Picture Gallery: Mitsubishi iCar
 Click Image to Enlarge |
Not only was I driving a vehicle not available for purchase in Canada (or North America for that matter), but my iCar tester was right-hand drive. The feeling was odd at first but surprisingly it didn’t take long to get accustomed to driving on the “wrong�? side of the car. Passengers were the ones that found it the most odd: imagine the feeling of sitting in the drivers seat with traffic headed your way but no control over the vehicle. It really is an odd feeling.
 Click Image to Enlarge |
I have had some fancy cars in my driveway over the past year, but none have garnered as many e-mails and comments from my neighbours as the iCar, all praising its cuteness and size wanting to know when they can buy one – unfortunately I had to break the news that it was not planned for sale in Canada.
The interior of the iCar is “smart�? with four comfortable seats each capable of holding a full sized adult; the amount of space packed into this small package is rather impressive. Other impressive notables are features you would never expect to see in a vehicle of this type.
 Click Image to Enlarge |
 Click Image to Enlarge |
Included in my tester was: automatic climate control, auto up and down power windows all around, heated driver’s seat, iPod slot, and a hard drive based in-dash navigation system, with DVD player and TV. Of course this was all in Japanese so a little bit difficult for me to read. The navigation system kept telling me I was approaching Japan … sure.
The interior is nothing to swoon over but it certainly is functional and seemed well constructed. Most, if not all, of the plastics on the interior are hard in nature but I have seen worse in larger and presumably more expensive vehicles.
Powered by a 3 cylinder turbo-charged gas engine, this little car will not win any drag races, unless it is against the aforementioned smart car. The engine produces 68 hp and my tester was equipped with the optional AWD system, so spinning the wheels even in monsoon type rain conditions is just not an option.
The iCar weights in at approximately 2000lbs; certainly not a heavyweight but not extremely light either. Surprisingly, though, the little engine gets this vehicle up to speed rather briskly. Off the line is a little slow going, but once that little turbo spools, keeping and passing traffic is no problem at all. My tester was driven by an automatic transmission – which I am thankful for: having had to adjust to driving on the right side was confusing enough; I can’t imagine having to shift as well. The four speed automatic mates very well with the small engine in the iCar and shifts smoothly, it also kicked down reasonably quickly when more power was required.
 Click Image to Enlarge |
I actually really enjoyed tossing the iCar around: being so light it was invariably nimble feeling, even with four adults in the car. On the road, though, the iCar felt fairly stiff and somewhat jarring, which I found odd considering it is fairly softly-sprung, which was quite evident when pushed in the corners. In sharper corners the iCar leaned enough to nearly have my head touching the far side door panel – not that this was a bad thing, but this car is certainly not made to be a sports car.
I did not get a chance to take the iCar onto the highway, although I did hit 100km/h for a brief period on some “B” roads. The engine is typically quiet but when hitting triple digits and a little over 3000 rpm with the engine fairly close behind it does tend to get noisy. At city speeds the engine seems quiet and fairly refined; it really is only at higher speeds where it becomes an issue.
 Click Image to Enlarge |
With the size of the iCar you would expect some wind movement and there was, although it wasn’t horrible. Not once did I feel uncomfortable about driving the iCar in traffic, but in heavy wind situations you do need to pay attention.
Gas mileage was a little difficult to calculate, unfortunately, but a rough calculation came to an average of 7.5L/100km for all city driving. Not as great as I had originally anticipated this vehicle might be, but it does have the penalty of the AWD system to contend with, and my heavy foot.
Overall I was extremely impressed by this little wonder, a very practical city car / second vehicle for Canada, especially with all-wheel drive, four seats and large enough trunk capacity for a good amount of groceries.
*Rating out of 5:
| Mitsubishi iCar | |
| Acceleration | 
|
| Handling | 
|
| Comfort |  |
| Interior |
|
| Audio System | |
| Gas Mileage | |
*Rating based on vehicle’s classification
October 23, 2007, 10:41:38 pm Cool car!! I'd drive one...
October 24, 2007, 05:33:18 am It is basically a streched smart, made in collaboration with DaimlerChrysler. The 2008 smart uses the same Mitsu engine.
October 24, 2007, 09:10:46 am Why does Mitsu keep giving you cars they have no plans to sell in Canada? Yeesh...
October 24, 2007, 09:34:19 am ... to make us immigrate to Japan
October 24, 2007, 10:31:20 am The trunk looks big for the size of the car. For its class, it’s a good-looking car in and out. I wouldn't buy one, but the downtown TO crowd would for sure.
Mitsu should bring both the Colt and the iCar here. If they want to become a real presence in the Canadian marketplace, they need more vehicles in their lineup of currently 3 selling models.
October 24, 2007, 10:54:11 am Very interesting vehicle concept I would consider. It would need to deliver better fuel efficiency tho than what was estimated.
October 24, 2007, 11:06:13 am
I love this little car.
Maybe it is to test the water and gage the public reaction to these vehicles. It is amazing to see these Mitsubishi cars on Canadian soil. I think they are much better alternative to the smart. You can get 4 adults and a possibly a dog in the back too. I'm not sure what they could be priced out. Because these cars like the Smart should be less than a Yaris or a Fit to make them viable. The Smart is more like a toy and it is not the public who is buying them, mostly company using them for advertising. I think that is because of the price on the smarts which is a shame. I wonder what the i car would sell for.
