Mitsubishi Carisma: Reasonable Sufficiency
We have already met with “Mitsubishi Carisma” more than once, including in group tests. The car, well-known in our country, has been produced since 1995, and during this time it has changed many times. So in 2002, the model year “Charisma” acquired a new power unit and suffered a small facelift. The main changes in appearance – a new grille, black edging headlights, chrome emblems; A second passenger airbag and some additional equipment appeared in the cabin. Under the hood now – the engine with direct injection of 1.8 GDi.
In addition to it, you can get an adaptive “automatic” with the possibility of manual gear shifting. Something that Russians are not yet available – the most expensive equipment “Elegance” and a 1.9-liter turbodiesel.
Product face
As befits a popular car of the lower middle class, the Mitsubishi Carisma has many equipment options. You can choose a sedan or hatchback in the configuration “Classic”, “Comfort” or “Evans” with engines of 1.6 or 1.8 liters, with a mechanical or adaptive automatic transmission. Accordingly, the price is from $ 14,990 for a 1.6 liter sedan in the Classic version to $ 19,690 for a 1.8 liter Hatchback GDI Evans AT.
Even in the basic configuration, the car is not badly packed – power steering, central locking, immobilizer, air conditioning, dust package, airbags for the driver and front passenger. And electric windows front doors, electric and heated exterior mirrors, radio. In addition to the usual anti-lock system (ABS), there is a system of electronic distribution of braking forces – like the “sorcerer” on domestic cars, only electronic.
A hatchback with a similar set of equipment will cost $ 300 more. Execution “Comfort” – with climate control, fog lights and a large additional list of pleasant things will raise the price of the car by $ 1,500. Here you can put the “automatic”, adding another $ 1,200. Well, if this seems a little, there is “1.8 GDI Evans.” A more powerful engine, alloy wheels, leather steering wheel and gear knob, trimmed under titanium, the center console will fundamentally transform the car, adding on to about $ 2,000 already marked.
What’s inside
Designers and designers who worked on the interior, managed to find the right line between functional richness and reasonable sufficiency. While you are busy on the road, nothing extra will fall under the arm. But if you need – please. You can turn on or off the volume of the radio tape recorder without looking up from the road – this is managed by one “twist”; Air conditioning is also not to be confused with anything – it is turned on by pressing the temperature control lever. The driver’s seat, in addition to the usual adjustments, allows you to separately change the height of the front and back of the pillow (by the way, it is large and comfortable). In the more expensive versions provides adjustment of the lumbar support.
Karizma has a display where information from the trip computer is displayed. But since its value is secondary, the display is placed in the middle part of the panel so that it does not constantly loom before the driver’s eyes.
Enough space in the cabin. Four of its mid-size inhabitants will even have some air around. If you put back large passengers, they will sit there already denser. It is possible that the tallest will offer to swap places with a slender front. But even if he does not agree, nothing terrible will happen – you won’t have to put a big head in your pocket.
But who exactly like the back like it is the suitcases (in the trunk, of course). The cargo compartment of the car is large and, importantly, deep. Under the boot floor fit a full-size (15 inches) spare wheel and a minimum set of tools. Yes, just in case, the rear seats are folded in parts.
How is it going?
After testing the “Carisma” in different roles – in the city, on the highway, country road, you come to the conclusion that the car is extremely harmonious. In the driving character, as in the interior, nothing superfluous.
“Mitsubishi” with a 1.6-liter engine confidently kept in the stream – the car turned out to be rather nimble, but there is no sports rage in it. The motor is able to spin up to 7000 rpm. But he does it smoothly – without sharp pickups or, God forbid, failures. The gearbox does not make parts with shifting – all gears are “long”. For example, the second “Charisma” can accelerate to “hundreds” with a hook. But in general, the compromise between the ability to go quickly and at the same time, the designers have been moving steadily.
In addition, this approach allowed on a suburban highway to lay gasoline consumption of 5.8 liters per “hundred”. However, in the urban cycle, the appetite increases to 10 liters – alas, cars that meet modern safety requirements are quite heavy.
The suspension behavior is characteristic – it is adapted to our conditions: rigid springs, high (170 mm) ground clearance (manufacturer’s data), increased compression stroke, but … Unfortunately, the reduced rebound course is noticeable.
