by Gabrielle DeSantis

For microvan enthusiasts, the Mitsubishi Bravo is a dream come true. This Kei car offers AWD, a turbo engine, and some unique interior features. Kei cars, trucks, and vans have enjoyed a surge of popularity on the U.S. market. American buyers love these tiny and well-engineered JDMs. The Mitsubishi Bravo is a great example of what the classification has to offer.

How the Mitsubishi Bravo was born

The Mitsubishi Bravo made its appearance when Mitsubishi gave the already popular fourth generation of the Minicab a facelift replacing the Estate. Bravo was the name given to the vans decked out with much better equipment from 1989 until 1990. The Bravo AX was introduced in April 98’ and featured additions aimed at personal leisure activities.

In 1991 with changes in tax regulations, allowing for larger engines and dimensions of Kei cars, the Bravo went through another model change. Dropping the Minicab into its own independent series, the Bravo was the answer to the rising demand for cab-over Kei cars. The increase in consumer desire, specifically young families, for an economical and spacious vehicle, further stoked Mitsubishi’s development and birthed the retro-styled Bravo Route 66 around this time as well.

Bravo maintained the leisure lifestyle look for every new generation. Fitting the Eighth generation of the Bravo with a turbocharged engine gave it a much-appreciated improvement in performance. The Bravo’s small size and lightweight mean that every bit of extra power met its full potential. In the right hands, this van can move.

What makes the Bravo so attractive?

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When the first Bravo came on the scene, it was meant to replace the Estate model as the top-end trim level. With the biggest facelift in seven years, it came with an abundance of changes and upgrades. The interior was expanded, giving it a much larger feel with sliding seat adjustments for the driver, fold-flat seats, and a class-first tilt-adjust steering column comfort and leisure were clearly in mind.

The Bravo series included a hydraulic coupling full-time four-wheel-drive model and the Super Aero Roof model. This model sported a glass sunroof with glasses on the front and sides of the roof. An oversize bumper added some flair upfront and several other aero parts.

The angular headlamps played a large part in the styling of the Bravo. With larger windows all around and a bonded windshield, anyone could feel comfortable behind the wheel, and that was Mitsubishi’s intent. Later models were built with superchargers and still used the smaller engine, not taking full advantage of the regulation changes. These engines were used up until 1990, when they were discontinued.

Microvans are only growing in popularity

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Niche interest groups centered around imports have been a big scene in the states for years, and vanning has been around since the 40s. You add the versatility and compact fun of the Bravo, and you have the perfect canvas for car enthusiasts to showcase uniqueness. From full stock to crazy ice cream truck mods, the Bravo has already made itself a place in the Kei car community. 

The post Why the Mitsubishi Bravo Microvan Is Catching on in the U.S. appeared first on MotorBiscuit.

by Gabrielle DeSantis

When purchasing a new or used vehicle, one reasonably expects to spend some money on oil changes, tire rotations, and other regular maintenance measures. Unfortunately, some cars are known for leeching more money out of their owner’s thanks to low reliability and frequent repair costs just to keep it running, while others have superior reliability and cost very little to maintain. The 2011 Chevy Silverado isn’t a perfect truck, but it’s one of the most reliable vehicles on the road, costing owners very little each year to keep it going.

Learn more about the 2011 Chevy Silverado, its fuel economy problems, and its overall low maintenance costs below. 

An overview of the 2011 Chevy Silverado

The 2011 Chevy Silverado is an overall great truck even 10 years later after its release. The reviewers at U.S. News even gave it an award for being the Best Full-Size Truck for the Money in 2011. Reviews at Consumer Reports were also impressed with its ride and towing capacity, though they didn’t appreciate its somewhat bumpy or unresponsive braking. 

Consumer Reports also gave the 2011 Chevy Silverado good or excellent predicted reliability ratings on almost every parameter, and it received a four or five out of five stars on every crash test from the NHTSA or IIHS.

CR found through their surveys that the 2011 Chevrolet Silverado didn’t provide as much owner satisfaction as one might think, giving it an overall owner satisfaction rate of two out of five. CR calculates this score by asking real owners whether they would purchase the vehicle in question again if given the chance. When more people say yes, it gets a higher score.

Only about 50 percent of respondents said they would purchase the 2011 Silverado again. The biggest complaints from customers are the poor acceleration, noisy interior, and poor gas mileage. 

The 2011 Chevy Silverado struggles with poor fuel economy

Trucks usually aren’t known for having excellent fuel economy, especially compared to small sedans or hybrid cars. At the same time, truck owners still don’t want to spend thousands of dollars per year fueling their trucks if they don’t have to. Perhaps the biggest downfall of the 2011 Chevy Silverado is its very poor fuel efficiency, coming in with an overall mileage of 14 MPG. 

Consumer Reports estimates that it costs the average owner almost $2,000 to fill their 2011 Chevrolet Silverado’s tank per year, which is definitely not ideal. CR gave the truck a one out of five rating for fuel economy, and owners definitely notice the poor gas mileage on a daily basis. 

Despite high fuel costs, however, the 2011 Silverado really shines when it comes to reasonable maintenance costs. 

Low maintenance costs 10 years later

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Consumer Reports recently released a list of the Least and Most Expensive Cars to Keep on the Road, and it looks at how much money owners of cars and trucks that were released 10 years ago spent on repair and maintenance costs in the past year.

Some vehicles cost as little as a couple of hundred dollars to keep running, and others are closer to several hundred or even over a thousand. 

The 2011 Chevy Silverado only costs owners about $200 per year to maintain, which is tied with the GMC Sierra for the lowest cost of any other truck. The 2011 Ford F-250, for example, costs about $275 per year to maintain, while the 2011 Ram 1500 sets owners back about $300 per year. 

Of course, these scores don’t mean that all owners pay this amount of money per year for maintenance, but it’s still a good indication of how reliable a car or truck is 10 years after buying it. 

The post 2011 Chevy Silverado: Low Maintenance Costs Offset the Worst Fuel Economy appeared first on MotorBiscuit.