1997-2002 Mitsubishi Mirage: Road Test

Unusually easy to drive, the latest Mirage scores well in a number of areas. Bonuses include a comfortable driving position, no-nonsense dashboard and sensibly placed controls, commanding visibility all around, and competitive passenger and cargo space. The only exception is the coupe's back seat, which is too small for adults to occupy comfortably. Ride, handling, and braking all rank as acceptable, but not outstanding. A Mirage corners nimbly and predictably, with front-drive security. Ride comfort is good, and quite nice indeed on the highway. But the experience can begin to get choppy when rolling through broken surfaces and freeway expansion joints. On coarse pavement too, tire noise gets to be a problem. Wind rush is not excessive at highway speeds. On the negative side, engine noise remains relatively strong. Acceleration isn't so lively, except with the bigger engine and manual transmission. The new automatic transmission is a lot smoother in operation and more responsive than the old one, but because models with the smaller engine lack sufficient power, we'd avoid automatic. In fact, we'd avoid the smaller engine entirely, due to its minimal gusto. An LS coupe with the bigger engine averaged 30.9 mpg in mostly highway driving. An LS sedan with automatic achieved 26 mpg in a mix of city and highway operation. As expected, it's considerably easier to get into a 4-door than a 2-door, and the sedan offers more usable rear passenger space. Even so, leg and foot room out back are necessarily tight when sitting behind a tall front-seater. All models have a reasonably sized trunk with a flat floor. The LS coupe adds the extra versatility of a split folding backseat (which was available as an option package for sedans).

Value for the Money
Mirage is definitely worth a test drive if you're shopping in the Civic/Corolla neighborhood and wouldn't mind saving a few dollars.