"Frosted" (frostedbuns)
02/27/2014 at 11:39 • Filed to: None
4
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"Frosted" (frostedbuns)
02/27/2014 at 11:39 • Filed to: None | 4
| 7 |
No, it's not an Evo X. No, insurance companies don't care about that.
Oh the Mitsubishi Lancer, a family car that costs more to insure than a Galant. The 2008 model was a big improvement in the looks department than some of the previous generations of Lancer though.
(Disclaimer: Mitsubishi wanted me to drive a Lancer so bad that they let me buy one used from an Acura dealership!)
Exterior: 8/10
There's no denying that the Lancer is one of the better looking midsized japanese sedans. The GTS model comes with bigger wheels and a bigger spoiler. It had a much more aggressive front end than previous Lancers did. Overall it just had a much sportier appearance than some of its competitors. And did I mention the spoiler?!
Interior: 5/10
The materials are cheap. Cheap plastics everywhere. The cloth seats were a little hard but not uncomfortable, even on long drives. There's also a long stripe of faux carbon fiber that is apparently impossible to be cleaned. A digital info panel sits between the gauges and is pretty simple to use while offering a nice look.
Acceleration: 4/10
This car has a 2.0 litre 4 cylinder naturally aspirated engine. Zero to sixty takes 10 full seconds. It's no Evo but it's not really quick by any standards. The Lancer is only a front wheel drive car as well so no sweet AWD launches.
Braking: 6/10
The brakes work well in the Lancer, nothing to really write home about but it stops quickly enough when you need it to.
Handling: 3/10
It's front wheel drive and fairly heavy in the front end, so it understeers pretty severely. Couple that with steering that gives nearly no feedback and feels pretty numb and you've got a recipe for a car with some boring handling.
Gearbox: 4/10
The Lancer GTS had a CVT transmission with paddle shifters behind the steering wheels. The paddles never felt like they did anything. Probably because they were mated to a CVT? It does gain some points for being a pretty quiet even at higher RPMs.
Audio/Toys: 6/10
The Lancer has a decent sounding stereo setup with MP3 connectivity in the stock headunit. That's more than what can be said for most cars I've owned. Controls on the steering wheels are almost surprising because of how cheap the interior is. I'll also count that spoiler as a toy because look at how much fun there is to be had with it!
Reliablity: 5/10
I can't give this a truly accurate score because I only owned the car for six months. In those six months though I had several fuses blow for some reason and the HVAC system just quit out on me. All the parts functioned individually but when trying to use the heat or A/C while driving, they just didn't work. Bizarre.
Fuel Economy: 6/10
The Lancer GTS is rated for 22/29mpg by the EPA. I averaged roughly 25mpg during my time owning it. I also drove it like it was a rallycar on a daily basis.
Value: 5/10
This car cost me 9 grand back when I bought it and that's not too bad for what you get. At the time it was only three years old and had 50xxx miles on it. It's a good looking alternative in the midsize sedan segment. It's boring though. And it's slow. And if you're a younger person, an insurance company will insure this like it's an Evo. I had to shell out two thousand dollars every 6 months for full coverage. That's four thousand per year. For a better looking Camry.
Overall: 52/100
Pros: Great looks, MP3 connectivity, Spoiler
Cons: Boring, costly insurance, not an Evo alternative
Authors note: I went down a nostalgia trip when writing this and started missing owning this car. I know what I have is better but this car was a blast to own and if insurance wasn't so expensive, I'd still have it.
N51fanatic
> Frosted
02/27/2014 at 11:47 |
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Mitsu really dropped the ball with the ralliart sportback. That thing had potential. Firmware flash away from the same Evo tranny. Simplified EVO AWD system. But boy was that thing ugly. I mean, really ugly. Nothing could help it.
spanfucker retire bitch
> Frosted
02/27/2014 at 12:17 |
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I had to shell out two thousand dollars every 6 months for full coverage. That's four thousand per year. For a better looking Camry.
Holy. Shit. That's outrageous. In three years you'd have paid more for the insurance than the car. I am blown away.
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Frosted
> spanfucker retire bitch
02/27/2014 at 12:28 |
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I was 19 so I expected higher rates. But no accidents or tickets and 2k a year was absurd. 21st Century Insurance is a scam.
Stef Schrader
> Frosted
03/02/2014 at 22:17 |
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Here we see the Lancer in its natural habitat...arrrggghhh, mine needs a car wash so bad! And yeah, I've had it mistaken for an Evo a couple times by people who don't notice the slower speeds and/or lack of fender flares and turbo vents, haha.
