As the old sayings go, hindsight is 20/20, and you don’t know what you’ve got ‘till it’s gone. In the curious case of the Mitsubishi Mirage, after 30 years of innovation and millions of dollars spent on research and development, the 2024 Mitsubishi Mirage is about three seconds slower to 60 mph than the 1993 Mirage. I’m not here insult small, affordable cars; I’m a huge fan of them when they’re good. I am here to lament the absence of a fun factor in most modern entry-level cars. Having said that, I am sad to see that Mitsubishi will cease Mirage production after this year, doing away with one of the last remaining truly cheap new cars.
The modern Mitsubishi Mirage has been on sale in the U.S. for 10 years and hasn’t changed much since then despite some consistent small improvements. The only time a modern Mitsubishi Mirage has raised a driver’s pulse is when struggling to execute a passing maneuver on a two-lane road.
In contrast, the 1993 model was actually quite a peppy little machine according to this MotorWeek Retro Review. Yes, many things have changed since 1993 – safety regulations have strengthened requiring things like airbags, ESC, and backup cameras, emissions regulations have strengthened, and consumers demand more tech than ever before. But that doesn’t mean Mitsubishi had to turn the Mirage into an underpowered, CVT-laden penalty box on wheels.
The 2024 Mirage has a naturally aspirated 1.2-liter three-cylinder engine that produces a laughably low 78 horsepower and 74 pound-feet of torque. The 1993 car came standard with a 92-hp engine and had an optional 113-hp engine. With the larger engine and the manual transmission, the 1993 Mirage was at least three seconds faster to 60 mph than the modern Mirage and its standard CVT. Consumer Reports claims their Mirage took 12.1 seconds to reach 60 mph, while the 1993 car required just 8.7 seconds. That’s a huge gap.
Regardless of the fact that the 2024 Mitsubishi Mirage is so much slower than the 1993 Mirage, we stillneed more small affordable new cars in the U.S. Mitsubishi proved to us 30 years ago that small cars can still be fun to drive while remaining efficient and affordable, so here’s hoping that the Mirage’s replacement gets back in touch with the cheap and cheerful vibes from the 1993 car. Rest in peace, little Mitsubishi Mirage, and thank you for your service.
