[sarath]

Car: Mitsubishi Lancer Lxi
Purchase date: 16-Jul-2007
Odo: 51898


For me, this thread is not only an ownership report of my car. I have never tried to log my stint with the car anywhere. I repent now since, had I noted down stuff happened with the car, it would have been a nice read at a later stage. Early the better, so with that let me get going.

There are very very few non-living things I am emotionally attached to. My lancer comes on top of that list. After all, it was a decision made with my heart, not with the brain. It was around 3 years back, my previous car was a 2000 model Maroon Colour Fiat Siena 1.7 TD, which I bought as a pre-owned car with around 60K in the odo. Those days I used to be a Fiat guy and was very much in love with the car. But off late, the car began to show overheating issues. Once during a long trip, the radiator cap burst due to overheating and I was fool enough not to check the temp needle. Such incidents repeated. All these were symptoms of a new car waiting for me. Around the same point of time, happened to get a small drive in a friend's Lancer and liked the way in which it handled. I knew that the 4G15 engine is not that great. I was always a fan of Lancer and its looks. I started thinking about buying a new Lancer. My requirements for my then new car were simple. The car should be fun to drive, It should handle well, It should be a sedan, it should have a character and above all, it should be a petrol and lancer ticked all these boxes perfectly. Exactly a week after that TD, I booked a Lancer and sold the Siena. And then two more weeks later, took delivery of a gleaming black Lancer Lxi. That is how KL 22 5760 came to my life. It was a spur of a moment kind of decision. I neither TDed, nor considered any other car. The onroad price was around 7.5 Lakhs. Blew the entire savings from my onsite assignment and the rest was on EMI(I was reckless 22 then). It was my 4th car purchase, first new car purchase and the first car I bought with my own money.





For the past 3+ years, I have been literally living inside the car. Enjoyed each and every moment with it. Without stretching any further, this is what I feel about my car.

Good Things:

• Precise and well weighted steering, just the way I like it to be. The handling is just brilliant even with the crappy 175-80/R13 MRFs the car came with. They were noisy and not very grippy but lasted a good 40K kilometers. Tires and rims were changed to 195-60/R14 Yokohama ES100s on Apollo accelere alloys at around 40K. After that it was pure bliss, awesome handling. The best handling car I have driven till date.
• Reliability- The car is bloody reliable. There was not a single instance in the 3+ years of ownership where it let me down. No breakdowns, no irritating niggles, no freaking electrical issues, and I was so lucky that there was only one instance of puncture in the entire ownership period.
• Sort of Cheap to maintain so far- Routine service costs are usually in the region of 2500 INR. The car is serviced every 6 months irrespective of the kilometers covered. Parts replaced till date.

  1. The car came with a Kenwood HU. It was replaced to Pioneer 6850, Ultimate speakers, a Sony 4 channel amp and a JBL bass tube from my old car.
  2. Left rear door central locking actuator conked twice. First time it was replaced under warranty free of cost. It was fixed by a local mechanic second time. Cost=250.
  3. Changed the wiper blade at around 30K kilometers to Bosch wiper blades. Dont remember the exact cost.
  4. Tires and alloys at around 40K

  Other than these, everything in the car is bone stock. Havn't even replaced the brake pads yet and the service guys says they have life left for another 5K. The car is still nice to drive. It still feels new, even after 50000 kilometers. What more can I ask ?
• People have written off the SOHC 4G15 engine since long. But it is a very very refined, smooth and reliable unit. I even feel the engine is not that slouch, atleast for me, and is very driveable. But the chasis is capable for way more power. I still have that dream of a MIVEC engine swap when I become rich.
• Butter smooth gear shift, very precise.
• Effective AC. The rear AC ducts are an additional bonus and are very effective.
• City mileage= around 11, highway=around 15 consistently.
• The driving position is spot on for a person of my posture. With the tilt-adjustable steering, I can easily find the comfortable driving position. Long hours of continuous driving is not at all tiresome.
• Looks, the singular reason which attracted me towards the car on the very first day I saw one on the road. Eventhough it was introduced 10+ years back, good looking even by today's standards. My favourite best looking car under 10 Lakhs.
• Excellant aftermarket support for modding. God knows when I need it.
• Dead pedal!- Yes this is a real boon. These days I find it very irritating to drive a car that does not have a dead pedal.
• Luckily, my experience with Mitsubsishi A.S.S has been pleasant till date.
• Emotional attachment- There are better cars available in the same segment today, cars that can outrun lancer in every department(except handling?). But this is and will be the car I wanted myself to be in.

