I remember being surprised by the Mitsubishi Space Star in November 1998 a while after it was introduced as the first Japanese car to chase the rocketing success of the Renault Scenic compact MPV market. Even though then only available with a 1.3-litre petrol engine, it caught my fancy as a neat, not too expensive and very capable machine.
Since then that particular segment of the market has become very crowded, but also very successful for a number of other marques, notably the Citroen Picasso and Opel’s exceptionally competent Zafira. The Space Star’s entry price remained quite competitive, though, and I suspect it has been a quietly successful vehicle for the importers, and an important one given the fact that the mainstream cars of the brand have suffered from a number of marketing problems - quotas, image, and an uncertainty of future for the parent company amid negotiations with major shareholder DaimlerChrysler.
But the Space Star did suffer from only being available with one engine. That has now been rectified, in spades. Though the marque’s excellent Gasoline Direct Injection engine version was deemed to be too expensive for the Irish market, a mid-range 1.6-litre and a new 1.9-litre Direct Injection Diesel have come on stream, giving the Space Star a more-or-less direct equivalent version against its main rivals.
I’ve just had the DID out for appraisal, and over an unusually varied kind of driving terrain. I suppose this time I haven’t been surprised, but I’m still very impressed.
Japan’s car diesels have generally played second fiddle to those made by European manufacturers, mainly because diesel is not a large factor in Japanese or US motorists’ thinking. But because the markets over here have become so important to them, they’ve been doing a lot of catching up with Fiat and Peugeot/Citroen, the acknowledged kings of the mass-market oil-burner makers. Toyota’s D4D is a perfect example, and at the other end of the scale Honda is to introduce brand-new diesel powerplants across its range in order to compete in Europe.
Mitsubishi has its own equal to the best already, and if they can get any decent numbers to sell here, the Irish distributors should have a ‘sparkle’ in their sales figures.
Looking at the car in styling terms, the Space Star has held its looks well since it was first launched in 1997. In another three or four years it would still look well, because the mistake of overstyling was not made from the beginning. Indeed, the car looks just as good as its most recently-introduced direct competitor in size, the Nissan Tino.
(What a pity the brand’s Carisma designers weren’t able to do the same ... though the Space Star is built on the same platform, it is light years ahead of that particular fading glory in looks, inside and out.)
Nice too that the Space Star has car dimensions and feel to it, but with the additions of an airy interior and high driving position. Although you never feel that you’re driving a high ‘van’. When you think about it, Mitsubishi did the same here in the compact MPV market as they had always done with their Space Wagon MPV, which always felt and looked more carlike than the Galaxy/Espace/Ullysse competition.
The dashboard styling is straight Japanese standard, but that's not bad. Nor, of course, is it exciting. But what's important? That you get the information you want without having to hunt for it. You don't hunt here.
Loadwise, the Space Star doesn’t try to be any more than the 5-seater average for the segment (Fiat Multipla and Opel Zafira provide enough extra seats for the few who need them here anyway). But it has a full range of flexible seating/luggage options, including a slide-forward facility for the rear seats when only children are carried there, allowing extra luggage space with the ‘two big-plus-two small people’ configuration.
There’s pretty good ‘bits and bobs’ storage around the cabin, including a place for motoring journalists to lose their sunglasses in, cupholders and odds-bins in between the front seats, a pull-out tray under the front passenger seat, and a place to store sweets for kiddy-calming in traffic jams.
The quality of the trim and finish in the review car was up to a very decent standard (‘decent’ seems to be coming in here a lot), and the colours and designs were cheerful without being brash. The seats as used by me and my co-driver proved reasonably supportive and quite comfortable. And I have the feeling that they’ll maintain both for the long life I expect this car might have with its buyers.
OK, so how does it drive? Hmm, ‘adequate’ would be inadequate, ‘great’ would be too much in the suspension and handling end of things. So remember that this is not aimed at the rally crowd of another Mitsubishi model and think ‘family’ with a little ‘fun’ added. The fact is, the Space Star established itself somewhat high in the segment’s firmament when we had occasion to rush it across the Wicklow Mountains for a date with the launch of another marque’s new brand and model. It handled well down by the original ‘Bracken’ farmhouse, pushed easily from King’s River to Laragh, and when we were twisting back up to Powerscourt from the Bray dual carriageway, we didn’t even have to think about it.
And getting back to the powerplant in discussion, that was part of the reason the Space Star did its job so well and without distracting fuss. First, it is exceptionally quiet both inside and from the street. You quite likely would have to tell the neighbors that you’re running an oilburner, because the car itself won’t give that fact away.
And that same engine has an easy-drive capacity which would only be equalled by a V6 petrol engine of at least 2.5 litres, because its maximum torque is available from 1750rpm and continues flat all the way to 3250rpm. On the undulating and twisty roads from Naas to Enniskerry, that characteristic alone allowed us to make decently (again!) fast and very hasslefree progress.
So, I’m as impressed today by this particular version of the Space Star as I was with the 1.3-litre car in 1998. I know that some colleagues don’t agree with me on my positive feelings towards the car in general. But that’s the subjective side of this business.
I liked this car very much. If I needed to find downsides, it should have air-conditioning, and just now the Mitsubishi name only excites rally enthusiasts, and then just some.
The first can be fixed, and the second, at least for the Space Star, is probably unfair.
July 2001
by Brian Byrne