Japanese engineering giant Mitsubishi is gunning for Nissan's excellent Qashqai and the 2010 Irish Car of the Year, the Peugeot 3008, with its latest offering, the ASX.
ASX, which stands for Active Sports Crossover (x-over) is built on the Mitsubishi Outlander platform, so it is spacious inside and has a long wheelbase. It has seating for five and ticks a lot of boxes for family motoring.
Like all SUV crossovers, the exterior styling is tough and rugged, but this is not an off-road car: it's a front-wheel drive road car. Mitsubishi builds an electronically controlled four-wheel drive 1.8 DiD version, but there are no plans to sell it in Ireland at the moment.
When viewed head-on ASX looks great, with an imposing grille and corporate face. Side-on ASX is tall and while its 16-inch alloys look quite small in proportion to the car, the tyres used have a high side-wall that helps fill out the arches. The tailgate is a one-piece affair, unlike the split-folding Outlander's or 3008's. The boot is a good size, with 442 litres of space and, of course, the seats fold to reveal a large cargo area.
Under the boot floor, however, there is no spare wheel - all you'll find is a dreaded puncture repair kit and emergency compressor. In theory, these are handy systems, but in reality are a pain in the neck to use, and even then are only suitable for minor punctures. This is the only major reservation I have with the ASX on test.
Inside my test car is a bit gloomy, thanks to Mitsubishi's love of black plastics and seating. Sometimes I think Audi and Mitsubishi should twin, as both seem to adore dark cabins. The core Outlander architecture allows good legroom for all passengers, and in the back the seat backs are nice and high for adults, with lots of headroom too. Switchgear and controls fall to hand easily, but the ASX's interior won't win any awards for innovation.
A vital part of the appeal of crossovers is their economy of use. ASX scores well in this department, as it has two excellent engines in its range. My test car features a very efficient, 115bhp, tax band 'B' (€156) 1.6-litre petrol engine (€23,675). It's relatively cheap on fuel and a very quiet unit too at speed, despite having just five forward gears. All I could hear on the open road was a small amount of wind and tyre noise.
The petrol ASX is perfect for low mileage users, but for €25,550 you can get the tax band 'C', 150bhp, 1.8 DiD diesel. This engine is perfect in the ASX. It is really impressive and strong and with its standard six-speed manual gearbox is capable of delivering good fuel consumption figures also. Mitsubishi claims that its DiD engine is the first passenger car to feature variable valve timing (VVT); this technology up to now has only been seen in advanced petrol engines.
ASX is in a sector that is growing in popularity (circa 7.5% of the Irish new car market) and in its favour are: a five-star NCAP crash rating, impressive engines and a good standard specification level. Mitsubishi Ireland hopes to sell 500 ASX in 2011.
Michael Sheridan