The '09+ 2.4L GTS engine is a huge improvement over the 2.0L. "But this one has four-wheel disc brakes and the bigger engine!" were the biggest selling points for the GTS over the ES and DE. Bigger wheels and a wing that visually filled out the side space and metallic red helped, too, haha. But yeah: bigger engine. Because not-racecar that will be hooned like a racecar. YEP.
Brakes are a bit numb on stock pads, although they're miles better than most econoboxes. Swap in some pads with better bite and it's a huge improvement. Carbotech and Porterfield will even do race pads for it should you ever decide to track it, heh. The OEM ones held up like a champ through my first trackday, but there weren't any super-long straights at that track and I was a total newbie who wasn't too hard on the brakes (...yet).
The insurance thing is why Mom still pays the insurance on it. Hi, Mom. Thanks, Mom. Femaleness doesn't help enough. I really need to do a Lancer vs. Elise vs. 911SC comparo someday when I'm bored on the insurance prices for this car, ugh. Maybe I need to buy something owned primarily by responsible/overly cautious old farts, but...it's not dead yet. I like it. And mine's been stupidly reliable so far. Weird. Too many people just hoon Lancers 'til they kill 'em in stupid ways, I guess. I saw a rental ES with a punched-in headlamp from slipping in the ice on I-35 on the way home this afternoon. That made me sad. :o(
Maybe I'm used to understeer, but I liked the handling on mine. I'm getting to where I might want a bit more oversteer (it gets a little lift-off oversteer if you really toss it around—very nice—but I could use a little more sometimes) and might consider tossing on a thicker rear swaybar, but...meh. It's the daily. Posted a quicker laptime than a pro driver in a Mazda2 in it once. Don't need nothin'.
Oddly, I think the steering is one of the better units on a compact sedan, too. It's not a Miata or an Exige. It's not a manual rack. But it's relatively heavy, and the feedback's at least there. The Mazda2/3 is about the only other power steering unit in a little point-A-to-B-type car that I've driven that comes close, IMHO. Maybe that's a ding on the current state of driving that we can't be arsed to deal with simple feedback from our power steering in a car. Boo, I say. Most of the rental compacts I had made me want the Lancer's heavier rack back.
The interior is sooooo hose-downable. Haha. It's cheap and scratches easily, but TBH, I usually wipe off that carbon-like plastic strip with a wet cloth or even one of those wet cleaning cloth things you'd use on surfaces in the house. It's plastic! Ain't care. Also, I tend to be really strict about food and messy things in the car anyway, so mine's mostly just dusty. I got mad at a passenger who set a cookie down on the seat this weekend. I feel bad. Sort of. Not really. NOOOOOOOO!
Paddle mode speeds up the revs faster than the normal mode, at least in my '10. I wish it'd spool up the CVT that quickly ALL the time so I could enjoy a quick, shiftless whirrrrrr into the powerband, but I guess they tuned the basic "D" mode for economy. Arr!
I really like The Lulzcer. A lot. I'm so glad mine wasn't a total loss when someone drove into the front of it. It's back and...<3!
Glucklich21- master of the cones
> Frosted
03/02/2014 at 22:22 |
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I'm now just shy of 22. When I was 17 my parents bought me a then new 335i as they didn't approve of my E30. However they expected me to pay for the insurance on it. The first month shocked me. $300 with no accidents or tickets on just the 335. That might as well had been a car payment every month. So instead of paying that every month I did my research. I still drove my E30 most of the time after I got the 335. I found out if I put the E30 as my primary driver that it cut my rates down considerably. So now I pay $160 for comprehensive on the E30 and $130 for the E90. Why my 23 year old BMW costs more than my 4.5 year old one I will never understand considering I know they will total out the E30 if anything ever happens to it.
TL;DR get a beater car and have it on your insurance as your primary car.
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Frosted
> Glucklich21- master of the cones
03/02/2014 at 22:30 |
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The e30 is more to insure because of morons who buy them, try to drift in a parking lot and slam into a pole. It's known as the mythical drift tax.
themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
> Frosted
03/03/2014 at 00:38 |
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You live in Michigan, or another no fault state, don't you? An Evo for me at 25 would still be 4k+ a year. When I was younger, an evo would be 6k+ a year. A new cruze or corolla or golf would be 3-4k.