Mitsubishi Colt Cleartec

Cheap and cheerful little supermini

We have had our 1.3 Cleartec manual for just over a year and covered 7000 miles. We bought a pre- registered 11 reg with 1300 miles. Other than an engine management light that came on and was cured with a software patch it has behaved well. Dealer support has been slightly inefficient but they were perfectly pleasant and did the job. We had an AMT CZ2 version for 3 weeks which we exchanged for the Cleartec. We were disappointed with fuel economy of 33mpg and a jerky change from 1st to 2nd cured only by changing manually(the whole point of an auto is that it does it automatically!). The car rolled back on hills and had a tendency to lurch from 2nd to 1st gear at low speed, we never really felt in control unless using manually(what!). Our previous car was a torque converter auto, a brilliant gearbox with none of these shortcomings. In my opinion robotised single clutch gearboxes don't work, have never worked and should be consigned to the dustbin of history.

The manual box is notchy but with a light clutch is easy to drive smoothly. Fuel economy has been worst at 38 mpg and best at 49mpg. We average 42mpg in the winter and 45mpg in the summer driving 300 miles in the suburbs and 100 motorway miles(tank to tank). The Cleartec runs on smaller 15" wheels and higher profile tyres, the ride and behaviour over poor surfaces is hugely improved over the CZ2 with it's 16" wheels. The car comes with gunk and a pump but road-side assistance for three years, when this ends I'll either buy a spare and jack or join the AA. Cornering is stable, with good road holding, albeit with some body roll. The turning circle is exceptionally poor for a car of this size and the steering weights up considerably at full lock. The standard spec is really excellent at the price with a comprehensive computer, air-con, electric windows, cruise control, parking sensors and ipod socket. The car is fitted with auto stop/start, the system works fairly unobtrusively but if you find it annoying it can be overridden. There is one aspect that I personally find irritating, this is that when the ventilation is set to windscreen de-mist it switches on the air-con, this disengages the stop start and increases fuel consumption, so on a damp day you have to choose between being green and being able to see out!

The interior is solid with no creaks, the plastics are tough but scratch easily, the carpets tend to hang on to sand and debris. The exterior build quality and panel gaps are fine. The car is quite noisy at motorway speeds and being tall is affected by side winds. The shape of the car is MPV-like and not unattractive. Parked next to a Fiat Panda it looks huge but always feels small and nimble. There is a good level of seat adjustment with the recline being lever rather than wheel operated (so much better)

Being a tall car the Colt really scores on it's interior space, I am over 6'4" and have plenty of head, shoulder and leg room, in fact I have the seat slightly forward to get comfortable, rear passenger space is also excellent, this car feels roomier than a Golf! The boot is small so we solved that by buying a cheap roofbox for holidays. The boot is big enough for a weeks shopping and the split seats quickly fold very flat , usefully the front passenger seat also folds flat allowing you to transport a flat pack wardrobe. We have been on two holidays to Cornwall(roofbox on), that's two adults, two adult sized teenagers, one small dog, all our luggage and there was even room for an acoustic guitar! OK it's not smoother, quieter or more luxurious than some of it's competitors, but who cares - it's a cheap little hatch, great as a runaround, super cheap to tax, fuel and insure, with Japanese reliability and big enough to take a family on holiday. Sure, there are better cars out there but no cheaper better cars!

Report as offensive