2006 Mitsubishi Colt VRX Road Test
30 Aug, 2006
25 Comments 
2006 Mitsubishi Colt VRX Road Test
Test Model: Mitsubishi Colt VRX 1.5L MIVEC CVT Automatic (06MY VR-X Hatchback 5dr CVT 1sp 1.5i)
Options Fitted: None
Recommended Retail Price: $21,990
On Road Price: Around $25,000 but definitely shop around
Where it sits: There are three models in the Colt range starting with the manual only ES, followed by the LS with a five speed manual or CVT Automatic. The VRX is the ‘sports look’ model although you can step up to the high performance Colt Ralliart and join the ‘Hot Hatch’ club, if that’s your thing.
HOW IT GOES
With a 1.5L MIVEC engine (Mitsubishi’s revered Lancer Evolution IX uses this same technology) matted to their Continuously Variable Transmission or INVECS III CVT as it’s known, the Colt VRX has plenty of go whenever you plant the right foot. That said, driving this car with a CVT Auto is a little strange at first, as there are no actual gear changes, given that there’s no actual gearbox! A bunch of pulleys and belts have replaced the gears. The real beauty of this transmission type is that drivers are rewarded with smooth and progressive acceleration with better than average fuel economy. While I had this car, I took the opportunity to drive the GETRAG 5-speed manual version and can happily report that the CVT was easily the more responsive drive.
(For those of you who are unsure about the CVT transmission, don’t be. This technology has been around for a while. The famous Dutch truck company D.A.F produced small cars in the late 1950’s with their version called “Variomatic” transmission. Other versions of the CVT are currently employed by many car companies including Audi, Honda, Nissan and Mercedes Benz due to their performance and fuel saving characteristics). For more information, you can check out Car Advice’s entry for CVT
HOW IT HANDLES
While the VRX CVT is not a sports car, more sports styling, it is however, fitted with a set of larger alloy wheels and tyres than you get with the Colt ES and LS. Also on board are four wheel disc brakes (fronts are ventilated) with ABS, EBD and a brake assist function, all of which provide superior levels of braking in this class.
This car has been tuned for Australian roads and as such produces a reasonable balance between cornering stability and comfort. The car handles corners and grips quite well although, there’s some body roll when driven with enthusiasm but I can live with that, given its tallish shape and the benefits that provides. The steering is electric power-assisted and while not overly direct, is well weighted and provides a predictable response. Given that most cars in this class are purchased by city dwellers, the Colt VRX is a cinch to manoeuvre in tight spaces although the thick front pillars can block vision in some situations.
STYLING
Most small cars these days offer lots of bang for your buck. They have to. Buyers in this segment want all the benefits and features of larger and more expensive choices. The Colt VRX is a standout among the busy small car market with its ultra modern shape described by Mitsubishi as a “one–motion form that flows from the length of the body”
Everything about this car works, from the ground up.
The five-spoke alloys coupled with the meaty Dunlop SP Sport 3000 tyres speak “sports”. The deep front grille with mesh inserts and fog lights look the business, and the front headlight assembly looks like something out of the movie “I-Robot”.
Even the side mirrors have a swoop back, aerodynamic design which apparently repels water droplets. Also worth a mention, is the rear light assembly with the high mount stop lamp, similar to that on the super safe Volvo wagon family. There’s clearly a lot of thought gone into the overall design of this car, right down to the chrome look badging on the grille and rear hatch, which all look good.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
The modern design and feel of the Colt continues when you step inside. My first reaction is that this feels like a much bigger car. There is loads of rear leg and head room due in part to the high roof design. I put my cousin in the front seat and at 188cm (six-foot two inches) he still had heaps of headroom There are proper sports seats up front with decent levels of side bolster to hold you squarely in the seat through the bends. The leather covered sports steering wheel is a treat to hold, and is the same as fitted to the performance Ralliart version. Disappointing though, are the lack of audio control buttons on the wheel which in my opinion should be standard kit on this car. Rear seats are set higher than the front similar to that in the Mercedes Benz A-Class and Honda Jazz, so that rear passengers have clear forward vision.
