I'm not entirely sure that Mirage is the most appropriate name for Mitsubishi's little five-door hatchback. Rather than being a shimmering, ethereal thing of romance and mystery, this is a car with its four wheels planted firmly in the solid world of practical motoring.And that's where its strength is. If you want a good-looking car to get the pulse racing or go posing in, you won't find it here. What you will find is a low-frills practical run around with good fuel economy, reasonable power for the size of the engine, a useful load bay and very low emissions.It's your head, not your heart, will part you with your cash on this occasion.I've been test driving the Mirage 3 with a 1.2-litre petrol engine and a five-speed manual gearbox. It would be a top of the range model if there wasn't also a CVT automatic transmission available that would add another thousand pounds to the £11,999 price tag.Having said that, there's a deal available at the moment where you can have £1000 knocked off the purchase price of any model in the range, so, if I understand it correctly, you can have this car in your garage for a whisker under £11,000.Strolling around the outside, there's not much to make you go "ooh". There are 15" alloy wheels dominated by a lightly sculpted flank, There are light-shaped lights at the front and back, a grille where the radiator is, foglights in the front airdam and an arguably rather excessive wing atop the hatch at the back.Indoors you'll find the usual array of instruments with the usual array of extras. Digital displays are classic Mitsubishi black writing on a glowing red background and there's nothing in the layout to put the lieges in fear or alarm.The one concession to love rather than practicality is the keyless entry and engine start system. Keep the key fob in your pocket, stroll up to the front door, push the button by the handle and everything unlocks. Settle into the driving seat, stand on the clutch and just stab the start button to fire everything into life.The engine that's now whirring away under the bonnet is a three-cylinder 1.2 that turns out 79bhp, which isn't bad considering a similar sized engine from Vauxhall I tried out a few weeks ago is trailing by about 10bhp.It'll take nearly 12 seconds to reach 62mph but that's not as important in a car like this as the official average fuel consumption of over 65mpg. There's a stop-start system fitted too, which turns off the engine when you're sitting in neutral in traffic. It keeps it clean, it keeps it lean. In fact, the exhaust is clean enough to make it exempt from road tax.Out on that road where you're not paying any tax, the car performs well within its limited parameters. It seems to pull well even on the uphills, the gearshift is quick and smooth, the steering is well-weighted and precise and you have to be pushing out smartly to get it to lean over round the corners.You'll find the turning circle is small so it's manoeuvrable in tight car parks or heavy traffic, and on this model there are proximity sensors front and back to make parking less stressful. That's useful, given that the view through the small back window is pretty limited.In the little box of add-on kit that includes a trip computer and dial-a-temperature climate control, one instrument that's fun to play with is called the "Eco drive assist indicator". It tells you, in an easy-to-read way, how economically you're driving, and it really works in making you try to do better.It's a stack of three green lights and one red. The more green lights you get illuminated, the more economically you're driving. If the red one comes on, you start feeling guilty for the mess you're making of the environment by accelerating too hard or being in the wrong gear up the hill.As for accommodation, it's comfy enough in the front and I found a good driving position easily enough, despite the steering wheel only adjusting for height and not for reach, perhaps because the seat adjusts for height.The back seat is a flat bench with three three-point seatbelts though there's only really room for two adults. Headroom was cramped for me but I could have lived with it for a short journey. Knee-room was adequate.The cargo space in the back has a ten-inch lip you'd have to lug your shopping in over and the entrance is narrower than the internal width, but the back of the rear seats folds forwards to extend the space if you need it. The seat folds in two parts, split 60/40, but there's nothing clever about it. The backrest just folds forwards and that's it. It doesn't sink away into the floor or tumble forward.So there it is. The Mitsubishi Mirage is an affordable, economical and practical little car which, on paper and in the real world, does everything you should reasonably ask of it.Mitsubishi makes some of the best-looking cars on the road today, but this isn't one of them. This is the car you need if you want to take the family into town and the shopping back out. It doesn't cost too much to buy and it'll make you very comfortable.What we now need to see is Mitsubishi improving on the three-year warranty which is starting to feel a bit miserly as some other manufacturers start stretching theirs to five years and beyond. Engine 1193cc, 3 cylinders Power 79bhp Transmission 5-speed manual Fuel/CO2 65.7mpg / 100g/km Acceleration 0-62mph: 11.7 seconds Top speed 112mph Price £11,999 Details correct at publication date
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