NYIAS: Sir Mixalot Called and He Likes Your New Mitsubishi Mirage G4

Chris Tonn
by Chris Tonn

Mitsubishi today pulled the cover off its new Mirage G4 sedan, which adds a longer wheelbase and a trunk to the occasionally-maligned subcompact, the 2016 New York International Auto Show. As we noted with the restyled hatchback, 4 more horsepower — for a total of 78 — will hum from the Mirage G4’s 1.2-liter three-cylinder engine, and Mitsubishi will make available Android Auto and Apple CarPlay as an option.

The new trunk makes the ovoid Mirage look a bit more car-like. It may also make the Mirage a little more slippery through the air, but fuel economy ratings have yet to be announced.

The Mirage G4 will go on sale at used car dealerships with Mitsubishi signage this spring.

In addition to the trunked Mirage, the Outlander PHEV finally arrives on U.S. soil after a couple years of sales overseas. The plug-in hybrid pairs a 2.0-liter gasoline engine with twin electric motors and a 12-kWh lithium-ion battery to supply power to all four wheels.

Those electric motors can drive the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV in full-electric mode, so the bunnies in the countryside can breath a sigh of relief before being trampled. The electrified utility vehicle can also operate in series and parallel hybrid modes when more power is demanded. Regenerative braking will attempt to keep the battery pack juiced in stop-and-go traffic.

The Outlander PHEV is scheduled to go on sale this fall.

No pricing has been announced for either vehicle.

[Images: Mitsubishi]

Chris Tonn
Chris Tonn

Some enthusiasts say they were born with gasoline in their veins. Chris Tonn, on the other hand, had rust flakes in his eyes nearly since birth. Living in salty Ohio and being hopelessly addicted to vintage British and Japanese steel will do that to you. His work has appeared in eBay Motors, Hagerty, The Truth About Cars, Reader's Digest, AutoGuide, Family Handyman, and Jalopnik. He is a member of the Midwest Automotive Media Association, and he's currently looking for the safety glasses he just set down somewhere.

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  • Sector 5 Sector 5 on Mar 25, 2016

    Looks like a North Korean family hauler to me. Not sure I'd want to support some Thai military junta. On the other shoe Mirage sales prove not all Americans are consumptive pigs... There has been some pre-launch confusion. Some sites saying a 6 speed auto for G4 but I think it's confirmed CVT?

    • Cobrajet25 Cobrajet25 on Mar 26, 2016

      Yep, CVT. Same exact powertrain as the hatch. They wrung four more horsepower out of the 3A92 for '17 by utilizing a roller cam.

  • Cobrajet25 Cobrajet25 on Mar 26, 2016

    Sheesh! This is an inexpensive, fuel-efficient, reasonably well-made puddle-jumper being sold in a sputtering economy. The market used to be full of these kinds of cars, and the 'Corvette guys' left them well alone. Why all the hate?? Does anyone here really think Mitsubishi intended this car to impress CAR ENTHUSIASTS? It can't possibly be any worse than the Versa sedan, and Nissan sells loads of those. As has been mentioned, I think opinion of this car would be different if gas were $4.97 a gallon....again. Does everyone here really believe that a car costing $14,000 has to be 9/10ths of a $25,000 Corolla in order to be worth buying??

    • See 1 previous
    • Cobrajet25 Cobrajet25 on Mar 26, 2016

      @JimZ Completely agree. I read that hooey about the Navigator as well. Mitsubishi used to make a beast of a car for all of the 'enthusiasts/experts' who post here, and none of them was willing to drop $40,000 on one. So guess what....MITSUBISHI STOPPED SELLING THEM. The 'crocodile tears' over the Evo's demise have been flowing for the last year... Instead, they all buy used BRZs and S2000s while coming here to mock Mitsubishi for expanding on a car line that is actually selling well for them.

  • Kwik_Shift_Pro4X Thankfully I don't have to deal with GDI issues in my Frontier. These cleaners should do well for me if I win.
  • Theflyersfan Serious answer time...Honda used to stand for excellence in auto engineering. Their first main claim to fame was the CVCC (we don't need a catalytic converter!) engine and it sent from there. Their suspensions, their VTEC engines, slick manual transmissions, even a stowing minivan seat, all theirs. But I think they've been coasting a bit lately. Yes, the Civic Type-R has a powerful small engine, but the Honda of old would have found a way to get more revs out of it and make it feel like an i-VTEC engine of old instead of any old turbo engine that can be found in a multitude of performance small cars. Their 1.5L turbo-4...well...have they ever figured out the oil dilution problems? Very un-Honda-like. Paint issues that still linger. Cheaper feeling interior trim. All things that fly in the face of what Honda once was. The only thing that they seem to have kept have been the sales staff that treat you with utter contempt for daring to walk into their inner sanctum and wanting a deal on something that isn't a bare-bones CR-V. So Honda, beat the rest of your Japanese and Korean rivals, and plug-in hybridize everything. If you want a relatively (in an engineering way) easy way to get ahead of the curve, raise the CAFE score, and have a major point to advertise, and be able to sell to those who can't plug in easily, sell them on something that will get, for example, 35% better mileage, plug in when you get a chance, and drives like a Honda. Bring back some of the engineering skills that Honda once stood for. And then start introducing a portfolio of EVs once people are more comfortable with the idea of plugging in. People seeing that they can easily use an EV for their daily errands with the gas engine never starting will eventually sell them on a future EV because that range anxiety will be lessened. The all EV leap is still a bridge too far, especially as recent sales numbers have shown. Baby steps. That's how you win people over.
  • Theflyersfan If this saves (or delays) an expensive carbon brushing off of the valves down the road, I'll take a case. I understand that can be a very expensive bit of scheduled maintenance.
  • Zipper69 A Mini should have 2 doors and 4 cylinders and tires the size of dinner plates.All else is puffery.
  • Theflyersfan Just in time for the weekend!!! Usual suspects A: All EVs are evil golf carts, spewing nothing but virtue signaling about saving the earth, all the while hacking the limbs off of small kids in Africa, money losing pits of despair that no buyer would ever need and anyone that buys one is a raging moron with no brains and the automakers who make them want to go bankrupt.(Source: all of the comments on every EV article here posted over the years)Usual suspects B: All EVs are powered by unicorns and lollypops with no pollution, drive like dreams, all drivers don't mind stopping for hours on end, eating trays of fast food at every rest stop waiting for charges, save the world by using no gas and batteries are friendly to everyone, bugs included. Everyone should torch their ICE cars now and buy a Tesla or Bolt post haste.(Source: all of the comments on every EV article here posted over the years)Or those in the middle: Maybe one of these days, when the charging infrastructure is better, or there are more options that don't cost as much, one will be considered as part of a rational decision based on driving needs, purchasing costs environmental impact, total cost of ownership, and ease of charging.(Source: many on this site who don't jump on TTAC the split second an EV article appears and lives to trash everyone who is a fan of EVs.)
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