Mitsubishi Mirage hatchback or G4 sedan - Which one?

Haven’t we always wondered this in a showroom? The hatchback looks good and fits right in the budget but there is that bigger sedan. It is based on the same hatchback but is slightly more expensive. Stretching the budget will help but will not require to break the bank. That's where the conundrum starts. The wife will suggest the smaller car because of the price gain whereas the husband will think about the status uplift that comes with a sedan. Dicey times, eh! We were recently flooded with a couple of such questions on our email box. Majority of them were about how confused they were about the new Mitsubishi Mirage and the G4 sedan. Read on to find out which one makes the cut and why.

One size big

Let’s get the numbers out of the way first, shall we? The Mitsubishi G4 sedan measures 4,305 mm in length, 1,670 mm in width and 1,515 mm in height. The wheelbase too is 2,550 mm. The ground clearance is 170 mm. For the Mirage hatchback, the dimensions are 3,795 mm in length, 1,665 mm in width and 1,500 mm in height. The wheelbase is shorter at 2,450 mm. It is obvious that Mirage G4 is a bigger car than the hatchback. The increased wheelbase also means it is more spacious inside. The ground clearance of the Mirage is also lower at 160 mm. Both will seat five comfortably but then the Mirage G4 has better space utilisation than the donor hatchback. The Mirage G4 also has a bigger 42 litre fuel tank while the Mirage makes does with seven litres less. The turning radius of 4.8 metres for the Mirage G4 is slightly more than the Mirage’s 4.6 metres.

Top end versions of the Mitsubishi Mirage come with 15-inch wheels while the Mirage G4 gets them as standard. There is a 50 kg difference between both the vehicles, with the Mirage G4 being heavier.

Braking and safety

 

Mitsubishi offers 14-inch ventilated discs in the front and 8-inch trailing drums at the back for the Mirage G4. In the Mirage, 13-inch ventilated discs and 7-inch trailing drum brakes are being used. In terms of safety, Mitsubishi offers driver and front passenger airbags, seatbelts, anti-lock braking system, electronic brake force distribution, brake override system and ISOFIX tether anchors on both the cars.

However, not all of these are standard and depend on variants. What is standard are the dual airbags, ABS with EBD and BoS. On the top versions, Mitsubishi offers rear parking sensors and a reverse camera on both. The Mirage is the only car in its segment to have won the ASEAN NCAP Grand Prix award for adult occupant protection in a mini vehicle.

Suspension and steering

Since the underpinnings are the same, both the Mirages get MacPherson strut with coil spring and stabilizer bar in the front. The back is equipped with a torsion beam. Both are tuned to be on the softer side of things. This means enhanced ride comfort while the handling is just predictable. The best part is that alloys are part of the standard fare. The only difference is that the top-spec versions get dual tone alloys. The 3-spoke steering wheel is standard to both whereas top spec versions have a leather wrapped unit with chrome and piano black accents. The lower spec trims have a urethane with silver accent. The steering is a electrically assisted unit. The rack and pinion steering also gets tilt adjustment as standard.

Engine and transmission

As is evident, both the cars get a 1.2-litre, 3-cylinder DOHC MIVEC (3A92) motor. This engine produces 78 PS of power at 6,000rpm and 100 Nm of torque at 4,000 rpm. One can option these engines with a 5-speed manual or an INVECS-III CVT.

Features

Both the cars get the same lot of features and this includes automatic climate control system, touchscreen infotainment, height adjustable driver’s seat, height adjustable seat belts, day-night mirror, power adjustable and folding ORVMs, black and white upholstery. The boot space is much larger in the Mirage G4 than in the Mirage hatchback.

Pricing strategy

The Mitsubishi Mirage has got GLX MT, GLX CVT, GLS MT, and GLS CVT trims. In the meanwhile, the Mitsubishi Mirage G4 too has the same trim options. In terms of pricing, the Mitsubishi Mirage GLX 1.2 MT is priced at Php 630,000, the GLX 1.2 CVT at Php 688,000, the GLS 1.2 MT at Php 692,000 and the GLS 1.2 CVT at Php 763,000.

The Mitsubishi Mirage G4 range begins at Php 666,000 for the GLX MT, moving on to Php 717,000 for the GLX CVT, Php 769,000 for the GLS MT and Php 816,000 for the GLS CVT. The price difference is bare minimum and easily something which can be covered in the EMIs. Considering all this, the G4 is the one to go for. Whether CVT or manual? That’s a topic of discussion for some other day.