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The best thing about the 2022 Mitsubishi Mirage is that it's very cheap.
The Mirage has been one of the best-selling models of Mitsubishi's lineup ever since the arrival of the sixth-generation back in 2012. The spacious cabin, even with subcompact exterior dimensions, and impressive warranty coverage ensured that the Mirage became a success during its initial years. However, time has moved on, and the Mirage received many major and minor updates over the past decade.
With the launch of the 2022 Mitsubishi Mirage for a base selling price of $14,645, Mitsubishi is here to make the Mirage even more competitive than the earlier model years with quite a lot of changes. There is an all-new Black Edition trim for the 2022 Mirage, replacing the Carbonite Edition. There are a lot of interior and exterior design changes, and a few more standard features are onboard, and the other trims see a few notable changes too. Competing with the Kia Rio Hatchback, Chevrolet Spark, and Hyundai Accent, here are 10 things you need to know before buying the 2022 Mitsubishi Mirage.
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Fuel efficiency plays a major role when choosing a subcompact hatchback, and this is where the 2022 Mitsubishi Mirage triumphs over all the rivals out there. If you go with the CVT variants of the Mirage, the car could churn out an impressive 36 MPG city, 43 MPG highway, and a combined gas mileage of 39 MPG.
Even the manual variant could do a respectable 33 MPG in the city and 41 MPG on the highway. With a decent 9.2-gallon fuel tank capacity, the 2022 Mirage offers more than enough tank range as well. In comparison, The Chevrolet spark offered a lower 33 MPG of combined gas mileage, and it has a smaller fuel tank capacity as well.
The exterior length and wheelbase of the Mirage are superior to the Chevrolet Spark, and that gives it better overall cabin space and cargo capacity. The front row and rear seat in the Mirage turned out to be better than we expected, with excellent headroom, legroom, and shoulder room. This makes it a comfortable 5-seater hatchback.
The cabin gets multiple cup holders and there is an ample number of storage spaces in the form of cubbyholes as well. The wide and supportive seats coupled with top-notch ergonomics add to the comfort factor too. Apart from that, the cargo capacity of 17.1 cu ft is right next to the best in class cargo capacity of 17.4 cu ft offered by the Kia Rio Hatchback.
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Like the older model years of the Mitsubishi Mirage, this 2022 model year retains the same lethargic 1.2-liter naturally aspirated inline-3 motor, putting out 78 hp and 74 lb-ft of torque. The performance is not enough for a comfortable drive on the highway and the dull CVT transmission makes it even more difficult.
The buzzy three-cylinder lacks the refinement of the inline-4 motors, and flooring the gas pedal doesn't really translate into increased speed. The 5-speed manual doesn't feel as precise as Honda's transmissions, and high-speed overtaking is going to be very tedious. The 0-60 mph time of 10.6 seconds and a quarter-mile time of 17.5 seconds are the worst of the segment, too.
The interior feels bargain-basement level, and that is mainly due to the dull design and the low-grade materials used for construction. The entire dashboard and door cards come constructed in hard and scratchy plastics, and we also experienced quite a bit of rattling from the cabin when going over the broken patches of road.
The flimsy switchgear and the slight overdose of piano black elements bog down the interior further. The only saving grace is the fabric upholstery, that feels slightly more premium than the ones that come in the Rio Hatchback and Spark. We also liked the neat integration of the infotainment system and the steering wheel.
The biggest deal-breaker of the 2022 Mirage is going to be the mediocre refinement level. The inline-3 motor under the hood is easily the most unrefined motor present in any car that is currently sold in the United States. There is a constant drone from the motor inside the cabin, and it gets worse as the revs go past the 4,000 rpm mark.
The underwhelming sound deadening also contributes significantly to the subpar refinement level. Other exterior noises like road noise and tire noise do creep into the cabin when being driven on the highways, and we found it to be louder than the Chevrolet Spark and Kia Rio Hatchback.
The superb warranty coverage of the Mitsubishi Mirage has always been a compelling factor, and the same impressive coverage is retained for this 2022 iteration. It gets a limited warranty of 5 years or 60,000 miles and a powertrain warranty of 10 years or 100,000 miles, making it very similar to the offerings from Kia and Hyundai stable.
Along with the solid warranty, the Mitsubishi Mirage has also been an impressive proposition in terms of reliability. Many previous owners have reported it to last more than 200,000 miles with just basic maintenance, and it received no recalls and complaints for multiple years. JD Power gave the 2020 model a score of 82 out of 100 in the quality and reliability section too.
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Apart from being one of the cheapest offerings in the United States market, the 2022 Mitsubishi Mirage also comes with a reasonable list of standard features and tech that you would not expect from a car at this price tag. Even the base ES trim gets automated emergency braking, pedestrian detection, a 7" infotainment system, and a 60/40 split rear seat.
We were also impressed with many interior and exterior features that come as standard with the slightly higher LE and Black Edition trims, and many of these are not even offered with the similarly priced rivals.
The 78 hp motor mated to the CVT automatic transmission doesn't make it a very comfortable highway cruiser. It struggles to reach the highway speed limit, and overtaking at these speeds is an even harder affair. Apart from that, the build quality and mediocre sound deadening are some of the factors that further dull the overall experience.
As you would expect from a cheap city car, the suspension is tuned to the softer side, and that results in quite a lot of body roll. The vertical movement as the speed rises is much more severe than in the Rio Hatchback, and it is not going to be very comfortable for long road trips. The dull steering system doesn't weight up as the speed increases and is not very communicative.
We have always felt the braking performance offered by this generation of the Mirage was excellent, and the same is also the case with this 2022 iteration. The firm brake pedal coupled with a sharp initial bite that doesn't feel as grabby as in the Rio Hatchback helps the driver to always be in control irrespective of the speed.
We also found the braking to be very progressive as you press the brake pedal harder. The pedal offers excellent feedback to the driver and all the other braking features like ABS with EBD, brake assist, and hill hold control are standard for all the trims.
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The 7" touchscreen infotainment system comes as standard with the 2022 Mitsubishi Mirage, and it is better than what most buyers would expect from such an economically priced car. The features like Android Auto, Apple CarPlay, SiriusXM radio, Bluetooth, USB ports, and aux connectivity comes as standard with this infotainment system.
This infotainment is quite easy to use, and the display quality is par for the course when compared to the rivals. There wasn't any major lag while browsing as well. Even though the standard 4-speaker audio system is not going to excite anyone in terms of audio experience, you could opt for the Rockford Fosgate sound system from the optional list if you want much superior audio quality.
Mohith is our in-house motorcycle mechanic and automotive geek. He loves riding and driving at the limits, and you would frequently notice him on racetracks at the weekends. Mohith is someone who would redline anything that comes with a motor - even our office lawnmower. He often does cross-country road trips in his trusted 300ZX and you could find him riding his CB750 quite often through the streets of Pasadena as well as on the Moore Motorsports racetrack.