Out Of The Ordinary
by Ross Finlay (27 Oct 04)

I don't know so much about the "Elegance" thing, because it's difficult to get a high-set and very roomy supermini like this to look sleek and stylish, but after all that's just the name of a particular specification level in the Colt range, along with Classic, Equippe and Sport. It's also worth bearing in mind, though, that the Colt shape tends to be colour-sensitive, and that the catalogue does include some rather wishy-washy shades which don't do the car a great deal of justice.

Under the Mitsubishi bodywork and interior trim, of course, there's a platform shared with the smart forfour, and it's the Colt connection which has allowed the forfour to escape from smart's previous obsession with semi-automated gear changes. In standard form, the Colt has a conventional five-speed manual as in our test car, although the 1.3 Elegance is also available at extra cost with the AllShift ATM transmission.

A fair amount of international co-operation went into the creation of the Colt. It was designed at the Mitsubishi Design Europe studio in Germany, it's built at the one-time DAF factory in the Netherlands which also produces the forfour, and the 1332cc petrol engine is supplied by the MDC (Mitsubishi DaimlerChrysler) engine plant near Leipzig.

The interior, though, is all Mitsubishi. MDC's ideas on specifically getting away from imitation leather-grained fascia and door trim, and the use of translucent switchgear as well as that slim column instead of a full-sized centre console, aren't to everybody's taste, but you can't fault a company for trying something new.

What really counts about the passenger cabin is the space provided, especially in the rear. The Elegance offers generous legroom there, as well as plenty of headroom all round. The 60/40 split rear seats fold, tumble and so on, and can be removed altogether to give a really large load bay, but I'd say the really important thing is that the seat backs recline. There isn't much point in giving back-seat passengers room if they have to sit at an awkward angle. Another plus point is that it's easy to get in and out of the rear cabin without a scramble. It may be partly getting fed up with low-set superminis which has led an increasing number of buyers to go for higher-built cars like this.

More . . .

Back to Mitsubishi Road Test index
Back to main Road Test index