2011 Mitsubishi Colt Review
2011 Mitsubishi Colt
By Tim Saunders
Car names always fascinate me.
It tends to be the mainstream players like Ford, Volkswagen and Kia that use weird and wonderful names: Mondeo, Polo and Pride, respectively, for instance. They don’t really mean much apart from perhaps the latter, which would suggest that Kia was proud of its rather dull and characterless hatchback in 1986.
2011 Mitsubishi Colt Juro
Other manufacturers such as Audi, BMW and Citroen opt for simple letter and number combinations, perhaps trying to appeal to accountants. This doesn’t do much for me. Take Citroen’s C4 - I very much doubt that it has truly ‘explosive’ performance so why on earth mislead the consumer in this way?
It just goes to show that names, letters or numbers have to be chosen with great care so that buyers are not for any reason left disappointed.
2011 Mitsubishi Colt interior
Mitsubishi is one manufacturer that picks its names very carefully and sticks with them.
Take its Colt, which was first launched in 1962. That name reminds me of the Colt 45 handgun but also of a young pony, gambolling across a field – an appropriate name for the chirpy, bottom of the range vehicle.
2011 new Mitsubishi Colt
On the inside, Mitsubishi has cleverly made its Juro model feel like a larger vehicle: it’s fairly spacious for a three-door hatchback and has a good quality black leather interior together with electric windows and a reasonable sound system.
A neat touch is the Garmin portable sat nav. The seats aren’t bad but they could do with being a little more supportive. There’s a reasonable boot and the air conditioning soothed my hayfever.
This model, based on the CZ2, has 16-inch alloy wheels.
New Mitsubishi Colt
To drive, the 1.3-litre proved a dependable companion over our week together covering a variety of journeys on the motorway down to windy country B-roads. It is just as happy travelling at 70mph as it is crawling around town. Another pleasant surprise is the fact that it‘s fitted with cruise control, which aids economy and helps maintain a steady speed. This 1.3-litre petrol unit does not make me smile in the same way as the diesel version, which delivers 59mpg - the petrol model falls some way short of this.
That said this Mitsubishi offers bags more character and style than any mainstream hatchback from Ford, Vauxhall or Volkswagen, for instance.
“It‘s safe and easy to drive making it good in town - although the large windscreen pillars restrict visibility somewhat,” writes Parkers, the car guide. “If you can live with the small boot the little Colt represents a well-equipped small hatch that‘s comfortable and ideal if you want something a bit different.”
> At a glance - Mitsubishi Colt:
Mitsubishi Colt Juro costs from £10,499 new.
Colt range prices:
New price range £9,304 - £11,754
Used price range £1,780 - £7,650
Power: 95bhp
Engine: 1.3-litre
Road tax: £125/annum
