Mitsubishi Colt ClearTec Unveiled in Geneva

Mitsubishi joins the ranks of auto manufacturers who tapped into the growing segment of environmentally friendly vehicles with its new Colt ClearTec model. The European built compact model brings 'green performance" to the Mitsubishi range, thanks to the 115g/km of CO2 emissions rate.

To bring the Colt model to the performance levels required by this segment, the Japanese manufacturer chose to drop all diesel engines for this model and focus its effort on building a gasoline powered performance engine.

The Colt ClearTec features a start/stop system with a new generation alternator. By combining it with new gear shift ratios, as well as with highly efficient motor oil, the new ClearTec gets a fuel consumption rate of 4.9l/100km and the above mentioned CO2 emissions for the 1.1l three cylinder engine, autoblog.it reported.

The bigger 1.3l 4 cylinder engine releases into the atmosphere 119g/km of CO2, with a fuel consumption of 5l/100 km. These figures, compared to the future introduction of FlexiFuel alternative fuel technology will surely make the Colt an effective 'green car".

The ClearTec versions of the new Mitsubishi Colt combine numerous other small tweaks, all of which add up to cut fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. Increasing the engine‘s compression ratio, using low-viscosity engine oil, modifying gear ratios and employing special low-resistance tires are only the beginning

Alongside with the ClearTec, Mitsubishi gave two models their global debut at the Geneva event. The Mitsubishi innovative Electric Vehicle (MIEV) Sport air and the MIEV concept. The latter will be introduced on the Japanese market in summer 2009.