Gearshifts are via a push button activated column shift which is surprisingly easy to use and frees up space between the front seats. Instrumentation is very clean with sports look dials (these look great when illuminated), while the switchgear is well laid out and simple to use. Alloy Pedals add to the sports look, as does the chrome exhaust extension on the VRX.
SPACE, STORAGE AND PRACTICALITY.
I’ve already said this car has loads of head and leg room but I have a problem with the design of the 50/50 split-folding rear seats and how that affects the load carrying capacity.
While there is reasonable carrying space behind the rear seats, it’s not class leading. If want to extend the load area, the rear seats do fold all the way forward (and you won’t need to remove the head rests) but not flat into the floor. This means that you can’t use the space as a flat cargo area or tray as you can in the similar styled Honda Jazz. The other issue I have is that there is no cargo area illumination, not even a centre mounted roof light. You have to rely on the front mounted map lights or carry a torch, should you need light back there.
However, there’s plenty of clever storage built into the Colt. There’s deep side pocket storage with separate bottle holders in both front door sides although the rear door pockets are too small to be effective. There are two retractable cup holders which pop out of the front dash, with the rear passengers accommodated by two sliding cup holders as part of the ‘centre console system’. There’s a roof mounted sunglass holder and business card holder together with additional storage spaces under the steering wheel and below the audio system. The glovebox is huge and can hold a tonne of nicks and knacks. Oh yeah, there are luggage tie down hooks in the rear cargo area as well as hooks where you can hang your shopping bags, which really are useful.
Gone is the traditional handbrake which has been replaced by a foot-operated parking brake which simply provides more room between the seats and makes sliding across seats (if you do that sort of thing) much easier. Let’s hope that the push button operated electronic park brakes found in some of the luxury German and Japanese cars end up in small cars like the Colt sometime soon.
INTERIOR COMFORT
Interior comfort and features is where the Colt VRX sings louder than most. First of all, you get privacy glass. For those of you who need a translation, that’s dark tinted windows on the passenger and rear tailgate glass. This is great if you have got kids and want the sun off them. It also helps keep the interior temperature down in our scorching summers. The audio system is a 6-CD, 4-speaker in-dash stacker with MP3/WMA compatibility (you can plug in the ipod) with reasonable sound quality.
Remote keyless entry and engine immobiliser are standard along with power windows and mirrors. However, you also get one touch electric folding mirrors which are great for use in car parks and tight garages which can also be activated from you remote key. Should you forget to fold the mirrors back before you drive away, don’t panic, they will do it automatically when you hit 30km/h.
There’s a driver’s armrest and footrest for highway comfort and of course air conditioning – with a pollen filter. The wipers are speed sensitive with intermittent control and are particularly effective across the large front windscreen area. You also get a rear wiper with intermittent control which is useful when backing up in the rain.
There are a number of nice metal accents throughout the car which along with some carefully chosen two-tone plastics, add to the European look and feel of this car. One of the few options on the VRX is an electric-tilt and slide sunroof and at $1600, is not bad value these days.
SAFETY FEATURES
All models in the Colt range come with SRS front airbags for driver and front passenger however, you can add Side and Curtain airbags but that will set you back another $1,200.
ABS and EBD together with a Brake Assist function is also standard across the range, with the VRX adding four-wheel disc brakes. Front seatbelts are height adjustable three-point with pretensioners and force limiters while in the rear, you get two-three point belts but the centre is only a lap belt.
The Colt also benefits from Mitsubishi’s RISE (Reinforced Impact Safety Program) which provides additional body stiffness and “directs impact forces away from the passenger compartment during a collision. Side door impact bars with a rigid door structure are also built into the car, as are a collapsible brake pedal and steering wheel which can all lesson the extent of serious injury in accidents.
