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.

We’re very excited here at Mitsubishi Brisbane Toowong becuase Mitsubishi Motors Australia Limited has confirmed its new sub-compact all-wheel drive vehicle will be known as the ASX when it arrives in Australia in August.
According to MMAL’s president and CEO, Masahiko Takahashi, the ASX nameplate is based on the
concept of an “Active Smart Crossover.”
“The ASX is primarily a city car – very stylish and manoeuvrable around town – and the adoption of the
European brand name reflects this.
“But ASX is more than just a pretty face. It also has the added benefit of being very smart, especially
in terms of the technology that drives its engineering, design and all-wheel drive ability,” Takahashi
said.
The ASX is closely based on the Concept-cX show car, first unveiled at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor
Show. The vehicle is available in Europe and Japan with a variety of power plants, and the choice of
either two or four-wheel drive configurations.
While MMAL has not yet revealed full specifications for the ASX range, the company has confirmed
that the Australian line-up will include both diesel and a petrol engines and will be available for sale in
Australia in August.

Mitsubishi confirms ASX crossover vehicle for Australia Mitsubishi Motors Australia Limited has confirmed its new sub-compact all-wheel drive vehicle will be known as the ASX when it arrives in Australia in August.According to MMAL’s president and CEO, Masahiko Takahashi, the ASX nameplate is based on theconcept of an “Active Smart Crossover.”“

The ASX is primarily a city car – very stylish and manoeuvrable around town – and the adoption of the European brand name reflects this.“But ASX is more than just a pretty face. It also has the added benefit of being very smart, especiallyin terms of the technology that drives its engineering, design and all-wheel drive ability,” Takahashi said.The ASX is closely based on the Concept-cX show car, first unveiled at the 2007 Frankfurt MotorShow. The vehicle is available in Europe and Japan with a variety of power plants, and the choice ofeither two or four-wheel drive configurations.

While MMAL has not yet revealed full specifications for the ASX range, the company has confirmedthat the Australian line-up will include both diesel and a petrol engines and will be available for sale in Australia in August.