Mitsubishi Mirage delivers kei-car rivaling fuel economy with more space and size
19 May 2012
Integrity Exports. Mitsubishi Motors’ new global car, the Mirage, will achieve 27.2 km/L (63.9 mpg US, 3.7 L/100km)) on the JC08 cycle.
This Mirage is not a kei car. It’s a regular compact car with a 3-pot 1 liter engine, not the 660 CC motors found in kei cars. And even though it’s 40 cm longer—giving a much more roomy interior—the use of high-performance steel in the engine bay keeps its weight down to just 830 kg, only 100 kg more than the Daihatsu e:S.
...The exact figure is still all hush-hush, but Mitsubishi says that the 1 liter Mirage will come in at under 1 million Yen [US$12,655] in Japan. It beats the keis on size. It equals the best of them on fuel economy. It’s 1 liter engine is likely to be more powerful. (No figures yet, but it’s got a 30% higher capacity.) And it’s cheaper than all but the cheapest of these kei cars. They plan on selling 30,000 a year in Japan. I think they may be wrong. In a good way.
—Stephen Munday
The Mirage was designed from the beginning to accommodate a BEV conversion.. so we might see one.
Posted by: Herm | 19 May 2012 at 07:00 AM
'The car is also being designed with an electric future in mind, and Mitsubishi plans to offer an EV version in 2013.'
http://www.caranddriver.com/news/mitsubishi-global-small-concept-news
Posted by: Davemart | 19 May 2012 at 01:03 PM
That may be the way to go with future (under 1-tonne) roomy cars that can be electrified (or not).
Posted by: HarveyD | 19 May 2012 at 06:30 PM
The 830 kg is very impressive. It is 100 kg less than the VW Up. Wiki say a 1.2 liter 78 hp version will be sold in Europe later in 2012 for 10k euro. That will price it similarly to the VW up which also has a 75 hp engine option and same dimensions apart from being a 20 cm shorter than the mirage.
Again low the weight is impressive. If four fat people enter the vehicle its weight increases from 830 kg to 1230 kg or 50% increase! It will probably be the least heavy vehicle with four seats on the European market.
Posted by: Account Deleted | 20 May 2012 at 02:24 AM
Would that we could start over tomorrow with minimalist sizing for every vehicle, but we can only trend.
And the dinky trucks and small lorries that plied Japan and Europe seem to be giving way to larger trucks - maybe even in the cities?
While Asian and EU autos remain about the same - or maybe they are getting bigger also.
But I believe the average vehicle in the US are getting smaller; but too slowly.
So if such a vehicle becomes available in the US, the few buyers need not worry about being demolished by a large truck, a Camry can do the job.
Posted by: ToppaTom | 20 May 2012 at 07:29 AM
TT...no matter how large is your car there will always be a larger truck/bus (or truck like car) somewhere on the road/street you drive. Four-tonnes cars are out. Vehicles with almost the equivalent interior space (for four adults) will soon weight less than one tonne.
The majority will soon realize that four-tonnes vehicle are not required (and never were required) to go to work etc. It is rather senseless to continue to think so.
Posted by: HarveyD | 20 May 2012 at 06:12 PM