COST OF OWNERSHIP
With an extensive list of features and contemporary styling, the Colt VRX with CVT represents very good value for money at $21,990. Even better, when you consider Mitsubishi’s 5/10 warranty on the car. That’s five years from bumper to bumper and ten years on the powertrain (engine and transmission). Fuel consumption on the CVT model is listed at 5.6 litres of standard unleaded/100 kilometres although; you tend to zip around in the VRX which probably means 5.9 litres/100 kilometres in the real world. I should mention that the fuel tank capacity has grown from 42 litres to 45 litres which is above average for a car this size.
COLOURS
You’d be hard pressed not to find a colour you liked in most new cars today given the emphasis on styling, and with Mitsubishi’s Colt, it’s no different. You can get it in the following flavours;
White, cool silver (Metallic) Butterscotch (leave this colour alone), Red (Metallic) Gunmetal (Pearlescent), Black (Pearlescent and my pick)
However, like the Honda Jazz, Mitsubishi charge an additional $300 for either the metallic or pearlescent option. White is OK, but for 300 bucks, I’d go for one of the optional colours as it will make a difference at re-sale.
MY OPINION
The Mitsubishi Colt VRX oozes style and is loaded with so many ‘big car’ features that it must be considered a class leader in the busy small car segment.
By Anthony Crawford
Location: Home / Behind the Wheel / ...
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(18 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
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September 29th, 2006 at 9:08 am
If someone is looking at the VRX models, obviously power is pretty important factor in choosing one’s car. Why would people go for a Colt VRX when the lancer ES has more power, same level of safety but better suspension, bigger interior and cost less!
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September 29th, 2006 at 11:04 am
Well, personally I don’t think everyone likes the Lancer look, and some people prefer the smaller, cuter approach that the colt VRX takes.
It seems to me that the colt is a “hate it or love it” car
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October 25th, 2006 at 11:01 pm
[…] The standard Mitsubishi Colt VRX sports model runs a small but competent 1.5 litre four-cylinder 16-valve which delivers 77kW at 6000 rpm and 141 Nm of torque at 4000rpm. Now that’s fine for a car weighing in at 1090kg and it gets along nicely. […]
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March 31st, 2007 at 6:28 pm
I own the new colt vrx 2007 and it is so roomy and comfortable to drive. Even the kids are happy with the amount of leg room they have in the back.
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April 11th, 2007 at 12:25 pm
I just bought a Colt VRX 2007 and had previously owned (and loved) a Lancer MR 1998. I have to admit it barely touches the petrol (a godsend in this world of ever-rising petrol prices)and has a heap more space then the Lancer did. It was odd at first to drive as the car sounds different and I was quite wary of the CVT not knowing much about it but as soon as I drove it I was won over. I was also surprised by how much power this car actually does have.
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April 12th, 2007 at 1:24 pm
I like these cars, Could you Please send some more information or the manual of the car. Reply to my email address please.
Thanks heaps,
Sadaf
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May 3rd, 2007 at 11:26 pm
We have an 05 LS, which is essentially an ES. Except ours has the old 74kw engine, old nose and different tail lights and different upholstery. I love it, the CVT is amazing and kudos to Mitsu for sticking with it, eg the new Outlander 4cyl variants have it as does the new Lancer. But the review is slightly off, there is a boot light! It is inside the top of the car, above the boot hatch, it is aimed down into the cargo area and back seat.
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May 7th, 2007 at 10:52 am
Firstly, with regards to the old model ls colt, it had a 72kw engine and not a 74kw engine as stated. Secondly, i test drove a new 07 colt es (manual) and couldn’t stand the transmission. The mechanical aspects to the transmission were fine, as it was relatively smooth shifting, however the ergonomics of the manual shifter were terrible!! The gear shifter was awkwardly placed with a tiny black plastic (cheap looking) top that was hard to grip and looked rubbish. I then test drove a honda jazz vti, which along with having an ergonomically designed manual shifter, it had a proper boot light, better folding seats, a more powerful engine and handled a lot better. It also had nicer apholstry, better storage and had mirror mounted indicators as well as the power folding function like on the colt.
