Motorweek 2002 Mitsubishi Lancer Road Test

while trucks and SUVs are all the rage in today's new vehicle Market the compact car segment is still an important volume business plus if young buyers like your small cars they may come back for bigger more expensive ones later while Mitsubishi has not had an easy time of selling small cars in America it's compact offerings easily outsold by Honda Toyota Ford and Chevy so Mitsubishi has regrouped with the all-new 2002 Lancer but is the Lancer sharp enough to deflate their dominance well let's put it this way with nearly 30 years of rally racing history to draw on a history that includes four world championship titles the 2002 Mitsubishi Lancer sedan certainly has the breeding to give it an edge and it doesn't hurt that this new to the U.S Lancer which comes in three trim levels shares its rigid platform with the current Mitsubishi rally Rod the Lancer Evolution a platform that's 50 percent more rigid than the Mirage it will replace the new Lancer also moves past the Sub-Compact Mirage into the compact class by increasing its wheelbase and length by four inches to 102.4 and 177.6 inches respectively the Lancer complements its taut structure with a wide 57.9 inch track 14 inch wheels on steel rims are standard but our test OZ Rally model rides on sharper 15 inch alloy rims with 60 series rubber but that wasn't enough to keep our Lancer from getting a little tail happy when pushed to its limits in our low speed slower that's a slight amount of understeer upon turn in soon transfers to oversteer it's easily controlled however by simply backing off on the throttle all three models share the same independent coil sprung McPherson strut front multi-link rear suspensions with stabilizer bars front and rear and while it may be on the soft side for aggressive on-track posturing it does quite nicely on pothole roads elsewhere here indeed the O2 Lancer delivers a smooth confident ride small bumps and Imperfections in the roadway are handled with neria quiver larger disturbances are only slightly noticeable propelling the Lancer along its path of lightness of being is a 2-liter single overhead cam 16 valve inline four-cylinder its output of 120 horsepower and 130 pound-feet of torque puts the Lancer right in the neighborhood of competitors like the Honda Civic and Ford Focus but far behind the 180 horsepower offered by the Volkswagen jetta's new 1.8 turbocharged 4. with power being fed through a driver adaptive 4-speed automatic transmission our test Lancer met 60 in 10.4 seconds and passed through the quarter mile and 17.9 seconds at 77 miles per hour although more power could be put to good use the Lancer feels quicker than the numbers indicate and the little four-banger does have a fairly broad Power Band which could be more readily exploited with the available five-speed manual training that would be our choice our choice would also be to equip our Lancer with available ABS brakes our fresh tester didn't have them and the front disc rear drum system brought us down from 60 in a rather longish 137 feet the same equipment package that gets you ABS will also get you another worthy safety device side impact airbags these two items top a surprisingly short list of extras as we found the Lancer to be a well-appointed car with top of its class interior room even the value-equipped es model comes with power windows power door locks and intermittent wipers an eight-way adjustable driver's seat and tilt steering wheel are also standard moving up to LS trim will get you cruise control while the OZ Rally adds Evo rally car style white-faced gauges a black interior scheme with brushed Metal finish trim and rally Edition floor mats all models get a 100 watt CD player stereo with ls and Oz models upgrading from four to six speakers and smooth operating rotary climate controls in the back you'll find a fair amount of room for two that tightens up quickly when a third adult is added behind in the trunk is a reasonable 11.3 cubic feet of cargo space the Lancer shines even brighter when viewed from the sticker es models started just fourteen thousand four hundred forty two dollars LS models slightly more at sixteen thousand four hundred forty two dollars our Oz tester starts at sixteen thousand eight hundred thirty two dollars and was out the door for seventeen thousand three hundred thirty two dollars that's more not so small car for very class competitive prices and after two weeks with the Lancer it's clear to us that Mitsubishi is finally serious about a segment of the car market it has let language in the U.S from pricing to Smart Looks to a roomy and well-outfitted interior the 2002 Mitsubishi Lancer is razor sharp and should easily make its point I hope you'll join us next week for more MotorWeek when we'll test Jaguars downsized X-Type sedan and drive three smart little diesels from Volkswagen I'm Don Davis we'll see you then to learn more about MotorWeek television's original Automotive magazine visit PBS online at 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Length: 6min 40sec (400 seconds)

Published: Sat Dec 10 2022