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2025 Buick Enclave vs Honda Pilot2023 Mitsubishi Mirage: Town Runner
The Mitsubishi Mirage was built for fuel economy and a small price tag. We look at powertrain, interior options, trim levels, and more.
What’s new for the 2023 Mitsubishi Mirage?
Sometimes you need a new car on the cheap. Thankfully, you don’t have to settle for a cheap used car when you can get a brand new 2023 Mitsubishi Mirage for under $20k.
Let me preface this by saying that this car is not fast. It is not going to win many beauty pageants. What this fifth-generation compact car will do is save you money. It sports a fuel-sipping three-cylinder engine with a CVT transmission, and it comes in four trim levels.
For 2023, the Mitsubishi Mirage loses the 5-speed manual transmission and now has a CVT transmission standard for all trims. While this gives it maximum fuel efficiency, it also means that it is a bit noisier. Otherwise, the rest of the vehicle is unchanged from the previous model year.
2023 Mitsubishi Mirage – mitsubishicars.com | Shop 2023 Mitsubishi Mirage on Carsforsale.com
The Breakdown
Amazing fuel economy
Incredibly long warranty
MSRP under $20k
Noisy engine
Poor acceleration
Excessive road noise at highway speeds
The 2023 Mirage is a budget buy
2023 Mirage Specs
- 76 horsepower from base engine
- 74 lb-ft of torque from base engine
- 4 available trims
- Up to 47 cu-ft of cargo capacity
- 7-inch touchscreen display
- Standard automatic forward braking
- 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty
2023 Mitsubishi Mirage Powertrain
Far from being a powerhouse, the 2023 Mitsubishi Mirage probably won’t win any races. That’s okay though – it wasn’t designed to be a race car anyway. It features a 1.2L three-cylinder engine with a Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) that puts out only 76 horsepower and 74 lb.-ft. of torque.
There isn’t a lot of headroom for this little engine to make much of a mark. It has a hard time keeping up with city traffic. It requires a lot of input from the throttle to get going and keep it up to speed. Pushing the engine makes a lot of noise for those inside the cabin.
It handles as one would expect from a small car. It can take tight, quick turns easily. Don’t expect a ton of feedback from the steering wheel or any sporty excitement though. Again, it was not designed for that; it is simply a basic car.
2023 Mitsubishi Mirage Fuel Economy & MPG
Perhaps the best thing about the 2023 Mitsubishi Mirage is the fuel economy. The three-cylinder engine barely sips gasoline and allows the compact car to get up to 36 MPG city/43 MPG highway. This means major savings at the pump!
Compared to the competition, the Mirage holds its own. For example, the Nissan Versa which gets 32 MPG/40 MPG. It is one of the most economical cars on the market today.
Interior, Comfort, & Cargo Space
The interior was definitely designed with a budget in mind. The amount of hard plastic tells you that. Regardless of the materials, the front seats are very comfortable. The rear seats can be rather tight, however, especially for adults.
The 2023 Mitsubishi Mirage does have a surprising amount of storage space for a compact car. With all seats in an upright position, drivers get 17 cubic feet of storage. This beats out competitors like the Chevy Spark. If you fold down the rear seats, you can get up to 47 cubic feet of storage. That isn’t bad at all if you need the extra room.
The 2023 Mitsubishi Mirage offers a comfortable ride for the money especially if you don’t mind the interior appointments. The cargo space does make it stand out over some of its competitors too. These are redeeming qualities of a car that is very vanilla in nearly every other category.
2023 Mitsubishi Mirage Entertainment & Tech
As one would expect, there isn’t a lot here. It does have a basic infotainment system with a 7.0-inch touchscreen display. It is also Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatible. The sound system is a basic four-speaker setup with a Rockford Fosgate system offered as an upgrade.
Safety Features
The 2023 Mitsubishi Mirage offers some safety and driver assist features that include standard automatic forward emergency braking.
A lane-departure warning and automatic high beams are optional. While this is enough to satisfy the needs of drivers searching for a budget car, we feel like it is missing some key elements that should be optional.
2023 Mitsubishi Mirage Trims and Pricing
ES – $17,450
The base model Mirage is pretty basic as one would expect in a budget vehicle. This trim gets you cloth seats, a six-way manually adjustable driver’s seat, a four-way manually adjustable passenger seat, a 7.0-inch touchscreen, a four-speaker sound system, a USB port, a forward collision warning, forward automatic emergency braking, pedestrian detection, and a rear-view camera.
LE – $18,050
The LE trim gives you everything in the ES trim level plus alloy wheels. That’s literally the only thing that this package adds.
Black Edition – $18,650
The Black Edition of the 2023 Mitsubishi Mirage gives you a blacked-out exterior, automatic headlights, rain-sensing windshield wipers, and a black leather-wrapped steering wheel.
SE – $19,350
If you absolutely have to have the top-of-the-line Mirage, the SE gives you standard features such as LED lighting signatures, automatic high beams, a push-button start, proximity keyless entry, lane departure warning, heated front seats, driver’s armrest, and synthetic leather upholstery on all seats.
Warranties
Mitsubishi offers one of the industry’s best warranties. It offers a 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty that other competitors (we’re looking at you, Nissan) can’t touch. There is no complimentary maintenance offered, but the limited warranty does cover 5 years/60,000 miles.
What we think
2023 Mitsubishi Mirage – mitsubishicars.com | Shop 2023 Mitsubishi Mirage on Carsforsale.com
When you look at the 2023 Mitsubishi Mirage, you have to consider the price point that Mitsubishi was trying to hit. It is a new car that is below $20k, so you can’t expect to have all of the latest and greatest gadgets stuffed into a car that is basically a good town runner.
We would have liked to have seen several things added to the list, however, even if it meant sacrificing a few dollars upfront. First, we would have liked to have seen a more powerful engine offered. We’re not asking for a turbocharged powerhouse, but a peppier four-cylinder would have been nice. This would keep the small car from winding out when operated at highway speeds.
Secondly, we would have kept the 5-speed manual an option. There aren’t many on the market these days anyway, and it would have been a nice option to have instead of the flaccid and whiny CVT transmission.
Lastly, we think that the LE trim is pretty pointless. It only offers alloy wheels as an upgrade. Limiting the Mirage to three trims would have been a much wiser decision with the alloy wheels as an option.
Otherwise, the car fits the bill nicely. While a larger engine would be nice, it would knock down the MPG numbers which are really fantastic. If you’re looking to save money at the pump, then this would be the car to get. The cargo space is also more than adequate for a car of this size.
We would recommend looking at some other options that are on the market before committing to the 2023 Mitsubishi Mirage. However, if you have to have one, get the ES trim. Anything higher will put you in the price range of better options.
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