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with Mitsubishi Lancer Copley News Service Appearances can be deceiving. The new Lancer is not a Dodge. It's a Mitsubishi. A special dispensation was needed, however, from its DaimlerChrysler corporate cousin to free up the Lancer name, which appeared on a line of forgettable Dodge econoboxes years ago.
The Lancer will arrive in three trim lines: ES, LS and OZ Rally - but again, don't be deceived. The OZ Rally Edition bears a kissing cousin's resemblance to the hot Lancer Evolution, now on sale in Europe. That screaming, street-legal homologation of Mitsubishi's four-time World Rally champion is equipped with the Evolution 2.4-liter engine that churns out an unpublished number -- rumored to be 300 -- of turbocharged ponies. But the resemblance is little more than skin-deep. Rather than hot, the OZ Rally edition merely has hot flashes. "At this point," a Mitsubishi spokesman says wistfully, "the OZ model is an appearance package only." In America, the OZ trim level gets buyers nifty floor mats, extra slabs of cladding, white-face gauges and 15-inch rally wheels. A one-third scale, boy-racer spoiler is available -- if you don't mind driving around with a big piece of metal waving at you from the rear view mirror like the trunk lid is open. At the Lancer's press preview, Mitsubishi also showed off a right-hand-drive Evo VII. When will it arrive? "We can't comment about future product strategies," a company spokesman says. Take it from us, though: Evo is on the way, probably by the 2003 model year. That, coincidentally, is when the Mirage coupe will join the sedan in Phase-Out Land. Most likely, Mitsubishi won't yet fess up to an Evo arrival because it doesn't want to spoil the debut of the mainstream Lancer. The Mirage sedan the Lancer is replacing sold about 34,000 units (26,000 of which were fleet sales) in 1999. Mitsubishi's modest sales goal for the Lancer? About twice that many. That shouldn't be too difficult to achieve, given Mitsubishi's record-setting sales growth the past couple of years. (Yes, the company is still losing billions. But that's also beside the point. So is everything else that Daimler has Chryslered.) To say Mitsubishi has high hopes for the Lancer in this country (Lancer models have been in Mitsubishi's overseas lineup since 1973) would be a gross understatement. "Lancer is our fourth core product," explains Marcel Millot, manager of product strategy. "We are going to be supporting it accordingly, with multimillion dollar ad and merchandising commitments. Mirage had no support, no commitment." It also wasn't a very memorable sedan. First of all, Mirage is a subcompact; Lancer is about four inches longer than that -- qualifying it as a compact (Honda recently pulled off that same class-leaping feat by plumping up the Civic). The Mirage didn't fare too well in crash tests; the Lancer already has passed tough European and Japanese front, side, rear and offset tests. "It's a little tank," an engineer says. The rally-tested Lancer chassis is much stiffer, beefier and tougher. And, the Lancer is packed with a lot more yin and yang for your yen. "Think Jetta," says Millot; Mitsubishi shares every compact sedan maker's dream of finding VW's increasingly upscale buyers. "Lancer is more upscale. We're leaving the lower end of the market to the Koreans and the Domestics," Millot says. "We're going after former Accord and Camry buyers who think those models have become too expensive." Lancer should be available in ES trim starting at about $14,000. Bump the price up $2,000 for the LS, another two grand for the OZ Rally. If the Evolution ever makes it here, be prepared to spend $25,000, which is about what competitor Subaru is knocking down for its Impreza WRX rally rocket. Standard features on the Lancer include a torquey 2.0-liter, 120-horsepower engine, five-speed standard transmission, a tachometer, dual front air bags, eight-way adjustable driver's seat, air conditioning, a CD-playing stereo and a plethora of power amenities. Options include ABS and side air bags. In a short test drive around the billiard-table flat Bayou backwoods around New Orleans, we found the front-wheel drive Lancer to be extremely capable at turning left and right and steering straight ahead - things most buyers seem to want in today's automobile. (Mitsubishi offerings do have a reputation for neutral handling and steering accuracy.) It also burped the tires upon take-off, sipped limited amounts of petrol and turned a few heads - thanks to the banana yellow paint scheme on our test car. Our biggest nitpick was an annoying amount of white noise transferred through the rear seat cushion from the rear tires meeting the road. The hiss was less in the OZ edition than in the ES, possibly because of slight differences in seating materials. Overall, though, Lancer looks like another winner for the Diamond Star boys. Jerry Garrett is a San Diego-based auto writer and a contributing editor to Car and Driver.
Safety equipment -- Dual front air bags, height-adjustable three-point seat belts with pretensioners and force limiters, improved crush zones, side door beams Standard -- Air conditioning, AM-FM-CD stereo, power amenities. Optional -- ABS, side impact air bags.
On-Sale Date -- On-sale date: August in three trim lines: ES, LS and OZ Rally. Base MSRP -- ES, $14,000; LS, $16,000; OZ Rally, $18,000; prices are estimates and won't be finalized until nearer the sale date. The Competition -- Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, Nissan Sentra, Mazda Protege. Where assembled -- Where assembled: Normal, Ill.
PLUSES -- Economical, quick, sporty. MINUSES -- Consult U.S. Army motto: "Be all you can be." News Index | Features Index |
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The new small Lancer sedan is also not a Mirage replacement. Really. But when it debuts in August, the Lancer will fill the same space in the showroom that was previously occupied by the vanishing Mirage sedan, but that's beside the point, Mitsubishi claims.