AFTER introducing the Mirage in emerging Southeast Asian countries in 2012, Mitsubishi Motors brought the car to North America, where it was promptly savaged by an automotive press used to more affluent offerings. This isn’t actually surprising given the Mirage did lack the refinement — or even the styling — expected in modern cars. Earlier this year Mitsubishi upgraded the Mirage, raising it to standards that set the bar for the budget mini class.
• Outdated styling was one shortcoming of the Mirage. The present version fixes this with sharper HID head lights, more surface contouring on the hood, a trendier fascia, a more detailed grille, reshaped tail lamps and an edgier rear bumper. The top-spec GLS variant even gets LED daytime running lamps and a prominent spoiler over the rear hatch. Put together on a conservative but well-proportioned silhouette, the changes have made the car look more upscale, articulating better its competent mechanical components underneath.
• The car’s cabin has been markedly improved as well. Gone are the sparse and nasty plastic surfaces of the dashboard, upper door cards and other panels. In their place come, well, plastic surfaces, but these are higher-quality material that’s a lot more pleasing to touch and look at.
• Gauges are now lit by modern LED, and so are significantly more legible. Updated graphics help in this regard, too.
• The center console and gearshift pad look more premium with their piano black finish while metal trim accents on the air-conditioning vents, gearshift pad and steering wheel brighten up the predominantly black interior.
• Also changed is the touch screen multimedia system, which now has better and still easy-to-decipher graphics. Accessing its various functions thankfully remains a straightforward affair.
• Inch-larger wheels not only fill up the Mirage’s wheel arches better but also stiffen up, in a positive way, the car’s ride. Where the previous 14-inch alloys always seemed inadequate in handling even just moderate speed, the larger wheels return more steering “feel,” thanks to their added heft. The car is simply more composed and controlled when switching directions — it’s actually fun to drive.
• Improved insulation means the Mirage’s whiny engine note — typical of a three-cylinder mill — has been significantly hushed. Vibrations coming from the engine, as well as those produced by the car’s contact with pavement, are also quelled. The result is a level of refinement the car should have possessed from the beginning.
• Driving position, despite the multi-way adjustable driver’s seat, is unmistakably that of a budget car; the seat is too high off the floor, so it always feels like you’re on top of the car rather than in the car. The long reach to the steering wheel (this cannot be pulled closer to the driver) becomes a discomfort after a while. Conversely, sliding the seat closer toward the steering wheel means cramping legroom, which is not a comfortable position, too.
• Locking the doors is an act scored by a loud catcall — so very millennium. It can be disabled, surely, but the soundtrack is the default setting.
• Given it’s a budget car there’s very little to complain about in the Mirage. That said, in GLS spec the car is at the top end of the mini class pricing scale, breaching into the territory of models one class above (subcompacts). Though only marginally less equipped (no LED jewelry, for instance), the entry-level variants of such subcompacts nonetheless have more refined and capable four-cylinder engines, as well as slightly beefier underpinnings. The choice, then, boils down to getting the best in the lower class, or settling for the cheapest in the class above.
Opting for the former isn’t a bad call at all. — Brian M. Afuang
BLUFFER’S BOX
Mitsubishi Mirage GLS CVT
Price: P730,000
Engine: 1.2-liter, inline-three, Euro4-compliant gasoline; 77 hp @ 6,000 rpm, 100 Nm @ 4,000 rpm
Transmission: CVT
Drivetrain: Front-wheel drive
Wheels/Tires: 15 inches, 175/55
Key features: Bi-Xenon LED head lamps with daytime running lights; LED tail lamps; smart entry with push-button start/stop; multimedia with 6.75-inch touch screen and USB, aux-in and Bluetooth connectivity; leather steering wheel; automatic climate control
