Best City Car
Mitsubishi’s budget-focused Mirage has emerged victorious over Drive’s long-time Car of the Year city car champion, the Volkswagen Polo.
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Against the judging criteria Mitsubishi’s Mirage was unanimously found to tick all the boxes – and for a considerably smaller sum than that of the German five-door.
The Mirage is priced from just $12,990 plus on-road costs, though the Japanese brand is currently doing deals from only $11,990 drive-away. That’s pretty hard to argue with, given the comfort, practicality and equipment offered in the pint-sized Mirage.
Judges praised the Mirage for its ride comfort, its light, city-friendly steering and small turning circle, the fact it’s fitted with the full complement of safety equipment (six airbags, stability control), its Bluetooth-equipped stereo system, and the thrifty and perky three-cylinder engine. The ES model we tested was fitted with the CVT automatic transmission (priced from $14,490, plus on-road costs), and judges praised the pairing as being “ideal for running around the ‘burbs”.
“The Mirage meets all the requirements for not a lot of money,” one judge stated.
It wasn’t all roses for the Mirage – its interior presentation was criticised for being drab and lacking attention to detail, and the amount of engine noise was questioned by some of our experts.
“It looks a bit cheap inside, and you can tell it has been built to a price,” one judge said.
But in the end it was found to offer a convincing package that has strong ownership credentials on its side, including four years of fixed price servicing (at just $250 per 15,000km/12 month visit), and a five-year, 130,000km warranty.
There’s no doubting the carryover champion, Volkswagen’s Polo 77TSI, is a polished and impressive car. But at $21,490 plus on-road costs it’s heading into territory occupied by bigger – and, frankly, better – vehicles. VW Australia is currently running a $21,490 drive-away deal for the dual-clutch automatic version we tested.
Our judges were again impressed by the refined nature of the VW, from its smooth 1.2-litre turbo four-cylinder engine to its comfortable ride and trusty steering. It may be small but it feels like a bigger, more mature car to drive.
The engine does require premium unleaded fuel, though, and the dual-clutch automatic isn’t without its quirks – and question marks. The impressively low fuel economy largely covers that off, although the Mirage is lower again.
Matt Campbell
Motoring Writer
Combined with 2 other Concepts Mitsubishi had launched at the Tokyo Motor Show, the new Mitsubishi XR-PHEV concept oozes futuristic charm with a whole new level of technology that vehicles in this day and age are yet to see included let alone thought possible for a car! The XR-PHEV is the concept in which the new 2015 ASX will base itself on and from the feedback at the motor show we can wait until it arrives here in the 2nd quarter of 2015.
Mitsubishi have for the last 40 years been the leader in technology for vehicles. The new concept GC-PHEV continues that legacy. The Concept GC-PHEV is the vehicle which the all new Pajero for 2015 will base itself from. The long awaited 2015 Pajero will be the first new car for 15 years for Mitsubishi’s flagship SUV.
Here is one our customers having a great time in their Triton GLX-R on North Stradbroke Island.
‘Good times with my Mitsubishi Triton’
https://toowongmitsubishi.com.au/new-cars/mitsubishi-pajero_info.php
“Written by Matt Campbell from Drive.com.au”
The cheapest new car to own and run is the Mitsubishi Mirage, according to the NRMA’s 2013 Running Costs study.
The annual study looks at the entire cost of ownership, including fuel, servicing, registration, CTP insurance, maintenance and depreciation. It uses all of these factors to calculate an average weekly cost.
The Mirage – which is priced from $12,990 drive-away, and won Drive’s budget car comparison test earlier this year – pipped the Suzuki Alto and was praised for offering weekly running costs of $93.29 per week – $3 lower than its rival. NRMA also pointed to the added benefit of a five-star ANCAP crash rating. So don’t delay pick up your new Mirage Now.
Mitsubishi is about to unveil their new concepts for ASX, Pajero and new compact people mover. The designs are futuristic and have been created to both intrigue and shock people heading to the Tokyo motor show.
