Mitsubishi ASX 4 2.2 DI-D 4WD Automatic

We’re getting very used to the Mitsubishi ASX and its pros and cons. Thankfully, the pros outnumber the cons by a considerable margin, so when friends ask whether I’m impressed with the ASX, it’s getting very easy to reply positively. It’s not so much that the car has a bundle of stand-out features that delight the user every time they hop in, it’s more the all-round capability that impresses; the basic qualities, like room for passengers, which must work well if the car is to be appreciated in everyday life. A 50-mile trip with friends sitting in the back led to them praising the comfort of the seats (and somewhat unexpectedly their leathery smell), plus the generous legroom. This is from a couple whose main car is a Ford Galaxy a motor that can't be accused of a shortage of interior space.

For me, as the driver, I’m enjoying the sensible collection of driver aids that are standard on our range-topping model. Auto lights and wipers, the first of which in years gone by I felt was an assistance I could do without, I now appreciate every time I use the car, for at this time of the year they’re working most of the time. The auto wipers have a sensitivity adjustment, so if you reckon they’re too keen or too lazy, you can set the quantity of rain on the screen that triggers their operation exactly where you want it. More good news is to be seen in the door mirror department. These are substantial items that offer a sizeable field of view, and can be folded in by a switch on the door. More to the point, they automatically fold when the doors are locked sensible, but by no means universal in other manufacturers’ cars. I’m still amazed at the number of cars whose folding mirrors require you to operate a switch when leaving the car, as though auto operation was a costly facility which a manufacturer couldn’t possibly consider installing for free.

I like to use the car’s fuel computer for checking average mpg figures on a regular basis, but the ASX system insists on resetting the consumption figure whenever the car is switched off for more than four hours, even when ‘manual reset’ has been selected. Why this should be so is a mystery, not cleared up by the manual which, concerning these pages at least, wins no prizes for clarity or simplicity. So, going back to the first principles of taking the mileage between successive refills of the big 60-litre (13.2 gallons) fuel tank, our fuel consumption this month has been precisely 10mpg off the official figure, but in its defence, the ASX can rightly point out that it’s been a month of predominantly short journeys in cold weather, and for fuel consumption that certainly ain’t good.