Mitsubishi Colt (04 on) - Review

The seats are a little hard and can be unsupportive for longer journeys, but there's plenty of leg, head and shoulder room. Two sit in the back in comfort with a good amount of legroom and three kids won't complain either. Overall the interior ambience is light and pleasant, although there's too much road and engine noise - which can be irritating on longer trips. There's a sliding rear bench on facelifted models which means better legroom for those travelling in the back.

There's a decent amount of space inside - especially if you opt for the five-door model. The rear seats split 60/40, can be tumbled forward, reclined or removed completely plus the front passenger seat can be folded flat too making it even more useful. Combined with the height this makes the Colt more practical than its compact dimensions would suggest. Up front there's decent storage - the 'Multibox' is a series of small boxes in the centre console for odds and ends and there's a good-sized glovebox. The biggest concern however is luggage space - it's small even by hatchback standards and at just 155 litres (168 litres in the five-door) the three-door model offers less space than a MINI hatchback. Revised models from late 2008 have a larger boot with an adjustable floor height that can create a fully-flat floor. This boosts luggage room to 160 litres in the three-door and 186 litres in the five-door.

You sit quite high up in the Colt, so there's a pretty good view of the road. However the thick windscreen pillars obstruct visibility and can get in the way when turning out of junctions. The design of the dashboard is good though with fresh, attractive materials and funky ventilation controls, while at night all the clouded plastics are backlit in soothing green. The steering column adjusts for height only while the driver's seat adjusts for height on all but the CZ1 model. Revised cars (from October 2008) get a revamped steering wheel (similar to the larger Lancer), a redesigned instrument panel and an improved stereo with an auxiliary input.