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May 7th, 2007 at 10:59 am
Look, i have to agree with Chris, I test drove a colt ls (2007) and the manual transmission was horrid to use. so i bought one with a cvt instead and although i normally prefer driving manual cars as they offer more driver involvement and are much more fun to live with, i love the cvt and am glad i bought one.
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May 7th, 2007 at 11:06 am
I found the Jazz upholstery awfull! Grandma car! The car itself is so mich uglier, all its angles, and lack of sleekness mean it is already starting to date. The colt was the first non prestige brand car to get folding in mirrors. The colt’s boot light is absolutely fine too. And yes the colt’s folding seats aren’t as good but the way I see it is why does a small car need such a feature, the majority would use it once a year, for which the colt is fine, if you use it more get a Mazda 2 or Jazz. It is pretentious to have features like that on a small car. Better storage in the Jazz? I found it exactly the same except the Jazz has that stupid shelf in fron of the front passenger that cuts into leg room for tall people in a BIG way. Also the Jazz is now made in Thailand, and I don’t care what people say, they can’t replicate the Japaneses build quality. The colt is made in japan. I have ridden in several Thai built Hondas and EVERY one had a rattle. Also as Today Tonight reported last week, Honda had the most amount of recalls last year in Aus. Worldwide it was Toyota and Ford. We’ve had many mitsubishis of varying ages, from a 1989 Nimbus, 2002 TJ Magna to our 05 Colt and 06 Platinum 380, none have had so much as a loose fitting. we did nearly 200 000ks in the Magna in 4 years without any flaw.
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May 7th, 2007 at 11:12 am
The placement of the colt’s manual probably isn’t special, I wouldn’t know, we love our CVT and manual wasn’t available then. The getreg (same as BMW use) manual was an after thought on the Australian model, when they launched the colt here they could only get a manual from their european factory which would have made it more than the CVT so they waited till the Jap factory could build one and just chucked it in. They will prob rectify the “problem” in the next generation. I read an article about how worldwide the use of manual is in steady decline, it was never big in the US and now in Aus and Europe sales are down big time. Toyota is looking to cut manual options from some of their cars. Notably they are expecting to remove manuals at some point in the early life of the next corolla, the one due this year. This was in a Wheels website article. In th end i still trust mitsubishi more, aside from the media scaremongering, it has the best warranty and the best build quality we;ve come accross and the colt is just plain fun to drive.
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May 18th, 2007 at 2:11 pm
Reading an article on The Age motoring site, there is an article on build quality audits for different brands. Obviously Holden and Ford are consistant. Consistantly bad that is. In small cars, the Mazda 2 and Colt topped the list for best quality. Doesn’t surprise me, our colt is impecable. The Outlander topped soft roaders, the Pajero was 2nd in 4WD and the 380 was in the top of the pack, whereas the VE and Falcon came last. VWs were also shockingly bad.
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May 18th, 2007 at 2:13 pm
This colt is a truly awesome car, specially with the CVT,
you just can’t go wrong with the 10 year warranty either!
On par with the Jazz and Swift,
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May 18th, 2007 at 4:14 pm
I like the swift too but now the Jazz is made in Thailand quality has suffered as reflected in the survey and they don’t look as good as colt or swift, they already look dated.
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June 13th, 2007 at 12:24 am
One of my mates just bout an LS manual. Oddly enough they have removed the rear passenger/boot light. Ours is a pre-facelift model and it has it. Also in ours there is a tab to lift up the front passenger seat cushion to reveal a storage box with lid, that too is gone.
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June 16th, 2007 at 11:02 pm
Been looking at light cars for a few weeks now,Im now more or less settled on a vrx manual.Its was a real coin toss between the vrx and a swift,both have good and not so good pionts.So when alls said and done are ALL you guys happy with your colts ?
This will be the first “small” car I,ve bought,and I really want to get it right.
Thanks.
