Taking the power back

During the good ol’ Eighties, the must-have car for the bagets crowd was the “box-type” Lancer. At the time, there were only a handful of brands and models to choose from, and Mitsubishi had a lock on the market for a small family car with a rallye reputation. A genuine GSR in mint condition can still fetch a good price these days. Alas, Mitsubishi fumbled the ball just when Toyota and Honda got serious with the game. Whereas the two introduced the then-novel technology of “16-valves”, Mitsubishi persisted with 12 in the early 90s. And while the Corolla and Civic got bigger in the decade of James Hetfield and Eddie Vedder, the Lancer refused to grow a bigger backseat. By the turn of the century the Lancer had finally grown up, but reluctantly so, with novel features such as a Continuously Variable Transmission and “Sports Mode/Sportronic” manual shifting wrapped in a tentatively styled body. It wasn’t a bad car, of course, else nobody would have bought it. It justlacked that crucial something, that x-factor that makes people lose sleep at night and tirelessly compute how they can finesse the financing just to bring home the car already.

Of course, while this was going on, the Mitsubishi Ralliart crew was having its fun with the Evolution, the fire-breathing, turbocharged, all-wheel drive machine that needs no more introduction for legions of Playstation veterans and savvy, moneyed folks who like their steaks raw. The good part is that after years of success with the street-going version of the rally car, the big shots at Mitsubishi finally saw the light and decided to be true to the Lancer’s heritage as a fun, sporty sedan that genuinely likes to play. After all, how many people wouldn’t want some of the Evo’s attitude in a car they could drive everyday and for less than half the price? “Screw the conservatives” must have been the engineers’ mantra.

This is because the all-new Lancer EX (don’t forget the “EX” appellation, because they’re still selling the “old” Lancer for value-conscious buyers) comes dressed for the big game, and it’s got the moves. Eighteen-inch wheels? Yep. Sports-tuned chassis? Uh-huh. A real, live motor under the hood? How does 153-horsepower from an all-new twin-cam, 2-liter unit grab you? Try not to drool over the magnesium alloy paddle shifters for the 6-speed CVT. And just to reassure you that the Lancer hasn’t forgotten the purists, a 5-speed stick shift is available too.

Down south of Makati, there’s this 24-kilometer stretch of two-lane road connecting Alabang to San Pedro and Cavite. In the great tradition of Philippine road engineering, it has several abrupt dips, crests, and one or two off-camber sweepers. Many an over exuberant driver has lost control and gotten acquainted with the concrete islands. It’s a great place to test just how planted a car is in the real world as opposed to an immaculately maintained and precisely engineered race track. Taking the Lancer on that stretch, I put the shifter into the semiautomatic shift gate as soon as the road clears. Acceleration is strong off the line, hitting 100-plus kph in just a few heartbeats. The 220-kph speedometer isn’t just for show. Given enough road and maybe a tailwind, the car just might hit it. Drive it hard and you’ll get 5.8 kpl as indicated by the onboard computer, but drive it gently and it’ll give back better than 10. Nice.

The steering, always a Mitsubishi strong point, gives a lot of feedback while filtering the rough stuff. Turn-in is quick but not jumpy; on a rotunda taken fast enough to squeal the tires, you can put in just enough lock to keep the nose from plowing wide while playing with the throttle. For a front-drive car, it does its best not to feel like one with very moderate understeer and a tail that rotates with ease. Mitsubishi has retained the rear multi-link suspension that’s always made the Lancer one of the best handling cars in its class. Combined with the fat, 45-series Yokohama Advans, you can trail brake into a corner with the rear gently warning when it’s about to break loose. Try that with a torsion beam. Still and all, it is not an uncomfortable car to ride in everyday traffic. The suspension engineers have likely taken a page from the BMW play book, with good compliance, decent suspension travel, modest roll, and firm rebound control. The only

 reason you’ll want to take the speed bumps a little bit slower is to not damage the expensive alloy rims.

Accelerating and decelerating through the sweepers, the paddle shifters are intuitive to use, and the Lancer’s drive-by-wire throttle well calibrated to urgent prods of the go-pedal. The red LCD panel in between the speedometer and tach pods includes a gear indicator. It’s actually low enough that you need to take your eyes off the road to read it, so instead you need to rely on engine sound and the needle playing at the upper circumference of the tach in your peripheral vision to get a feel for the gear (with six speeds, it can get confusing). It’s a nice sound too, a very refined, vibration-free, balance-shafted snarl that comes with an even power distribution throughout the rev range. You don’t really need to rev it hard to get the meat of the power... but it’s a lot of fun.

In Sportronic mode, Mitsubishi has also retained the “+,-” gate on the shift console. It might seem redundant until you realize that, in a set of curves with your hands turning the wheel left and right, you can’t always tap the paddle shifters easily, in which case it’s faster to reach down and tap the shifter.

Ergonomics-wise, the Lancer gets most things right. The view from the driver’s seat is almost as panoramic as a Honda’s, with a A-pillars that are thin enough to rid the blind spot in that area, a window beltline that’s a little below shoulder height to give the feeling of security without feeling confining, and a rear wing that’s actually not as annoying as you might think. It neatly bisects the rear window, so backing up isn’t that much harder than in any other car with the usual high trunk.

Placement of the secondary controls for the stereo and A/C are intuitive, and the onboard computer has a big “Info” button beside the instrument pods to let you cycle through the functions. Those who like expansive-feeling cabins won’t like the Lancer’s too much, though, as the black-and-silver treatment can feel claustrophobic. Strips of carbon fiber add more of that racy ambiance and do their part to gloss over some of the cheaper-looking plastic panels, but if you like your beige leather and faux wood, better steer yourself over to an Altis.

Sporty persona aside,the Lancer has also improved on the details like interior room and bang-for-the-buck. The backseat is now genuinely roomy for two adults; about as good as the ’98 model Galant but with a higher hip point and more knee room. The front seats themselves compromise between torso-gripping sportiness and all-day comfort. The trunk has a wide opening and uses expensive struts, and there is the usual pass-through using the 60:40-split seatback, although a space-saving compact spare is the price of commodiousness. Up front, the High Intensity Discharge headlamps use adaptive lighting technology. Turn the wheel left or right and the HIDS provide extra illumination for the direction of travel.

The stereo is the exclamation point to the whole package. Mitsubishi pioneered the big-gun strategy of fitting a serious sound system in SUVs with the Outlander, and it does the same with the Lancer. The Rockford Fosgate system comes with 6 speakers, a subwoofer, and enough wattage to rattle your in-laws’ dentures. In traffic or breaking the sound barrier with Metallica’s awesome new Death Magnetic playing, it’s enough to make you feel invincible.

THE GOOD

• Brash, shark-like styling

• Strong and smooth powertrain

• Classy suspension tuning

• Genuine bang-for-the-buck comfort, convenience, and safety features

THE BAD

• Dark cabin can feel claustrophobic

THE VERDICT

• A mainstream family car reverts to its roots and comes back with some real punch.