mndsm wrote: That's how Hyundai and Kia made their bones.....
And then they ingested lots of Vitamin D and calcium..............because they are good and strong now. The OP should have checked them out. For a little more money they could have had a lot more car.
I've driven a 1G Versa. Not sure I understand all the hatred of them here. They are an entirely decent car. CHEAP, reasonable power for the class, good gas mileage, and mega-interior space in the hatch version. The Versa Note appears a bit smaller, but I'm intrigued by the possibility of a new appliance for well under $15k. Or likely 10k used a year or two old.
Rear sway bar was $150, and made a huge difference in the Mirage. I put 700 miles on mine and even pulled an empty tire trailer 250 miles back from the cabin and knocked down 45mpg for the works.
Since my ES was $12.5k and 0.4% interest it cost me less in payment+ insurance+ fuel than I was paying for just fuel driving my truck. My motorcycle struggles to get that kind of mileage and can't offer ac or keep the rain off.
So it isn't sporty, but it saves me money and commute miles on better cars.
I got a versa as a rental car in vegas once 2 years ago. Seems to stay together well enough to get us around the desert past the grand canyon and back. Would go no higher than 110 with your foot on the floor and no apparent speed limit.
I'm not sure how much they are new but I was impressed by the yaris hatch I test drove used. If it was a little bit bigger I'd have considered it.
So i ask: How in the HELL is the Versa $3k cheaper than the Mirage, despite being 1000% the car the Mirage is?
Because Mirages are marketed to people who are stupid about both money and cars. Anyone who buys a Mirage for more than 13k is an idiot. Having said that, i am glad there are enough idiots around to keep Mitsu afloat.
And im also glad that there is now a car for all those people who get on GRM yapping about "why cant anyone make a bare bones car without all this LUXURY crap i dont want" (the people i am implying are idiots by association), even if none of them actually buy it just like we always knew they never would.
I have driven the new Mirage. It is crude, but i dont hate it, and i sure wasnt scared driving it. Ive also seen numerous ones up on a lift because of my last job at an auction and they look REALLY REALLY easy to work on, which is good for enthusiast owners. Im happy it exists!
fidelity101 wrote: In reply to Swank Force One: They shatter in the cold real well, but this may not be an issue in your area.
Yuppers - I made two sets. Both sets were great in the summer and then I broke 3 out of 4 the following winters.
Vigo wrote:So i ask: How in the HELL is the Versa $3k cheaper than the Mirage, despite being 1000% the car the Mirage is?Because Mirages are marketed to people who are stupid about both money and cars. Anyone who buys a Mirage for more than 13k is an idiot. Having said that, i am glad there are enough idiots around to keep Mitsu afloat. And im also glad that there is now a car for all those people who get on GRM yapping about "why cant anyone make a bare bones car without all this LUXURY crap i dont want" (the people i am implying are idiots by association), even if none of them actually buy it just like we always knew they never would. I have driven the new Mirage. It is crude, but i dont hate it, and i sure wasnt scared driving it. Ive also seen numerous ones up on a lift because of my last job at an auction and they look REALLY REALLY easy to work on, which is good for enthusiast owners. Im happy it exists!
Maybe the Mirage might have been better with a manual and without the power options they all seemed to be loaded with, but even so, this isnt really the bare bones car that enthusiasts dream of. If the car sucks, it's not magically better because it lacks features. 
I could fix most of what I hated easily-ish except for the motor. That is the most hateful thing I have ever experienced.
You've clearly never driven an NA Cooper with a CVT then.
I'd put $50 on this combo being substantially worse. It's really hard to describe.
Depends on the quantifier. If a E36 M3 car is cheap and meant to be E36 M3, there's a certain charm to it. a MINI is inherently a GOOD car to drive- they're fun! but you hobble that bitch with no boost and a CVT it turns into torture. I wanted to throw it into a lake.
I figured you must have driven the CVT based on both the review and the price. The manual is much better.
