Mitsubishi is jumping on the latest interactive app craze by offering Smartphone users a chance to virtually test the new Mirage G4 sedan.
Basically a version (with a trunk grafted onto the hindquarters) of the Mirage sub-compact introduced a couple years back, the G4 sedan made its North American appearance at this year’s Canadian International AutoShow in Toronto before launching in the marketplace in spring.
Now people who want to drive the Mirage G4 for longer than the prescribed dealership test route, can do so virtually with the Mirage G4 Night Drive — an interactive computer/mobile-app game to illustrate the new sedan’s features (such as rearview camera and hill-hold assist) while testing the user on reaction times for braking, acceleration and handling.
“Our Night Drive campaign is a fitting way to launch this vehicle with the opportunity for our target audience to engage with the car through their smartphones,” said Francine Harsini, Mitsubishi Motors North America senior director of marketing. “The Mirage G4 offers consumers a package that is unmatched in the industry – with up to 42 highway MPG, best-in-class legroom, and of course our 10-year, (160,000-km) Powertrain Limited Warranty.”
Making the game possible is the support on the Mirages for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, the first cars in their price class to offer the connectivity. The game links a website (MirageG4NightDrive.com) to the users’ Apple or Android Smartphones, allowing them to control the onscreen night course with the movement control capabilities of the mobile phone.
Following a log-in at the website and pairing up the user’s smartphone, the user is asked to reverse the car (by pulling the phone away from the screen while viewing the reverse camera view on the Smartphone), negotiating a high-speed curve (by manipulating the phone like a steering wheel), braking and choosing gears (by pushing buttons on the phone screen), accelerating (by tilting the phone away), and feathering the throttle (by tilting the phone towards or away) in order to hit a fuel-economy target.
At the end of the virtual test drive, the user is assigned a driving personality type (such as “Wallet Watcher,” “Learner’s Permit” or “Getaway Driver”) and a highlight reel to share as a GIF on social media.