Mitsubishi Mirage (A03A) Minor Change

2016 Mitsubishi Mirage

Ever since Mitsubishi revived the Mirage in 2012 as a compact, Mitsubishi wanted a compact car that can match the likes of the Nissan March, even though both of these compacts were fully imported from Thailand. While the fuel efficiency is the main topic in this Thai-import eco car, the design remains to be somewhat stagnant by some. It maybe cheap to own but its not cheerful as what you think.

To resolve this, there's a minor change to the current Mirage and while the new exterior design is somewhat promising to look at, it's been given some added tech to keep this compact car imported from Thailand more premium than the pre-facelifted Mirage. On the outside view, the new look gives the Mirage a more sleek and sporty feel but don't be alarmed because even though it's now sleeker than the previous model, it's not as surprisingly fun to drive with. On the inside, it still remains that cheap flavor which is as cheap as buying a dirty ice cream from a street vendor, even when you're opting for optional extras such as a sat-nav.

The old 3A90 MIVEC 1.0L engine has been thrown away and in return, the only engine available for the facelifted Mirage is a 3A92 MIVEC 1.2L engine, which produces 78PS of power and 100Nm of torque, while mated with the INVECS-III CVT. Fuel economy is expected at around 25.4km/L and when compared to the Nissan March K13's, it's around 2.4km/L more, meaning that it's more fuel-efficient.

Anyway, there is now tech included in the new Mirage and this new tech is called the FCM-City. FCM is Forward Collision Mitigation system and this new feature detects ongoing vehicles as well as taking advantage autonomous braking system. Safety wise, the new Mirage even comes with anti-lock brakes, electronic brake distribution, active stability control, emergency stop signal system, and many more.

The new Mirage starts from 1,380,240 Yen for the M model and up to 1,485,000 for the top-of-the-line G model. Should you buy it? The rest is up to you.

Available colors: Wine Red Pearl, Sunrise Orange Metallic, White Pearl, Red Metallic, Cerulean Blue Mica, Cool Silver Metallic, Titanium Grey Metallic, and Black Mica.

Photo: Mitsubishi Motors Corporation