Mitsubishi ASX review
by David Finlay (30 June 2010)
If you were a car manufacturer which had been going through a certain amount of financial difficulty over the past few years, you would probably look at the Nissan Qashqai with some degree of envy, and at some point decide that you wanted to emulate its success by creating a crossover SUV (that is, something that looks like an SUV but isn't really) of your own. Well, that's an admittedly rather simplistic summing-up of what has happened at Mitsubishi, and the result is the ASX.
In motor industry jargon, the ASX is in the C segment, whose most popular representatives in the UK are the Ford Focus and Vauxhall Astra. Although the ASX is unlikely ever to match the sales of those cars, Mitsubishi would be pleased to entice at least some of their potential buyers, and in fact a company representative even told me that it would not be seen as a problem if the Lancer lost out to the ASX too. But of all possible rivals, the Qashqai is the one on whose tailgate Mitsubishi has painted a large target.
Some comparisons are therefore in order. The ASX is a little cheaper than the Qashqai, with prices ranging from £14,999 to £22,049 (not including road tax and first registration fee, though). To my mind it's not as good-looking, because the increasingly familiar Mitsubishi front-end treatment works less well the narrower the car is in relation to its height - see the Colt for further evidence of this.
The ASX does, however, provide more luggage space, from a useful 442 litres with the rear seats in place to 1193 litres when they're folded down. The figures would be less impressive if Mitsubishi provided a proper spare wheel rather than a tyre repair kit; personally I would trade some luggage capacity for the security that I could still get home if a tyre were damaged beyond salvation.
Interior space is also generous, with plenty of room for four six-foot adults. The interior design, never a Mitsubishi strong point, isn't particularly interesting, and the plastic is notably thin in places, but the fact that it has a soft-touch surface makes the ASX feel of a slightly higher quality than might otherwise have been the case.
The platform is the same one that Mitsubishi already uses for the Lancer (including the high-performance Evo models) and the Outlander SUV. Now, there's no reason why two cars sharing the same platform will necessarily feel equally good to drive, but I must say that the ASX both rides and handles very well. In fact, it would have thoroughly demolished the Qashqai in both respects if Nissan hadn't finally got round to sorting out the suspension earlier this year.
Nearly all ASX variants are front-wheel drive, but that doesn't mean they can't cope with the power and torque of the turbo diesel engine. All recent Mitsubishi diesels have used Volkswagen's two-litre unit, but the 1.8 in the ASX is Mitsubishi's own, and it is a star. It feels larger than it is, as well it might with a maximum power output of 147bhp (that's 9bhp more than the VW engine provides) and it would probably be my engine of choice, though I can't be definite about that since the alternative 115bhp 1.6-litre petrol unit hasn't yet been made available for media testing.
Nevertheless, Mitsubishi reckons that the petrol will be the better seller, possibly because it's £1750 cheaper and not much more expensive to run. It's combined fuel economy is 47.9mpg and 145g/km, which are not far away from the diesel's 51.4mpg.
There's also an assumption that the mid-range 3 trim level will appeal to most buyers - 63%, if you want to be accurate about this. For the extra £1800 over the entry-level 2 (which is available only with the petrol engine) you get privacy glass, front and rear centre armrests, leather steering wheel and gearknob, climate control (as opposed to manual) air-conditioning, Bluetooth connectivity, a rear interior light, a multi-information colour LCD display, keyless operation with push-button start, front foglights and heated front seats.
The top-level ASX 4 costs £2000 more than the 3 and comes with satellite navigation, a reversing camera and leather seats. The 3 and 4 are both available with four-wheel drive for a further £1500, and only in conjunction with the diesel engine. A Stop & Go system is standard across the range, as are regenerative brakes (which charge the alternator when the car is slowing down), and there's a three-year unlimited mileage warranty plus 12 years' corrosion warranty.
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