It's
rare that a day will go past that I am not out driving around. Being
a Mum now and attending to the social butterfly of the family
(Niah) with her play dates, doing 50,000 emergency grocery
pick ups because I feel like I'm already getting dementia from forgetting
things, attending appointments or events, adventuring
out to this town or that town - its full on, truly is a taxi
job that comes under the belt when you have children.
I couldn't imagine myself without a licence and especially without
a car. It's a necessity in my life.
I was asked to test out a new car on the market which I kindlyaccepted
and was then handed the keys (and the car of course) to the latest Mitsubishi Mirage Sedan LS for a week to test drive out and report back on my thoughts.
To
begin with I drive a Ford Territory and have never owned or driven a small vehicle for a long amount of time. My firs car
began with a Mitsubishi Magna which I loved dearly, never let
me down and had no issues what so ever with but then it was time
to get a larger car to cater to my dogs and the family I had planned
to come along in the future. Not only that but when you think
of small cars, I just think of squashy, small, tiny and on top
of one another and every feature in the car.
I will admit, I was sceptical due to the fact I'm a big car girl so I went
into this thinking I wonder if I can be changed and convinced
that small cars are ok to have.
Day 1 - PICK UP DAY
Travel Log: FOOTSCRAY - MELTON - GISBORNE - FLEMINGTON
- MELBOURNE CBD - GISBORNE - MELTON.
It took a while to get used to the car in my first drives as expected.
When I got back to my house I had a quick play around
with the car so I know all the essential functions - like the
air con, radio (to sing my heart out karoke style in the car!), windows,
de-mister, boot and petrol cap openers.
Dan & I fitted the car seat in so easily into the Mirage Sedan it was
really easy to clip onto the car seats harnesses. In my car it's completely
down the bottom of the other side of the seat which is a struggle if you have short arms.
Something I noticed straight away was that the back windowsare tinted and the front aren't. I could easily drive with no window shades for Niah's window because they took care of that sun that always usually hits her eyes. I did find that you would need some shades for the back windscreen though because a lot of light did beam down on her through there.
I
had the car at close to full passenger capacity later that night when
I had myself driving, a sister in the front seat, a sister in the
back seat and Niah in her car seat. My sister who is in her early
20's sat in the back and said it was really spacious in the back
row, I didn't even have to move my seat forward which I was
preparing to do for her. Although when she changed to the front
seat later that night, she did mention that she thought the front
seat had a lot less room then the back seat where she was previously.
Day
2 -
Travel Log: MELTON - TAYLORS LAKES - MELTON
It was discovered today that the Mirage Sedan has a USB portconnection
in the glovebox and I was able to play my own music
from my phone or any other device that connects via a USB
port. I was easily able to change songs, turn the volume up, randomise
or repeat songs through the steering wheel controls or front
display console making this a completely hands free from the
mobile phone which shouldn't be touched whilst driving.
I did my grocery shopping early this week as I was super keento
see just how much groceries I could get into the boot (which I stupidly
forgot to take photos of). I have a large pram that to fold
down separates into two (2) pieces and is quite wide. When I
had all my groceries and brought it back to the car I was contemplating
moving the pram into the backseat so I could have
room but I thought I'ld give it a try and put it all in. To my surprise
over $200 of groceries; about 15 bags of groceries went in
there and I still had my pram in there! I was gobsmacked - it truly
is a boot that keeps on giving and is what seems never ending
with the space it provides.
I had my brother whose in his early 20's also sit in the front seat for
a little amount of time whilst we went out for groceries and he
said he felt like he was a squished sardine. I then did a little test
on him to see how he felt when he got into the drivers seat - the
steering wheel got lifted up for him and he had no dramas what
so ever with the space behind the wheel which was good to report
back.
Day 3 -
Travel Log: MELBOURNE CBD - MELTON
Driving on my own today into the city for a short course and back
gave me time to really listen to the car and pick up on a few
things. I find that the car is loud when you accelerate and also
loud when you're breaking as well, this would be the drum brakes
from the rear of the car - it's kind of an alarming sound to me
thinking that something was actually going wrong in the car as
it didn't sound to good but after Dan telling me what it was and
researching it I was rest assured.
In total the car has 5 drink holders - 1 on each side of the front doors,
2 in the middle console underneath the radio/controls display
and then 1 at the end of the middle console closest to back seat passengers.
The Mirage Sedan offers bluetooth within the car but you will need
to ensure you are paired before having the car in use as it will
advise you that it's not safe to do so and to try again later - smart
safety feature here!
I also found that when you're going around corners that you doreally
need to slow down to a very low speed because the car is a
lighter weight - which I wasn't used too and wouldn't have to go
as slow around the corners.
Something that I was looking for but didn't notice in the Mirage Sedan
was cruise control - I have this in my car, not that I use it very
often but its good for those long drives especially when we head
up to NSW to visit family.
 |
| Empty Boot |
 |
Mid capacity fill
|
Day 4 -
Travel Log: MELTON
I did minimal driving trips today for a change and was just run around
town where I was carting an excited little girl to her twin friends
birthday party. It was a full backseat with presents!