660CC turbo charge engine must be the smallest engine wing as ever tested.
October 24, 2007, 12:54:41 pm Well, at least this one won't be less expensive in the US
October 24, 2007, 12:58:09 pm
I love this little car.
Maybe it is to test the water and gage the public reaction to these vehicles. It is amazing to see these Mitsubishi cars on Canadian soil. I think they are much better alternative to the smart. You can get 4 adults and a possibly a dog in the back too. I'm not sure what they could be priced out. Because these cars like the Smart should be less than a Yaris or a Fit to make them viable. The Smart is more like a toy and it is not the public who is buying them, mostly company using them for advertising. I think that is because of the price on the smarts which is a shame. I wonder what the i car would sell for.
660CC turbo charge engine must be the smallest engine wing as ever tested.
Smarts are everywhere around Montreal (I think GTM buys 50 - 75% of all Smarts). The public is buying them alright.
That doesn't mean their drivers are smart...I saw one in the "hybrid-only" parking spots at IKEA
October 24, 2007, 01:09:43 pm The Smart car does have a battery ...
October 24, 2007, 01:15:17 pm
The world's last non-hybrid:
Why do they even have "hybrid-only" parking spaces? A Yaris or Fit or even a GTI is more fuel-efficient than an RX-h, GS-h, or LS-h...
October 24, 2007, 01:24:49 pm Mitlov's query got me curious. Most small cars are very fuel efficient. Here's what Ikea intended to do. You can load up Yaris/Fit much better than the Camry Hybrid.
Starting May 16, the Swedish furniture retailer will dedicate two spots near the front of the store for hybrid vehicles. Ikea spokeswoman Debbie McDowell notes that drivers of low-emission cars can also make use of the spots.
"At this time we're saying hybrids but it's really open to people driving what we also are considering low-emission vehicles — anything that falls under the recent federal government incentive program would apply," she said.
http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2007/05/10/ikea-hybrid.html
October 24, 2007, 01:27:29 pm Do invalid hybrid drivers get ta autocross around IN THE STORE......I KEA BIRD COMING ON....
October 24, 2007, 03:19:12 pm "I did not get a change to take the iCar onto the highway" ?
I think thats an error.
The cars brought into the Canadian Market all seem to be bigger. What needs to happen is that people should not buy the bigger cars.
October 24, 2007, 03:46:03 pm
I think thats an error.
The cars brought into the Canadian Market all seem to be bigger. What needs to happen is that people should not buy the bigger cars.
October 24, 2007, 03:52:17 pm Able to merge onto a freeway like the 401 in front of traffic, 'cut' in front of big trucks would qualify as handle well on the highway?
October 24, 2007, 03:54:17 pm
Plus we need a very large rear window so that the vehicle in behind can see us flipping them the bird!
October 24, 2007, 07:53:23 pm 38 miles per gallon in the city isn't bad. How did you drive it to achieve this? easy or peddle
to the metal to keep up with traffic.
October 24, 2007, 08:01:22 pm ..pedal to the meddle...would be jest as bad.............
October 24, 2007, 08:31:22 pm Pedal to the Metal totally, actually nothing to do with keeping up with traffic it did that fairly well. I actually auto-x'ed it
October 24, 2007, 08:52:53 pm
Why do they even have "hybrid-only" parking spaces? A Yaris or Fit or even a GTI is more fuel-efficient than an RX-h, GS-h, or LS-h...
I can't wait for the first guy to cram his new Tahoe Hybrid into one of those spaces.
October 25, 2007, 08:40:10 am Regarding Ikea's Hybrid Parking spots;
"IKEA Canada welcomes all drivers of hybrid cars and fuel efficient
vehicles recognized by the recent Federal government's tax relief incentive
(cars that use less than 6.5L of gas per 100km) to take advantage of IKEA's
Green Parking spaces."
I believe the Smart qualifies.
October 25, 2007, 10:19:58 am I got to sit in one of these and was pretty blown away by the amount of interior space that was wrapped in such a tiny exterior package. Interior quality and design were very good as well.
Jaeger
October 30, 2007, 12:52:36 pm Too bad if we don't have an option to buy it here in Canada. After seeing another small and cute car on Amazing Race 2 yrs ago (it was Nissan Micra), I've contacted Nissan to ask if they will be ever planning to sell it in Canada. They've said that there was no market for such small vehicles in Canada and offered me to take a look at Versa (definitely not small to me) or request to import it thru local dealers. Well, I am going to wait, hopefully the market will change.
October 30, 2007, 01:01:03 pm
"IKEA Canada welcomes all drivers of hybrid cars and fuel efficient
vehicles recognized by the recent Federal government's tax relief incentive
(cars that use less than 6.5L of gas per 100km) to take advantage of IKEA's
Green Parking spaces."
I believe the Smart qualifies.
Well, they should change the signs to represent the Fed's EcoAuto program.
I do enjoy and take advantage of Ikea's "family" parking spots, being a father of 3.