More Clio for private individuals
Mitsubishi sticks its own logos on the Renault Clio, after which the car goes through life as a Colt. Then they charge more for the Colt than Renault for the Clio. That sounds like a hopeless mission, why would you even enter the Mitsubishi showroom?
Why does Mitsubishi use badge engineering?
The new Colt is nothing more than a Renault Clio with different logos. Previously, French car manufacturers turned to Mitsubishi for badge engineering: when Peugeot and Citroën were not yet building SUVs (but the market was already asking for them), they provided the Outlander with a lion or double chevrons on the nose, and when PSA If an EV had to be created in a hurry, the rebadging trick was repeated again with the iMiev. Now it is the other way around and Mitsubishi is sticking its logos on the Renault Clio. Mitsubishi says it is currently investing all its money in electric cars. In order to be able to come up with a car that fills the gap in the range between the Space Star and the ASX (basically the Renault Captur), this solution was chosen. It is not entirely surprising that the Clio was chosen, as Mitsubishi is part of the alliance with Renault and Nissan. And because the Nissan Micra is now out of production, the Clio remained as the only option.
With different logos, the Renault Clio becomes a Mitsubishi Colt.
How spacious is the new Mitsubishi Colt?
Just like the appearance, the interior, except for the swapped logos, is completely identical to what we know from the Clio, even the upholstery fabric is identical. The operation is completely the same, including the clear instruments and the somewhat slow multimedia system. Just like with the Clio, you have enough space in the front, while it is quite tight in the back seat. The trunk is available in two sizes: with a capacity of 391 liters for the versions with a conventional drivetrain, while the luggage compartment of the hybrid fits 301 liters because the battery pack is located under the luggage floor.
With a hybrid powertrain you lose 90 liters of luggage space.
How does it drive?
Just like the Clio, the Colt is available with a 999 cc three-cylinder turbo petrol engine (90 hp) with six-speed manual gearbox and a 1.6 liter four-cylinder with hybrid drivetrain (145 hp). In addition, unlike Renault, Mitsubishi also offers a naturally aspirated version of the three-cylinder, which is good for an extremely modest 60 hp and is linked to a five-speed gearbox. To be able to keep up with traffic smoothly with the 90 hp version, you have to keep the engine up to speed. Only when the tachometer needle climbs towards 3,000 revolutions per minute does the engine start to show a zest for life. At lower revs it really has to come from its toes, so for smooth merging or overtaking you have to downshift. How the naturally aspirated engine behaves is up to us, that version was not available when we first met. Mitsubishi says it mainly offers this basic variant for Space Star drivers who want a bit more car. In any case, the chassis can handle the driving forces very well. The Colt is nice and steady on the asphalt.
The fine chassis of the Clio has been copied one by one.
Is the original more favorable or the clone?
If the Colt is nothing more than a Clio with different logos, why would you enter the Mitsubishi dealer’s showroom? Perhaps because you already have a Colt from €21,990, while the price list for the Clio starts at €22,950. Anyway, then you have the Colt with the 60 hp engine and the Clio with 95 hp. With a comparable engine, the Colt is more than two grand more expensive than the Clio. Then go to the Renault dealer? No, not directly. The Colt is slightly more equipped, for example, the Mitsubishi with the turbo engine or hybrid drivetrain comes with a reversing camera as standard, while with Renault this is a €500 option. In any case, the Colt only has a handful of accessories such as a towbar and a mat set, while we see no fewer than eleven option packages in the Clio price list. It is therefore important to see which equipment version best suits your needs and what you will pay for it. Furthermore, Mitsubishi says it focuses mainly on private customers by offering a warranty of up to eight years. Renault cannot achieve this in more than two years.
The previous Mitsubishi Colt came from NedCar and was a brother of the Smart ForFour, now it runs among the Clios of the production line.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl