Hi Scotty,
I have a long commute for work (77 miles each way) and it is mostly highway driving at 70 mph. I am looking for a car with good gas mileage. The standard transmission Mitsubishi Mirage is cheap and seems to have good fuel economy, but at highway speeds in 5th gear it drives at 4000 rpm. Is this bad for the engine if I do this every day?
I would get rid of that Mitsubishi. That particular car is very small and is meant for city driving because of it's size. When a 3-cylinder engine is working as hard as it can doing highway driving at 4k rpm, you could risk blowing the motor out.
The redline for rpm is 6500, so you will be fine.
I agree with Kesterpaul on this one. A manual trans is a good idea but look for something with a bigger engine. That 3 cyl. is smaller than what's on a Harley.
Thank you for the answers. Is there a better alternative I should look into purchasing? Would a 6 speed manual work better for long commutes, or am I fine in the 5 speed Mirage as long as I stay below the redline? I prefer manual over CVT, but it is mostly due to my own inexperience/ignorance with CVT transmissions. I live in a hilly area and am worried about how much strain I would put on a CVT while accelerating uphill at highway speeds.
Gear ratios in 6 speed a are probably adjusted and you will still drive at about 4000 rpm.
You could try a hybrid. Although it's an E-CVT transmission but you won't get terrible gas mileage.
Thank you all for the answers. I hadn't considered a hybrid before. They always seemed too expensive for me. What first drew me to the Mirage was the low price, but I am worried about overworking the engine on the long commute and having it fall apart in a few years. I'll keep my eyes out for any good deals on bigger cars/hybrids.