The interior is roomy — there’s even acceptable legroom for the back seat, but the seats are lightly padded and upholstered in what feels like nylon burlap.

Image The 2014 Mitsubishi Mirage. Credit... Mitsubishi Motor

The controls are straightforward and logical, but the dashboard is made of cheesy plastic. There’s even a visible 1990s-style seam around the passenger air bag’s cover, something that virtually all other cars have managed to hide. There are a few nice visuals — a bit of piano black in the center of the dash, some silvery trim — but nothing feels substantial.

At least the optional navigation system works well with a seven-inch LCD touch screen that responds quickly to inputs. The problem is, even if the Mirage knows where it’s going, it will be a brutal journey getting there.

You settle into the top-of-the-line Mirage ES behind a nonadjustable steering wheel. When you push a starter button — illogically, on the left side of the dash — the 1.2-liter 3-cylinder clatters to a rocking and raucous idle.

A hint of the engine’s gargle can be felt through the thin padding of the steering wheel, and the tachometer needle seems to bounce irregularly. The engine doesn’t sound self-destructive, but it seems reluctant to wake up and eager to go back to sleep.

A 5-speed manual transmission is standard, but $1,000 buys the continuously variable unit. C.V.T.s are easy to hate, but this one is particularly loathsome in operation. As the engine slogs to its peak torque of 4,000 r.p.m., the C.V.T. seems to be trying to smother it. Once at the peak, the powertrain settles into a bleak drone as the car grimly builds something like speed. The sound is flatter than the electroencephalogram of a dead hamster.

Car and Driver magazine measured the Mirage crawling to 60 m.p.h. in 10.9 seconds. It’s the sort of acceleration that adds terror to every highway entrance and daring to any passing maneuver. A sense of peril is your constant driving companion.