite capable in its class. No wonder Mirage is quite liked by many people, especially young people.
1. Interior
Mitsubishi Mirage has an interior made of pretty good material, which is dominated by black on the dashboard and cabin. Mitsubishi Mirage features a center panel which is designed with chrome accents on the center of the dashboard which can be used as an audio system panel and automatic air conditioning. The dashboard of this car has a panel that displays the service reminder, trip computer, and fuel indicator.
The Mitsubishi Mirage also has a very spacious cabin, but unfortunately, this car only recommends carrying 4 people. The Mitsubishi Mirage also features storage space under the steering wheel which functions for the driver to save his needs. In the trunk of this car, it has a fairly large luggage storage capacity, especially if the rear seats are folded you can store more items in the trunk.
2. Exterior
For the exterior itself, this car has a minimalist body design, therefore this car is very thick with the City Car concept. The New Mitsubishi Mirage 2016 has been provided with the latest alloy wheels, namely using 15-inch alloy wheels, of course, bigger than the previous version. The 2016 Mitsubishi Mirage is also provided with a Chrome-coated Muffler Cutter Design which will make the New Mirage 2016 look more elegant. The latest version of the New Mirage car already uses Antenna which has a small design on the rear which will make this car even more compact.
What Issues Occured in Mitsubishi Mirage?
With all the advantages that Mirage has, it turns out that some issues occurred. Those issues make people think twice before buying this car.
1. 3-Cylinder Engine
Regarding the engine which is only 3-cylinder, maybe this can be an advantage and also a disadvantage. We discuss the disadvantages first. In the 1.2-liter city car class, only the Mirage and Nissan March use the 3-cylinder engine.
Many people are still unfamiliar and even doubtful about the configuration of this machine, especially in terms of durability and comfort. The odd number of cylinders, causing imbalance due to piston movement. This causes the vibration to be more pronounced than the 4-cylinder.With this problem, you have to buy Mirage by spending more than IDR 170 million. Meanwhile, other competitors rely on 4-cylinder engines which are smoother and more powerful. Even the Chevrolet Spark which costs almost on par with the Mirage Exceed offers a 1.4-liter 4-cylinder engine which makes it the largest in this class.
2. Cab Damping
Cabin damping has become an issue, especially in the newest cars, not only the Mirage. Usually, the manufacturer does it to reduce production costs. So that the sound suppression system in the cabin is slightly set aside.
For the Mirage facelift, the damping has improved compared to the previous model. But still not optimal and need to add more dampers to reduce noise from the engine and friction between the tires and the road.
3. The Interior is Easily Dirty
The cabin on the Mitsubishi Mirage uses bright colors so it doesn’t seem monotonous and gloomy. But bright colors are easy to look dirty if they are rarely cleaned. Especially for those of you who have small children, this is often a problem. Another solution by installing additional seats that are easy to clean.
4. Suspension Too Soft
Having a car with a soft suspension is a great option. But what if the suspension on the car is too soft? Maybe this will be the drawback of the car. For those who like to drive their car calmly, the soft suspension is certainly good. However, It is different for those who like driving fast. The suspension which is too soft will provide less good handling. Not only that, the body roll will be very pronounced because of the soft suspension.
After a few people doing a test drive, Mirage provides long and very gentle suspension travel. This causes the wheels to sink into the fenders when cornering hard. The body roll is also large, so it slightly reduces the agility of the cute body. This is in contrast to the Mitsubishi character which has the impression of a sports car.