Along with the noted mud flaps (a favorite of champion Scandinavian rally drivers) , you didn't get soft serve frozen yogurt?!?! With all of the crap sweet frog/yogi castle crap frozen yogurt options offering their grainy crap yogurt masked by stale broken candy bars and a pimply teenager manning the register hoping to save up enough to purchase a Mirage and you didn't enjoy the simple basic refreshing creamy wonderfulness that is a vanilla cone from ikea?!? They're used as awards in junior kart crosses in Scandinavia and is such a highly sought after prize that the region produces many world champions. Kimi's nickname of Iceman came from his love of frozen dessert treats.
Kimi: "it's not an ikea cone but it's good"
Varsa: "Kimi, be careful there, you're starting to drip"
Kimi: "leave me alone I know what I'm doing"
Varsa:"So what's your favorite flavor"
(silence)
mndsm wrote: You've clearly never driven an NA Cooper with a CVT then.
Or the CVT caliber.
I just went on E36 M3sus site and ran a 15 DE with a 5spd and it was 13.8, the ES with a stick was 15. 14.9 for a cvt equipped DE, and 16.2 for an ES with the cvt.
Added bonus, 750 dollar manufacturer rebate for may zip code. 13 grand for a 5 speed car that supposedly gets 45 on the highway is pretty good as far as I can tell.
oldopelguy wrote: I figured you must have driven the CVT based on both the review and the price. The manual is much better.
I didn't. The Mirage didn't have at CVT, had a really bad auto. The Versa was a 5spd.
Grizz wrote:mndsm wrote: You've clearly never driven an NA Cooper with a CVT then.Or the CVT caliber. I just went on E36 M3sus site and ran a 15 DE with a 5spd and it was 13.8, the ES with a stick was 15. 14.9 for a cvt equipped DE, and 16.2 for an ES with the cvt. Added bonus, 750 dollar manufacturer rebate for may zip code. 13 grand for a 5 speed car that supposedly gets 45 on the highway is pretty good as far as I can tell.
The point is that the Versa my buddy got is also doing the same MPG on the highway, and doesn't terrify you everytime you sit in it.
I'm hard to scare, considering the times I rode in a car without floors to school.
Maybe the Mirage might have been better with a manual and without the power options they all seemed to be loaded with, but even so, this isnt really the bare bones car that enthusiasts dream of. If the car sucks, it's not magically better because it lacks features.
Im very sure it's a lot better with the manual. And it IS a CVT. It's a lot less E36 M3ty than a Metro used to be, and probably cheaper if you leave off all the stupid options and account for inflation. I think the comment about context is true: I could totally see this car being much less annoying than a really slow MINI.
As far as the motor, i know the weirdness you refer to. It's 3cyl! On the Honda Insights i have they tuned out the weirdness by putting in an EXTREMELY soft motor mount. My Insight with a filled mount feels similar to the Mirage.
Ive only driven the CVT but i suspect the 5spd is a car i would actually like (although not like to buy) rather than just be glad is available. It's a car for people who are skurrd of equivalently priced but incredibly superior used Prii (idiots or "smart people with no credit") but still want to get 40+mpg with the possibility of carrying 4 ppl and some stuff. One of my coworkers took his family of 4 from Tx to DC and back in theirs and didnt immediately trade it back in. It fits some people's purposes. My 230k mile Prius is 3x the car for 1/3 the price, but there are a lot of people who cant come up with 5k cash and cant finance a Prius that has enough miles to be cheap but CAN walk out of a new car dealership with a new car because finance in America is retarded, and for them there is the Mitsubishi Mirage and a handful of other options.
Id way rather see Mitsu survive off the Mirage than see Nissan get even bigger by selling more Versa Sedans. I dont care if the Versa IS better.
Riddle me this, then: What's the advantage of this car over the Versa?
I'm all for stripper vehicles, but if i want something horrifying and scary, i'll pick up a ragged out Festiva.
I get that some people don't have a choice but to buy this, i'm just not following why this is something an enthusiast would gravitate towards, as you seem to be saying.
I dont think enthusiasts will actually gravitate towards it, although there are a lot of enthusiasts who claim to want something like what this is.
"Why cant i have a 1900lb 4 seater that gets great mileage and is cheap to own and easy to work on and can be modded to be pretty entertaining?" Anyone who asks that question needs to be happy about the Mirage. Why does anyone like ANY light simple cars? Why is the b13 Sentra such a classic? Why did the Beetle hit it big? Why SHOULDNT the Mirage have a big following?