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July 4th, 2007 at 11:59 pm
To Gaz, get a CVT version. Yes it costs more, but it has benefits. I believe it’s designed for this engine. No more rowing the boat when all you need is to press the pedal. It’s surprisingly fast with the CVT and at it’s best for fuel saving. The yearly service cost is very resonable (I only just reach the KM limit). I’d completely forgotten about that front passenger seat storage box. The folding back seats are not the easiest to work. But the couple of times i’ve needed that van like space, it’s good. Notice how that back entry width is really wide compared to others. I even bought Butterscotch. I want others to see me, before, they run into me. I had a red Pulsar sport before this.
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August 5th, 2007 at 11:08 pm
We absolutely love ours. My mate loves the manual and he says it is even better now he has broken it in a bit. But I love the CVT. It does provide all the torque all the time so it really can fly and when you put it in Ds (Drive Sporty) it f*cking goes! It is like a sports car…amazing performance and heavy engine breaking when you stop accelerating. The amount of pace you can get is staggering…great for buring off and overtaking. The seats aren’t the easiest to fold but we use it about once a yr on average for which it is fine and you do get so much space. And it they really do feel so big on the inside and offer so much leg room front and back. And so solidly built.
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October 17th, 2007 at 6:56 pm
I researched every detail on the Echo, Jazz, Getz, Barina and the Colt. I left no stone unturned, I did every comparison I could think of with a budget of $20,000. To be honest, before I started at the bottom of the list was the Colt, Why? I just did not like Mitsubish cars. No reason, guess I still think of them as Magna people. The decision at the end was easy. I bought the Colt VRX with the CTV transmission. I can’t believe there are not more on the road. Dollar for Dollar this is the best car I have ever owned. I just don’t tell people it’s a Mitsubishi.
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December 16th, 2007 at 8:22 pm
I’m researching for a new small car and have had a verada for ten years, towing caravan, holidays etc. Very few problems especially first 7 years and have no ‘hangups’ with mitsub. What are these space saving spares that some small cars, such as colt, have. Are they safe?
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January 2nd, 2008 at 6:54 am
Cathy…
…
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March 10th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
I recently bought a es cvt . Very unhappy to find my new car wasn’t new at all !! It had 21 k’s on the clock , scratches on the interior centre console, metallic industrial fall out all over the white paint work , and white 2 pack over spray all over the rubber window mouldings and black painted door surrounds!!I was told to bring the car back to the dealer , and that the overspray was buffing compound ! Not the case unfortunately.It will not rub off with a water-damped cloth or with iso-propyl alcohol.Looks like the vehicle has been driven to workshop where it was poorly resprayed to address paint issues, hence the additional Kms on the clock .Don’t know what will happen now. I feel like I have purchased a second hand car.
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April 18th, 2008 at 6:35 pm
I bought a 07 colt LS for my partner she loves it. has plenty more power than the lancer and hardly touches the fuel. we previously had a commodore wagon and have not had any problems with interior space. although i wouldnt recomend it to carry prams. Bouth the manual version as the auto sucked way too much power out. But have had problems getting it into reverse on most occasions I think its someone has tried to clen some teeth prior to purchase or there dodgy. If anyone else has had any problems with this it would be good to know.
If you get the windows tinted make sure the window tinter installs a strip of felt on the lower dust shield or you wil have etched tint!!!!
also does anyone know of the size of speakers in the car? the standard stereo sounds average for a new car.
other than that she is in love with her toy and wouldnt trade it for anything.
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September 29th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
I bought a colt ralliart and has blistering power that puts any v6 to shame and only uses 7l/100km. No car is perfect but this sure was worth the small money I paid on road compared to WRX/MPS/MINI CS - Get the TMR upgrade for $500 and you get 128kw/240nm
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January 8th, 2009 at 10:16 am
This review is terribly old. I’m looking at a Colt ES now but this review doesn’t help at all because I can’t compare a 2006 car to the other small cars which you have reviewed right up to the 2009 model. Please test drive the 2008 or 2009 Colt!
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