Mitsubishi Mirage Review (2013-2019)

Good question. Unless you’re an ardent car-spotter it’s entirely possible that the Mitsubishi Mirage has passed you by so far, or at least failed to register in the same way as household names such as the Ford Fiesta or the Volkswagen Polo.

In truth, the Mirage is a size smaller than these superminis. It falls into a slightly odd size bracket, smaller than say, a Fiesta or a Polo, but larger than the Ford Ka or Volkswagen Up that sit beneath them in their respective ranges. There’s an ingenuity behind this idea that deserves to be applauded – providing a car that’s still small enough to thread down city streets yet somewhat more practical than those designed purely for that purpose.

Unfortunately, that is pretty much the limit of any new thinking that has gone into the Mirage. Because while the Mirage is a perfectly adequate small hatchback, that’s probably as far as one can go in praising it.

Take the exterior design, for example. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with it; it’s in no way an ugly car by any means. But it’s not exactly inspiring, either, with rather bland curves and nothing to get excited about anywhere across the body panels of this five-door car. This is perfect if you want an anonymous car to pootle about it, but at a time when many of us want a car that expresses our personality, the Mirage is for people who don’t want to stand out in a crowd.

It's similarly underwhelming to drive. But on the plus side, it’s cheap, economical and roomier than a traditional city car.

You may be getting the sense that the Mirage is a bit of a ‘vanilla’ car, with adequate but uninspiring capabilities, and that theme continues inside. The materials are absolutely fine – at the cheaper end of the spectrum, even among small car rivals, but durable enough – and the front seats are actually pretty comfortable. Space in the back is pretty decent by city car standards, although that’s very much a relative term. It remains a tight squeeze for taller grown ups. The boot space is competitive for the segment, with 235 litres available with the rear seats in place and 910 litres if you fold them down. There is a bit of a high lip to the boot, though, which can be inconveniently awkward with heavier loads. For comparison, a Ford Ka of the same era managed 224 litres with the seats up and 747 litres with them down, but the larger Fiesta offered 290 litres and 974 litres respectively.

Take the Mirage onto the road and the mediocrity continues. The suspension is soft, which should translate into a composed ride quality, but somehow it doesn’t: it feels fidgety at times, struggling to remain controlled when it hits poor road surfaces. Similarly, the handling is uninspiring, with uninvolving steering and plenty of body roll when cornering.

The Mirage began life with a choice of 1-litre or 1.2-litre petrol engines, but the smaller unit was later dropped. Both are relatively sluggish. On paper, one thing that makes the pint-sized Mitsubishi stand out within this class is its availability with an automatic gearbox, although this noisy and inefficient CVT is best avoided unless you really, really want an auto.

The dashboard of the Mirage, while laid out perfectly logically and easy enough to use, does seem a little outdated, especially compared with rivals launched in the last few years. The touchscreen infotainment systems fitted to higher spec models aren’t the slickest either, although the kit list is pretty generous.

What exactly you get depends on the exact age and specification of the car in question. Later examples all came with Bluetooth and USB connectivity for the stereo, air conditioning, electric windows and keyless entry. The top-spec First Edition came with ‘big car’ features like automatic air conditioning, cruise control, heated front seats and rear parking sensors.

As we’ve already mentioned, the Mirage is a very light car, which contributes to it being efficient, with low running costs.

The 1.0-litre engine (which was only on sale until October 2015) returns an MPG figure of 67.3 and emits less than 100g/km under the old NEDC emissions testing regime, which certainly seem impressive, although the usual caveat of real-world economy figures being lower still applies.

The 1.2-litre engine that will be found in most used examples is pretty similar, with fuel consumption of up to 68.9mpg – or, under the latest, more realistic WLTP test, 56.5mpg - and CO2 emissions ranging from 113-127g/km depending on which trim level and specification you choose.

If you buy a post-2017 example the CO2 rating is a moot point to a certain extent, as all examples will fall into the same £165 flat rate road tax bracket. Earlier examples will be cheaper to tax, however, as the rating system for cars registered before 1st April 2017 depends on their CO2 emissions. None are expensive, and the 1-litre car is actually free to tax, due to its 96g/km CO2 output.

Insurance groups for the Mirage range from 14 to 21 (out of 50), so premiums shouldn’t be too expensive.

One thing to bear in mind is that Mitsubishi has ceased selling new cars in the UK, but the dealer network will continue to provide servicing and warranty support for cars that are still covered by their original agreement.

While Japanese carmakers generally have a good reputation for reliability, Mitsubishi has had a somewhat patchy record in recent years. The brand’s rating as a reliable manufacturer has fallen and risen over the years that the Mirage was on sale, while the Mirage itself was built in a new factory, so it’s fair to assume that early cars might have had a few teething problems.

That said, reports of problems with the Mirage are few and far between, with only minor issues being raised by owners who are generally happy with their car.

The Mirage was recalled with a braking issue in 2015, while some ECU issues were the cause of another recall in 2019. If you’re looking at a used car, check that the original owner did take the car to a dealership to get the issue addressed.