People are just full of double standards and bullE36 M3. The Mirage is a car enthusiasts would ask for and then shun once they could actually get it.
I think the advantage of this over the Versa is that it helps Mitsu. The Versa Sedan is probably better by most 'normal people' standards, but Nissan doesnt need the help and i hope everyone who CAN settle for a Mirage DOES so that Mitsu can turn their E36 M3 around. The Versa Note is one Juke motor away from being great, but Nissan would rather be building Murano convertibles. I dont want to subsidize that with the purchase of hideous boring Versa Sedans.
From a pure vehicle comparison standpoint, the Mitsu has practically zero advantage over the Nissan. The Versa is the superior car of the two, though that's not saying much. The Mitsu draw is the price. The dealer you were at is smoking crack. Like I said, dealers here in Atlanta are selling loaded Mirages for $12k everywhere. A base Versa, with crank windows and locks, is around $13k to start. Add in the "features" the Mitsu has and apples to apples your looking at an easy $16-$17k for the Versa. I don't know this part, but I'd bet Mitsu will finance people that Nissan may not. Plus the Mitsu warranty is longer.
The 3 cyl/CVT of the Mitsu is a bit odd. I drove a 5 speed, and while it was more engaging than the CVT, it was nothing to brag about. Throws were best described as "OK", nothing sporty.
Vigo, you got it exactly right. The Prius is an incredibly superior car, but just like I had to do, people have to come off the "new car smell" thing when shopping in this price range. I took a whiff of that new car smell at the bottom of the barrell and decided the Prius was a far superior option. Though it's pretty soul sucking from an enthusiast standpoint.
Vigo wrote: I dont think enthusiasts will actually gravitate towards it, although there are a lot of enthusiasts who claim to want something like what this is. "Why cant i have a 1900lb 4 seater that gets great mileage and is cheap to own and easy to work on and can be modded to be pretty entertaining?" Anyone who asks that question needs to be happy about the Mirage. Why does anyone like ANY light simple cars? Why is the b13 Sentra such a classic? Why did the Beetle hit it big? Why SHOULDNT the Mirage have a big following? People are just full of double standards and bullE36 M3. The Mirage is a car enthusiasts would ask for and then shun once they could actually get it. I think the advantage of this over the Versa is that it helps Mitsu.
I found the Versa more boring than the Mirage, but for the wrong reasons.
I dunno. I just don't get it. I could get behind the mirage after i reworked the entire suspension, put on some fat 15s with some rubber, did a rear disk swap, and then a motor swap.
But then what's the point in doing all that to a brand new car?
I'm an enthusiast, and i never asked for this car. 
Swank Force One wrote:oldopelguy wrote: I figured you must have driven the CVT based on both the review and the price. The manual is much better.I didn't. The Mirage didn't have at CVT, had a really bad auto. The Versa was a 5spd.
The Mirage isn't available with an auto, it was a cvt.
Also, the rims are only 4.5" wide to promote mpg. That means huge handling improvements are a tire swap away, and any tire is going to be better.
Don't get me wrong, it's not a great car, and certainly not an enthusiast car. But it is better than a no ac Festiva, and with the warranty it does appliance duty just fine.
oldopelguy wrote:Swank Force One wrote:The Mirage isn't available with an auto, it was a cvt.oldopelguy wrote: I figured you must have driven the CVT based on both the review and the price. The manual is much better.I didn't. The Mirage didn't have at CVT, had a really bad auto. The Versa was a 5spd.
Oh, then i stand corrected. It was a really bad CVT.
IMO all CVTs hooked to tiny motors suck. CVTs are continuously variable but not infinitely variable and they all suffer the problem that their lowest possible ratio is not low enough to get a small motor to feel good in the 0-30 range.
Contrast that to the 3.6/8spd ram i drove that was burning its 30" tall 100lb tires off with the 4.7:1 1st gear. That was cool.
I dont understand why you would have to rework the entire suspension. A wise man once said "any suspension will work if you don't let it". Throw on stiff springs/dampers and 15x7+ and you will generate some G-force. It already sucks from a comfort perspective so go for the gold.
As far as engine swaps i imagine this vehicle is doomed to triviality and enthusiast disdain just like every other 1900 lb 70 hp car has been, like the original CRX.
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