Stuff that could have been better:

• Better engine- The chasis is capable of a more powerful engine. Though smooth and refind, the 4G15 SOHC is now very outdated.
• Plastic quality has been found inferior compared to Y2K lancers, result of HM playing the cost cutting game?
• Drab interiors. Yuck for a 7.5 Lakhs car for someone who does not have emotional attachments to this car. For me, this is the closest I can get to an EVO 6- when the car is not running that is. And she is my baby, so she is beautiful- inside and outside.
• Parts replacements in the case of accidents can cause Japan pot-hole size holes in your pocket(You have to be in Kerala to understand how big it is).
• Ride quality isn't that great after the tire upsize. But thats a trade off for the brilliant handling.
• Low seating position may not be comfortable for some. Ingress and egress difficult for elderly.
• It would have been perfect if braking is a lil bit more effective.
• Other than power everything, manual AC and central locking, the car has no fancy gizmos, no safety features like ABS or airbags or other electronics, and no sweet lady to warn you fasten your seat belts.

Things To do

• There is a small rupture in the front bumper, caused by the car's encounter with a dog. Needs to be fixed.
• A small crack in the windsheild on the top near the area where the inside RVM is attached, believed to be happened when some unknown object fell on top of it. It does not affect visibilty in any way and can't be seen from outside. Need to replace the windscreen by claiming insurance.
• Some small scratches all around, thanks to careless drivers/bikers. Office has an Open parking lot too which helps matters.
• Exterior detailing/Polishing needs to be done. Interior is spic.
• Take some better photographs.

I need to fix all these issues as soon as possible. Can't see the car in this sorry state, however small it may be.

Lancer was an outdated product even back in 2007 when I bought her. People asked me why I bought a brand new lancer which is way past its product life cycle. It is like decieving one-self if we call ourselves enthusiasts or car nuts and then take decisions based on monetary benefits/practicality alone, isn't it?. I might go for another car may be 2 years later but if god permits, would like to keep this car with me for life. My wife does not even like the thought of selling the car. I am not too optimistic about Mitsubishi's future in India. However, I have promised myself that I will try to keep this car forever, and that this thread will be updated with everything related to the car. Let us see

[pramodkumar]

Superb wireup, i just love the way your seats hug the one who sits, the car feels sane the engine is alive, but not as alive as mine . I love the precession with which each gears slot, the things to do are very much doable stuff, your bumper can be repaired, take it to Venus guys, they know what they do and they do not burn a hole in your pocket, you can also get your windscreen replaced free of cost under insurance through them, so there is really not much to give this a big thought.



and one thing i would like to add is, this is the first bhpian car i saw in TVM even before the official stickers were launched. You also made me buy the ralliart stickers.


Pramod

[sarath]

Thanks Pramod for the kind words and the pic. yes, my car isn't as free revving as yours, could be because of BSIII emission norms?

[pramodkumar]

Originally Posted by sarath

Thanks Pramod for the kind words and the pic. yes, my car isn't as free revving as yours, could be because of BSIII emission norms?

BSIII could be one of the reasons, try putting castrol magnetec during the next oil change. This might help. I have also bypassed the cat con, this could be another reason.

Pramod

[venkat_ngl]

Great writeup Sarath. Happy to see a KL-22 in the forum.
The visibility and the turning radius is simple superb for a lancer. The car looks neat. Enjoy more miles with her .

[WhiteKnight]

sarath, just like any mallu dude, I bet you also grow up with the Lancer addiction. Great that you fulfilled it.

