Battle of the babies
The Mirage and the MG3 are wellequipped cars for under $20k, but which is best? Damien O’Carroll takes his pick.
Two small cars that offer budget brand-new motoring and are impressively well equipped for the money, but have vastly different upsides. Which is worth your money?
The current Mitsubishi Mirage has been with us since 2012, the MG3 since 2011, with both coming in for a number of refreshes.
Oh, and the car with the Japanese nameplate is actually built in Thailand, while the one with the British badge is Chinese-owned, UK-designed and built in China or Thailand as well.
Anyway, both cars have been treated rather differently in regards to updates over the years, with the MG coming off the better for it. Where the MG3 has had a totally new face, new interior and refreshed engines since its introduction, the Mirage has pretty much just had more chrome slathered over its exterior – facelifts have been mild and more features have been added, but the engine and transmission are untouched.
Speaking of transmissions, neither is ideal here, with the MG3 packing a four-speed automatic while the Mirage makes do with a continuously variable transmission.
The MG definitely comes out of it better, with its four-speeder at least being a smooth and surprisingly swift shifter – you honestly don’t notice it only has four most of the time.
While a four-speeder is pushing the boundaries of acceptability these days, it is still vastly preferable to the Mitsi’s CVT, which flares, hangs around high up in the revs, and generally works the engine much harder than it is happy with.
Speaking of engines, the MG comes out on top here too, with its 1.5-litre four-cylinder being smoother and far more refined than the Mirage’s thrashy 1.2-litre three-cylinder unit, not to mention significantly more powerful. Three-cylinder engines are usually wonderfully characterful, but the Mitsubishi unit manages to be unrefined and characterless in operation, a fact only worsened by the transmission.
While the 1170kg MG is significantly heftier than the 895kg Mitsubishi, the MG’s extra 24 kilowatts and 48Nm easily overcomes the additional weight to give it superior performance and a more effortless on-road demeanour.
So the MG has a far more refined and pleasant powertrain, even if it isn’t perfect.
On paper the Mitsubishi’s 5.0L/100km of fuel use looks superior to the MG’s 6.7, but both ended up using around the same during our time with them (midto-high 8s with mainly urban running), thanks to its engine having to work much harder than the MG’s.
While both share broadly similar ride comfort, which is rather good for such small cars, the MG is noticeably firmer, while the Mirage has an impressively tiny turning circle, making it the easier to navigate tight spaces in and park, which is compounded by the MG’s surprisingly heavier steering.
The MG’s hydraulically assisted steering actually has impressive feel and feedback for this segment, but we would expect buyers would prefer less feel and more assistance.
However, it is still light years better than the Mirage’s weird steering feel that is ultra-light, lacking in feel and dead in the centre, yet hugely over-sensitive just off-centre, meaning you spend most of the time chasing it on a straight road.
Material quality is another area the MG destroys the Mitsubishi, with the MG3’s interior being modern, attractive and, while it is dominated by plastics, they are quality plastics with a nice feel.
The Mirage’s plastics have a hard, low-quality feel, while the interior design remains largely unchanged from 2012. It does, however, have the edge over the MG in terms of build quality, with a tighter, strong feel to indicator stalks and buttons.
Both are impressively equipped for their modest asking prices, packing rearview cameras, touchscreen infotainment systems, alloy wheels, daytime running lights (LEDs on the MG), cruise control and hill start assist.
The MG has a six-speaker Yamaha audio system, climate control air-conditioning, a tyre pressure monitoring system, automatic headlights, ‘‘synthetic leather’’ seat trim and active cornering brake control, the Mitsubishi counters with forward collision mitigation, lane departure warning and Android Auto integration alongside Apple CarPlay (the MG only has CarPlay).
But now comes the Mirage’s power play: safety and warranty.
While MG offers an impressive five-year unlimited kilometre warranty with roadside assist, Mitsubishi ups this with not only a five-year 130,000km general warranty and roadside assist, but also throws in its famous 10-year 160,000km power train warranty as well.
While the Mirage scored a five-star rating in Ancap testing in 2013, the MG3 only scored three stars in the Euro Ncap test in 2014. It must be noted that the MG has had significant safety upgrades since then, with additional airbags (both now have six) and driver assists added. So has the Mirage. Neither have been tested since.
So where does that leave you in the ultimate $20k question?
Well, for me, I would take a gamble on the MG – sure, there are potential reliability concerns around the name, but the warranty is strong, just not quite as strong as the Mirage’s.
Long-term reliability reports suggest Mirage needs it, however, and the general lowrent air and thrashy, noisy ambience of the Mitsi would be enough to push me towards the MG which, as an added incentive, offers the lower-spec Core model for $17,990.
So the MG is a no-brainer, right? Absolutely, unless you suddenly realise you can get a Suzuki Celerio auto for $17,500 (the manual starts at just $15,990), which is admittedly uninspiring, but ticks all the same boxes as these two, or you stretch to spending a couple of grand more and get the absolutely brilliant Suzuki Ignis.