ExNotes Product Comparo: Mitsubishi Mirage versus the Milwaukee Eight

Have we finally lost our marbles?  A Mitsubishi Mirage?  I’m comparing it to a Harley Big Twin? No way!

One of the nice things about business travel is the opportunity to sample different cars.  That’s something I like…extended test drives to find out if a car fits.  I’ve rented cars I thought I would really like only to find out I hated them (saved a lot of money on a Jaguar doing that), and I fell in love with a few by accident…mostly because because they were the only thing available and they surprised me in a good way.

My first time for a rental car romance was in August 1972 when I rented a VW Beetle one weekend at the Benning School for Boys (jump school at Fort Benning, Georgia).  (When I say a rental car romance, I’m referring to falling in love with the car, not any sort of an illicit parking lot relationship.)  The Beetle was a blast and I bought one.  I had a cool picture of it somewhere but it was taking too long to find, so you’ll have to trust me on this one.

The same thing happened again when I rented a Subaru (back when Subaru penetrated the US market with dirt cheap rental agency sales).  I was blown away by the Subie’s overall quality and I’ve owned four since (including my dynamite WRX you see below).

And then it happened again recently when the only thing left in the Atlanta Enterprise lot was a Mitsubishi Mirage.

The Mirage is a car that would have never been on my radar, but I liked it.  Oh, it’s tiny and it didn’t have a lot of power, and it only has three cylinders, but somehow that made it even more appealing.  The three-cylinder thing made me think of my old Triumph Speed Triple, but as soon as I stepped on the gas, it was all Harley.  You know…open the throttle and there’s lots of noise and not much else.  But I was in no hurry, and I kind of enjoyed hearing Mitzi’s howling protestations when I poured the coal to her.  Harleys ain’t the only motor vehicles focused on converting gasoline to noise!

Mitzi.  Yeah, I gave my rental car a name…and that’s a first.

Mitzi’s road noise was a subdued sort of thing…not the screaming tire whine like the Chevy Traverse I rented earlier in Houston (I think a more apt name for the Chevy might have been the Travesty).

Mitzi’s ride was firm and the seats were a bit on the hard side, but I liked it.  And Mitzi is most definitely not a lard butt.  She weighs a scant 2,095 pounds, or just a little more than twice what a Harley Electra-Glide weighs.  And you get air conditioning, power windows, Apple Car-Play, and a heater with the Mirage.  The best part?  I rolled all over Atlanta and the surrounding areas for the better part of a week, used nearly a full tank of gas, and when I filled up before turning her back in at the rental agency, she took just 7 gallons for a whopping total of $21.  I like that.

Mitzi kind of reminded me of a motorcycle, but better.  I mean, think about it.  The new Harley Icon, a beautiful motorcycle to be sure, but damn, it’s $30K and 863 pounds!  Yeah, you get the Milwaukee Eight motor, but there’s no air conditioning, no heater (other than what rolls off the rear cylinder, as Harley riders know all too well), no spare tire, no windshield wipers, no rain protection, no automatic transmission, it only seats two, and the Harley gets lousy gas mileage compared to the Mitsubishi.  And the Mitsubishi will clock an honest 100 mph (don’t ask how I know).  Maybe the Milwaukee Eight will, too, with that 34-cubic-inch advantage it has over my old Harley’s 80-incher.  My ’92 Softail wouldn’t hit 100 mph.  Maybe this 114-cube Milwaukee monster will.

So I started researching Mitzi’s stats online, and our relationship deepened.  Mine was a no frills model (she actually had hubcaps on her tiny wheels, not the cast wheels you see in the photos above).  The base model I drove clocks in at a starting price of $14,625.  That’s not even half what the new Harley costs.  The Mitsubishi has a three-cylinder, 74-cubic inch engine (compared to Harley’s 114 cubic inch twin).  The Harley is mostly made in ‘Murica; the Mitsubishi comes from Thailand.

More Mitzi magic?  How’s a 10-year powertrain warranty sound?  10 years!  That’s  longer than most folks get for murder!  As an aside, when I owned my Harley Softail, Harley wouldn’t even work on the bike when it hit the 10-year mark.  The Mitsubishi would just be coming off its warranty!

I know I like a motor vehicle when I start thinking about what it would be like to take it through Baja, and that’s what I found myself doing as I was tooling around Georgia in my Mitsubishi.  It’s most likely not going to happen, but it sure would be fun to get lost for a few weeks in Baja in an inexpensive, light, air conditioned car that gets 40 miles per gallon on regular fuel.  With a price that starts under $15K, that leaves a lot of money for Tony’s fish tacos.

Don’t run out and buy a Mirage based on this ExNotes blog.  To balance my rose-colored outlook on life in general and the Mirage in particular, consider this opening paragraph from Consumer Report’s review…

The Mitsubishi Mirage lives up to its name. While its low $16,000 sticker price and good fuel economy of 37 mpg overall may conjure up an inviting image of a good, economical runabout, that illusion quickly dissipates into the haze when you drive this tiny, regrettable car. The Mirage comes as a tiny hatchback or sedan, built in Thailand and powered by a small three-cylinder engine.

Eh, Consumer Reports.  What do they know?  I wonder how the CR folks would rate the Harley Icon.  Funny how all this has come around…I used to refer to my ’79 Electra-Glide as my optical illusion.  You know…it looked like a motorcycle.  When it was running.  Which wasn’t very often.

My take? The Mitsubishi Mirage is one of the least expensive cars out there, it has one of the best automobile warranties ever offered, and it was fun to drive.  No frills here, folks.  It’s just an honest car that’s not trying to pretend it’s something it is not.  I like it.  If I buy it instead of the Harley Icon I could pay cash and still have enough left over for a little more than 20,000 fish tacos!

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