Best bargain: 2014 Chevy Spark vs. 2014 Mitsubishi Mirage

Posted by hpayne on April 3, 2014

The subcompact Chevy Spark and Mitsubishi Mirage are adorable little juice boxes barely bigger than most Detroit potholes. They are also, according to Cars.com, the two cheapest cars in the U.S. market at $12,995 and $13,790 respectively.

So what does a trip to the automotive dollar store buy you these days?

Quite a bit and not enough. The Spark and Mirage represent the future and past of the subcompact market. Ubiquitous in Europe where gasoline costs an arm and a leg, subcompacts are less popular in a U.S. market where a gallon of gas is just an arm.

Still, the perky Spark is a new puppy of a car that brings attitude to the practical, fuel-sipping small car segment. The three-cylinder Mirage, on the other hand, is a cylinder short and a generation behind.

These five-door shoeboxes are surprisingly roomy inside even for 6-foot-5 auto reviewers with loafers the size of clown shoes. Both are bubble-wrapped in safety features with multiple air bags, traction stability control and anti-lock brakes. Both measure their 0-60 mph times with an hourglass. The Lions will win the Super Bowl before you get to 80 mph. Mail trucks will honk at you. Bicyclists will draft you.

But whereas the Mirage is content to give you fuel-efficient, basic transportation, Chevy goes the extra mile. Details matter. Even in Auto 101, Chevy has learned style. If the Mitsubishi is a Wal-Mart coffee table, then the Chevy is IKEA. Cheap, yes. But without looking like it.

Subcompact cuties

Five-door body styles are common in the subcompact class. They bring utility as these flexible, mini-wagons exploit every inch of their short wheelbases to offer 30-plus cubic feet of interior room for seating five or lugging your some-assembly-required IKEA boxes (though I estimate the Spark could still fit inside the glove box of its mega-wagon stablemate, the Chevy Tahoe). Also standard are color palettes right out of a video arcade. Dude, said my Chevy dealer, the Grape Ice Spark soooo clashes with your gray hair and gray slacks. Obviously, I’m not the target demographic. But how can you resist the Spark’s Lime Green, Lemonade and Denim? Or the Mirage’s Plasma Purple, Sapphire Blue and Infrared?

With its anthropomorphic baby face, the Mitsubishi is cuteness on wheels. This is an infant dressed for a Sunday stroll. Behold its big eyes and little mouth. Its grille should come with a binky.

The Spark is cute too — like a baby shark. Adorable, but with a sense of menace. Its giant, almond-shaped headlights consume the front fenders. The little Chevy’s grille dominates the front end like a leering jack-o’-lantern carved by your 6-year-old. It’s one of the most effective uses of Chevy’s signature fascia in its lineup.

Do a lap around these tykes and Spark’s style really stands out. Where the Mirage is content with a nondescript, boxy rear end, the Spark’s got back. Its integrated rear roof spoiler (the Mirage spoiler looks like it was nailed on as an afterthought) tapers south to a flared bumper, giving the Spark a wide, boxer’s stance. Chevy completes the sculpture with big, cherry-round taillights.

But my favorite Spark detail is its ingenious rear-door “locker” handles. Located high in the black rear window trim, the handles are not only recessed but — by removing the handles from the car’s skin — they give it a more coupe-like appearance.

Spark’s superior interior

Chevy’s attention to detail carries over into the interior.

Both of these trikes come equipped with intuitive radio and climate controls, but the Spark adds character with a motorcycle-inspired instrument panel. Where the Mirage gets a plastic dash and cup holders, the Spark’s silver-trimmed interior recognizes that Americans live in their cars. This home-away-from-home bristles with added storage space for phones, food and coins in every nook and cranny — a tray along the dash here, a portal under the side arm-rest there. In the backseat (where I have more headroom than in a Ford Fusion or Chrysler 200) the Spark comes with a nifty center console featuring cup holder and storage tray. The Mirage? A bench seat.

Mysteriously, both cars fail to offer much in the USB port department. Big vehicles these days nod to families of electronics-carrying kids with USBs sprouting both fore and aft. But what of the 20-somethings that pile into subcompacts? More USB ports, please.

Maneuvering with a stick

Two words: Stick shift.

These are base models and their manual transmissions will mystify America’s legions of auto-tranny buyers. Too bad. Once mastered, the automobile’s equivalent of a joystick puts the fun into a small car, and these little windup toys love to be hustled. Your racing-addled car critic found himself double-clutching into corners to keep the revs up, then stomping the gas pedal.

In the case of the Mirage, this has annoying consequences. Neither car will set a land speed record, but the Mitsubishi’s shouty, vibrating 1.2 liter gas engine will be a deal-breaker for many. Turning the key feels like you’ve pulled the cord on a chainsaw. The chassis trembles, your ears buzz. This is the same company that makes the renowned Evo performance sedan?

The Spark’s 1.2-liter four is much more civilized and the cabin noticeably quieter (remember that part about Americans living in their cars?). That helps explain why the Spark is 300 pounds heavier than the 1,973-pound Mirage — though with 10 more horsepower, the Spark equals the Mirage in 0-60 mph acceleration in a snail-like 11 seconds. Both snails deliver the expected, stellar fuel efficiency — 34 mpg for Spark, 37 for Mirage. (Federal rules require that all cars average 55 mpg in just 10 years? And pigs will fly.)

Entry level cars are not just affordable transportation, they are also windows into auto brands. Win over a first-time buyer, and you can keep them for life. Unfortunately for its Japanese parent, the Mirage will turn people away from showrooms that include studs like the Evo and Outlander SUV.

The Spark, on the other hand, advertises a new, more product-focused GM. It’s a bargain. At $12,995 (more detail: they tease it under $13 grand), it shows that affordability and style can live in the same garage.

2014 Chevrolet Spark

Vehicle type: Front-engine, front-wheel-drive, five-passenger sedan
Price: $12,995 base ($12,995 as tested)
Power plant: 1.2-liter, dual-overhead cam, four-cylinder engine
Power: 84 horsepower, 83 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: Five-speed manual
Performance: 0-60 mpg, 11.0 seconds (Car & Driver); 90 mph top speed
Weight: 2,269 pounds
Fuel economy: EPA 31 mpg city/39 mpg highway/34 mpg combined
Highs: Creative design; Functional interior
Lows: Molasses could out-accelerate it; USB ports, please
Overall:★★★★
Grading scale
Excellent ★★★★
Good ★★★
Fair ★★
Poor ★

2014 Mitsubishi Mirage

Vehicle type: Front-engine, front-wheel-drive, five-passenger sedan
Price: $13,790 base ($13,790 as tested)
Power plant: 1.2-liter, dual-overhead cam, three-cylinder engine
Power: 74 horsepower, 74 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: Five-speed manual
Performance: 0-60 mpg, 10.9 seconds (Car & Driver); 102 mph top speed
Weight: 1,973 pounds
Fuel economy: EPA 34 mpg city/42 mpg highway/37 mpg combined
Highs: Fuel-sipper; Roomy interior
Lows: Uninspired packaging; Lawn-blower engine
Overall:★★

 

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