40k for the alloys and Acelere tires seem quite high. Would you provide the break-up?

[sarath]

@Pramod, Yes I am planning to try Synthetic oil next time. You removed cat-con too?, thought you swapped the end can alone.

@Venkat, Thanks a lot, glad you liked the car.

@WhiteKnight, Tell me about it. Lancer has a huge fan following in Kerala, don't know why. But 95 out of 100 Lancers you see in Kerala are diesels. A petrol Lancer is kinda rare species here.
My bad, sorry about the cost of Tires. What I meant was I changed Tires and alloys at around 40 K kilometers, guess I was not very clear. Here is the break-up cost.
Apollo Alloys, set of 4= around 17500 INR
Tires = 13600 (3400 INR per tire.)

And thanks for pointing it out

[prince_pervez]

Nice writeup. Nice pictures. Did you wait for the train to come ? The second picture is cool. Yeah I know what you are talking about in the Lancer. Wish you many more happy miles in the car.

[n.devdath]

Now thats a report straight from the heart.

The Lancer always tugged at heart strings and is a fav in Blore to this date with people who really love cars. In fact, I drove one with 4 people on board for around 100kms last month and this car holds the road like a leech.

Keep the updates coming mate.

[RajaTaurus]

Fabulous report on the Old brother of Cedia that I live in. Lancer I've driven back in 90's in Kuwait and that's when I realized the class of rally bred cars that Mitsubishi sells, that stands apart compared to 'normal' cars. Cedia has been a bit stiffened to suit Indian conditions. Chennai too has huge Lancer owners almost all of them maintain the car so meticulously and would turn red instantly, if you ask them 'would you sell this car?'. Thats the kind of obsession Lancer creates in the owner.!
Congratulations and wish you thousands of more safe miles.

I have done clove leaf exits from freeways in Kuwait at 120 kmph without reducing speed and the car just hugged the road, Yes, 'like a leech' as said above.

[sarath]

@prince, Thanks a lot, Yes I did wait for the train to come for that shot.
@devdath, Thanks devdath, Yes Lancer is one of the best handling cars around which are affordable. Infact, the idea behind the second pic was to convey that she handles like a train on rails.
@RT, Thanks mate. I have already read your ownership report of Cedia. Thats a wonderful car you got. I have driven the Cedia and Cedia Sports and instantly liked them. They are way more refined than Lancer. As you said, all the Mitsu owners are obesessed about the brand even though Mitsubishi is not honouring us by giving what we want.

[jkdas]

Nice write up

Your car still makes heads turn; the car is lucky to have any owner like you.

You should ask Viddy about maintaining a Lancer ! Took him 5 years or so to do the top speed test.

Brand new Lancers are still here. I have seen few during the last few months! I seriously cant believe that people till go buy it. Most owners are Gulf returnees who want big car and since Mitsubishi is well known to them, they get this.

[kkg]

It is like decieving one-self if we call ourselves enthusiasts or car nuts and then take decisions based on monetary benefits/practicality alone, isn't it?.

Very true. Good to see that there still are people like you.

Your ride looks great with those Apollo alloys. Kindly provide some details regarding those like price and warranty etc.

[lancer_rit]

Nice post straight from the heart :-) Best wishes from another Lancer owner.

Ride quality isn't that great after the tire upsize. But thats a trade off for the brilliant handling.

It seems you have made an incorrect upgrade from 175/80R13 to 195/60R14 (unless there is a typo in the post). The right upgrade is 195/60R15 or 195/65R14

Since the OD itself is reduced, and the profile is lower, it seems you have significantly altered ride quality. With my Michelin MXV8 @ 195/60R15, I don't think ride quality has gone down by more than 10% (that too on rough roads)

@jkdas, Annamalai Mitsubishi in Coimbatore told me that they sell ~15 lancers BSIII (almost all diesel) every month.

[vigsom]

Arguably one of the cleanest looking Lancers I've come across;great job !!!

The Lancer and the Esteem are like Dev Anands - they never age.

Reliability is one of the highpoints of a Jap and I am sure she will serve you well for many more years,Sarath