Mitsubishi Mirage gets big upgrade and price rise

This cut-price small hatchback has received some vital new equipment but the new tech and safety gear comes at a cost.

The war between Australia’s cheapest cars heats up.

Mitsubishi has given its cut-price Mirage a makeover bringing in some huge advancements in tech.

The Mirage now comes with vital safety gear including autonomous emergency braking and lane departure warning – both are essential in receiving a good crash test score.

Mitsubishi has added some vital new equipment to its pint-sized Mirage hatch.

The new Mirage is now fitted with a reversing camera to further assist its city-friendly proportions.

Mitsubishi has loaded up on infotainment with the Mirage now equipped with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as well as DAB+ digital radio accessed through a seven-inch touchscreen.

The new Mirage costs $1000 more than the previous version.

But the extra goodies come at a cost with the Mirage now $1000 more expensive at $14,990 (before on-road costs) for the manual ES version. This means the Mirage is no longer Australia’s cheapest car buy.

But Mitsubishi is offering a special drive-away price of just $16,490.

That discounted price helps keep it among the cheapest new cars on sale with the Kia Picanto ($16,190 drive-away) and the Chinese MG3 ($16,490 drive-away).

The Mirage now comes with digital radio and smartphone mirroring.

The Mitsubishi Mirage has been the cheapest car to own and run the past two years according to the Royal Automobile Club of Queensland (RACQ) annual affordability report.

That research takes into account all the standard expenses associated with purchasing and owning a new car. This includes loan interest, fuel, tyres, registration, servicing, insurance and depreciation. And the Mirage’s price increase might mean it loses its crown this year, too.

Mechanically the Mirage is fairly basic with a small 1.2-litre petrol unit making 57kW and 100Nm which is matched to either a five-speed manual or CVT automatic transmission.

The Mirage will still be cheap to run.

But the small engine combined with the car’s small size means fuel use is frugal 4.7L/100km.

The higher-spec LS version gains some premium features including 15-inch alloy wheels, cruise control, four-speaker stereo and climate control airconditioning.

The new Mitsubishi Mirage goes on sale next week across Australia.