2008 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS: If I Listened to My Head More

Next time a passenger complains, direct them to the city bus or a bicycle. At $3.70 a gallon, a free ride should be appreciated without complaint.

dougtheeng, Well, I meant out of the cars in our fleet -- our Lancer doesn't have heated seats and our Mini does. Trying to decide which one of those to take home.
 
ahightower, I hear ya. I think if either of these were really my car, I'd be more defensive about it to complaining passengers.

You have a Lancer GTS and it doesn't have heater seats? The Lancer GTS has heated seats standard in Canada, anyways.

dougtheeng,
Yeah, I double-checked the Monroney to be sure (just in case I was a dodo who just didn't see seat heater buttons) and it's not listed as standard or in the options we checked off.

didn't you have passengers complain about the mini before? Perhaps you are having just a bit too much fun behind the wheel :)

tmanz,
OR I just have complain-y passengers. Heh.

i haven't driven a mini before, but doing research on them, I've heard people complain about the s suspension, being a bit over the top, esspically if you get the sport package.

Caroline,
 
My bad! I had a "base" GTS, and it had heated seats so I assumed they were standard. Maybe its different in Canada, or just when I bougth my vehicle. Then again, my vehicle also didnt have a keyhole in the trunk, unlike EVERY other Lancer GTS on the road so maybe I just had something strange going on with mine...

opfreak,
I highly recommend driving the Mini. Just go to the dealership and take it for a spin. And yeah the suspension is tight but the only people who seem to complain about that are the passengers. :)
 
dougtheeng,
I noticed our Lancer doesn't have a keyhole on the trunk either, but instead it has a weird translucent button. And maybe seat heaters are standard in Canada cuz it's colder there?

That button is a touch pad to unlock the trunk, right? For the keyless entry/start package. Just like on the door handles. I think. A cool feature on a relatively cheap car. Auto climate control too. Lots of premium features for the money with a GTS (or even the Lancer ES with certain packages).

Out of curiosity, why would you need heated seats in CA, especially in a car with cloth seats?
In Canada even the mid-trim Lancer ES has heated seats standard.

so how rough a ride is the Mini compared to the lancer (or similar small car)? My wife wants a Mini Clubman and I'm not sure about how it would do for the once a year long vacation drive.
 
on the heated seats they can be real handy if you have a sore back :)

ahightower,
Yeah, you're right. That was just the first time I noticed anything like that.
 
dodo2,
It's not that I NEED heated seats, I WANT them. They're just nice to have and, yes, especially for my occasionally sore back.
 
tmanz,
The Mini S is pretty rough. But did you check out that Mini Clubman? We did a test on the Clubman S and our editor Erin seemed to like it a lot. Except to say: "...this car is a more compliant and stable high-speed cruiser than any of the Cooper S hatches we've tested. It's still nutso on rough pavement, though, and road noise grows tiresome during our long day on the road."

that's the review that scared me about the Clubman.
Guess I'll have to test drive one eventually. At least for awhile I'm sure most of the dealers will be adding a ton of additional markup to those so no rush.

"In the end the Mini's looks won me over."
 
If you like boxes the Mini is the one. Personally I think the Lancer is a very nice looking car. Based on appearence, the Lancer wins; no contest.

Geez, even when driving another car Caroline manages to talk about the Mini. I'm starting to think it's her personal car that she occasionally lends out to Erin.

daxtripper,
LOL! Yeah, I'm taking the Lexus RX 400h this weekend. I'm sure I'll be able to work the Mini in Monday's post somehow. Heh.
 
BTW, for those wondering why I'm posting about the Lancer when I ended up taking the Mini the other night, I actually took the Lancer last night when it was offered to me again (the Mini wasn't available) and just decided to blog about my dilemma. The Lancer shifts nicely compared to the Mini but...well you know.

I get the busy ride complaint (always press the Sport button!). Switch the tires to real rubber from the lousy RFTs. I had to this week and my wife, who used to complain about the "rough" (her imagination) ride, now says that the car seems smoother. She actually drove it to work 3 out of 5 days this week (I had her A3...unfair trade in my eyes).
 
Honestly, the ride is smoother and quieter with normal performance summer tires. And it also grips much, much better in the corners. Win-win.
 
Next up, replacing those horrid Mini sport package rims with something lighter. A front strut tower would be nice too.

The center mounted speedo is a deal killer for me. I had to drive a saturn Ion with the speedo in the center for a week, and I never got used to looking right to see the gauge. It's just not ergonomical to place the speedo anywhere but right in front of the driver. Besides that I think the Mini is a neat little car.

blueguy,
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but sounds like the way to go is to skip the sport package, order DSC and sport suspension "a la carte", then switch out the standard 16" rims for aftermarket ones?

I wish they'd offer the S model with the option of not getting the run flats.
 
I finally got over the center speedo when it was explained in an earlier post that the center one is just for looks. The speed shows digitally on the tach guage.

Chevy, you never use the center speedo. It's not used by the driver but is something entertaining for passengers. Directly in front of the driver you have the tach and a smaller speedo.
 
7driver, I got sport package and the sport suspension. Ordering piecemeal is certainly a good option. Looking back I could have snagged the parts I wanted individually and then picked up wheels/tires on my own. Live and learn.

Just a note: I wouldn't really call it showing off if those you're showing off to (presumably your passengers) hate the car. Unless you're trying to impress complete strangers, which is a whole other issue entirely.