01.Introduction
Price: From $33,286 (base)
Contact: mitsubishi-motors.com.au
The five-seater Mitsubishi ASX Aspire 2WD is one of a number Mitsubishi cars in the small SUV market. Not only did a CHOICE tester take this car for a spin, but home testers - and CHOICE members - the Shepherdsons (at right) also gave it a go.
Fuel usage claim vs measured per 100km
8.1L vs 7.9L
Acceleration to 100km/h
10.7s
Braking distance from 60km/h
15.5m
ANCAP rating: 
The Shepherdson family volunteered to take the Aspire 2WD off our hands for a weekend. They used it on a beach trip to the south coast of New South Wales, which put it through the wringer, and for general domestic duties like picking up groceries.
The family says
This car was a bit tight when it came to getting our son in and out, but we expected that from a car of this size. The rear seating really is not wide enough and can only just accommodate two child seats or two adults, but again we didn't expect more. The controls were out of reach of the kids, which is a plus, and the child seat anchors were easy to locate. There was also enough luggage room for prams and groceries combined.
One drawback of its small size was that our son could kick the back of the front seat from his child seat when the driver seat was back as far as possible. However, we did appreciate the fact that the boot space was generous for a car of this size and that it has a lot of equipment for its price.
Although there's good clearance under the car for driving on rough dirt roads, it's not a very powerful car. When overtaking and going up hills it struggles a little. We also found there was a lot of noise from wind coming into the cabin - to the point where we couldn’t hear if the indicator was on. The steering wheel obscured the indicator lights on the dashboard and we found setting up the Bluetooth connectivity was less than intuitive.
CHOICE says
The steering is fairly direct, but becomes a little heavy at higher speeds. The car has a leather-wrapped steering wheel, which we found too slippery and thin.
However, we were impressed by the fuel economy.
The gearbox is automatic (CVT), which worked well, but there is always the drone associated with that type of gearbox, especially when putting the foot down. The handling is quite stable and didn’t feel rough or uncomfortable.
The front seats are reasonably supportive, but the cabin is a noisy environment due to a combination of road, wind, tyre and engine/gearbox noise.
Otherwise, the interior is quite a pleasant environment to be in. The air conditioner did a good job at keeping the inside at the right, pre-adjusted temperature.
The verdict
Despite the car being outfitted well with gear, the Shepherdsons wouldn’t purchase this car due to its lack of grunt when overtaking on hills. Combined with the noise and poor dashboard visibility, it simply doesn’t live up to their expectations. Our tester also didn’t like the noise entering the cabin, and was disappointed in the slippery seats.
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