January 24, 2008
FTLOD Review:
'07 Mitsubishi Colt CZT
By John LeBlanc

More Colt CZT photos


You or your parents probably recognize the Colt nameplate.

Starting as a rear-engine microcar in the early 1960s in Japan, the Colt badge has been used on a continuous line of Mitsubishi Motors' subcompacts ever since.

In Canada, the Mitsubishi-made Dodge Colt (and comparable Plymouth Champ and Plymouth Colt), were sold from 1970 to 1994, eventually replaced by Chrysler's Neon.

If you like the looks of this up-to-date-looking, front-wheel drive Colt CZT tester, don't get too excited. The three-door hatchback lives on in Europe and Asia, but it's not sold in Canada yet.

This CZT was part of a group of foreign-market vehicles that Mitsubishi brought into the country to get feedback from media and dealers as potential Canadian vehicles.

The others were the i microcar, Colt five-door diesel, Triton compact pickup and Grandis minivan.

With its 147 hp turbocharged and intercooled 1.5 L four and five-speed manual transmission, the sporty, top-of-the-range CZT is what the Brits call a "supermini."

The sporty Mitsu starts at about the U.K. equivalent of $26,000. Its only rival here would be a base Mini Cooper.

The interior is kitted out with a three-spoke, red-stitched steering wheel, white-faced driver's instrumentation, aggressively bolstered seats and aluminum-faced pedals.

The material quality isn't up to Honda Fit or Mini standards, but the pale-blue swath of trim that runs up the centre console is a unique touch. Like Fit and Mini, the CZT's wheel-at-each-corner proportions, small size and low weight make it more fun to drive than watching Jell-O wrestling.

Taken on a road I've frequented with many a Cooper, the Colt was composed and neutral in its handling through some of the nastier bends. Over big dips and whoop-de-dos, the suspension hung on tighter than a politician's grip.

My test car came with low-profile 205/45R16 rubber, but it wasn't nearly as rough a ride as a Mini.

Perhaps the most appealing part of the CZT is its engine. Like most of the firm's fours, it likes to rev. And it never complained when being pushed. Trips past the redline were easy mistakes due to its lack of protest. A 0-to-100 km/h time of just over seven seconds puts the current Fit and Mini Cooper about two seconds behind.

But in the end it doesn't matter that this little firecracker has a bend-but-won't-break chassis, a "strong like bull" motor or anti-retro styling that speaks of the latest and greatest.

Or the performance of a $5,000-more-expensive Cooper S.

All of that doesn't matter because Mitsubishi says "there are no plans to bring the current Colt to Canada. Instead, a new subcompact will be considered."

For more than 40 years, "Colt" and "Mitsubishi" have gone together like peanut and butter. So why isn't the Colt CZT for sale here?

The unofficial answer seems to be that Mitsubishi is only now recovering worldwide from the effects of the vehicle defects cover-up scandal back home in Japan and the cheap-leasing fiasco in the U.S.

The new-gen Lancer and (finally!) Evo and the redesigned Outlander compact crossover have helped lift Mitsubishi's Canadian sales for the first 11 months of this year, back to where they were in 2004. That was the automaker's best year since it came to Canada in '02.

The bad news: we'll have to wait for the Colt nameplate to once again grace the Mitsu lineup. Here's hoping that when that happens, the impressive CZT, or something close to it, makes the cut as well.

- John LeBlanc, Publisher

2007 Mitsubishi Colt CZT
Price: $26,000 (est.)
Engine: Turbocharged 1.5 L four-cylinder
Power/torque: 147 hp/155 lb.-ft.
Estimated fuel consumption: (L/100 km est.) city 8.6, hwy 5.7
Competition: Honda Fit, Mini Cooper
What's best: Interior; not available in Canada – yet
What's worst: The first Colt, debuting in 1962, had a 594 cc two-cylinder, air-cooled engine with all of 22 horses