Something I have noticed is that I am rarely reversing into carparking
spaces now, the Mirage Sedan just zips in and out of parking
spots. I don't have to take that extra look at the parking bays
to know if I will fit properly on both sides to allow the family
to get out. It's always a win in the parking lots with the Mirage
Sedan. With the large back windscreen as well this makes
for an easy reverse.
Day 5 - INTO TOWN ERRAND RUNNING - MONDAY
Travel Log: MELTON - SUNBURY - MELTON
We had to use the windscreen wipers and de-mister for the firsttime
today as it was the least nicest weather we had for the past
week with a little rain. The Mirage
Sedan is very fancy with having auto sensor wipers, which I forgot to try out and am spewing as I would have looked to have seen this!
The de-mister for the front windscreen was like instant and I have
never seen a window de-mist that quick in my life! With the
click of a finger it was done, certainly doesn't happen like that
in my car.
Day
6 -
Travel Log: MELTON
Last minute preparing for everything is me! I am never to schedule and always dashing out to get things at the last minute well
today it was because its Dan's birthday and I haven't brought
him anything and I am needing to pick up a cake. I always
zipped out because I needed to finish Niah's birthday present
shopping too which is the Friday coming.
The Mirage Sedan was filled all over today not with passengers but
with shopping, I kid you not I placed shopping in the boot, on
the backseat, on the front passenger seat. Not only were we preparing
for our little families birthdays but we needed to ensure
we had presents for all Niah's little friends who are turning
1 as well. I also managed to get this beautiful turquoise/teal
porcelain owl bedside table for Niahs room that took
up most of the back seat.
Day 7 -
Travel Log: MELTON - SUNSHINE - MELTON - DOCKLANDS
- GISBORNE - MELTON
Dan rode in the front seat and back seat today to test out some differences on what he thought space wise. Unfortunately Dan too thought the front seat was squashy and not spacious at all for him. Dan is 6'2 so his height was just a fit for the Mirage Sedan.
It's actually quite weird because I am not used to having someone
so close to me when I am driving and the Mirage Sedan
is very intimate in space and you are very close. I can pretty
much reach my arm over with a little bit of stretching and get
to the passenger vent near the window.
Day 8 - RETURN DAY
Travel Log: MELTON - FOOTSCRAY
Today will be the day that we bid farewell to our little Mirage Sedan who will be going back home and departing from the Smith-Tasi
abode. I am actually a bit sad as I have really truly enjoyed
having the little zippy Mirage Sedan. I definitely think my
opinion has been changed on small cars and that not all
small cars are sardine boxes.
OVERALL: Close to 1,000kms travelled in the Mirage Sedan and I am happily giving this the tick of approval of a car I would recommend!
VALUE:
I do believe this car is value for money, I would consider this car if I was looking for something smaller as it is practical and an amazing little car.
The price for the Mitsubishi Mirage Sedan starts at around $16k up to $20k.
The petrol consumption was just a little wonder on my pocket. My car takes up a lot of petrol and I feel as if I have to visit the petrol station every second day with my busy lifestyle. The Mirage Sedan had a full tank when I started with the car and I didn't have to put any petrol into the tank until Day 6. I would
say this tank would probably take around $40-$60 to fill which is a stunning price!
STORAGE & SPACE:
The boot is a large spacious 450L and as you would have read above I am very impressed with this space, a pram and a trolley load full of groceries and I could still go back for more!
The space inside the car was very giving apart from the front passenger seat which I had a fair few say that it was very squishy feeling for them. A five (5) seater car - with leg room for days in the back row.
'Not to big, not too small - its the happy medium'!
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| Passenger side door |
SAFETY:
I felt pretty safe in the Mirage Sedan and wasn't too concerned about being a car that others on the road could pick on - in terms of being smaller they can scare you by tailgating (which would happen in all sorts of cars).
I live near a few dirt roads and travel down them often to get to other suburbs in the north western area rather then going partially into town to go all the way back out - the Mirage Sedan handled the dirt roads well and gave minimal feelings towards the bumpy road for me in the front seat.
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| Drivers side door |
I read the safety features of the Mirage Sedan and there is so many air bags that are really going to assist should their be any case when they need to go off.
The back seat comes with 3 tether anchors and 2 isofix hooks you to safely place your babies car seats into.
There is alarms that will beep when either the driver or the passenger do not have their seatbelt fastened and display behind the steering wheel screens where the speed is displayed.
CONVENIENCE FEATURES:
Along with the large list of things I have chatted about above, my favourite feature and is pure convenience is the Keyless entry! Keyless drive! Just Keyless ahh! I loved this feature so much and I actually had to say to Dan when I got back in my territory how I turn the car on again, made me double think for sure.
I love that you can have the key in your person and just press the little button on the outside of the drivers side door and it will either unlock or lock the car for you.
No need to pull a key out and place into the ignition as it will register with the key in the car, place your foot on the brake and push the start/stop button and away you go!
I love this feature very much as I'm sure most people would - especially us Mum's or ladies who carry a million things in our handbags and it's a fight to find the keys to get into the car.
The Mirage Sedan is designed for families looking for affordability and value for money without compromising on standard features, latest technology, safety and space. For more information visit the Mirage Sedan Showroom here.
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