"How come you guys have two black Lancers?"
Well, actually we don't. The Lancer GTS, the one that looked tough but swung with fists made of Jell-O, has left our garage. After 19,172 miles, it proved to be a pleasant-enough economy car with an ample dose of style and high-tech features for the money. But it sure didn't have an ample dose of power, as its rackety engine lacked anything resembling low-end power. Of course, this is a problem that lasted only one year in the GTS, as Mitsu dumped a bigger 2.4-liter MIVEC four banger in the bay for 2009 -- lower trim levels still get the same slow-poke engine. The final fuel economy tally for the car was an average of 24.09 mpg, which is exactly what the EPA combined number is.
As for the new black Lancer (the one we wanted all along), it's at least a different shade of black -- a metallic color with a brownish tinge to it known as Phantom Black Pearl. So there.
Stay tuned for the full wrap-up of the 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS.
James Riswick, Automotive Editor @ 19,172 miles
Categories: 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS
We drove straight to Long Beach Mitsubishi following the fuel tank issue John reported. They ordered and installed a new fuel tank sending unit under warranty. And 20 miles later this warning lights up.
A quick detour to the gas station is next. We fill it full with 8 gallons. Only problem is that the tank holds twice that volume. Something was still wrong. When we turn the key to leave the service engine light also illuminates. We drove right back to the dealer.
Our advisor tells us the float arm was left in the 'up' position at installation. They remedied the problem, it returned to us later that day and we haven't experienced any issues since.
Mike Schmidt, Vehicle Testing Coordinator @ 18,937 miles
Categories: 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS
This last holiday weekend, my wife and I were fortunate to add 1,858 miles to the ODO in our long-term Lancer. One family reunion, three states away, in less than three days. My head is still spinning....
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Categories: 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS
I like to drive, to shift, to go fast, to take the curves. Pure and simple. And nothing suits that need like a cabin that speaks directly to the driver, without a lot of extraneous crap: lots of badly designed buttons, switches, nonsense. And the 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer's cabin, despite a head unit that could be vastly improved, is fantastic...
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Categories: 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS
Edmunds road tests are now using real-world applications for measuring cargo space. Whereas one can write that a car has 14.5 cubic feet of trunk space, some find it better to say "You can easily fit two golf bags and an overnight bag in the trunk," to offer our readers a more tactile sense of the space.
As you know, I go by how much musical gear I can fit in a car. I appreciate the Lancer's wide-opening trunk, and for some reason I'm always impressed by how its enormous manta ray-like rear wing doesn't impede the opening...
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Categories: 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS
I've had some unkind things to say about our long-term Lancer in the past, but it's time to give credit where credit's due: the optional Rockford Fosgate stereo really cranks (as Scott also observed awhile back). Bass from the trunk-mounted subwoofer is powerful and punchy, and things are screwed together tightly enough back there that there are no audible rattles during bass-heavy tracks, unlike our subwoofer-equipped Accord, for example.
Having driven a Mazda 3 recently that was equipped with the Bose system, I can confirm that the Lancer's Rockford Fosgate system absolutely blows the Mazda/Bose setup out of the water (I digress, but that's quite possibly the lamest Bose system ever to grace an automotive interior). The Lancer was the perfect people-hauler en route to a club in Hollywood on Friday night -- Pit Bull and Lil' Jon's "The Anthem" has rarely sounded so good...
Josh Sadlier, Associate Editor, Edmunds.com @ 16,789 miles
Categories: 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS
So now that I’ve driven the Lancer Evolution and the Lancer Ralliart, I figured a weekend in our Lancer GTS would be a let down. It was. After all, with only 152 horsepower our Lancer is slow. I distinctly recall making a few lane changes that I shouldn’t have given the Lancer’s meager ability to adjust its speed to faster traffic...
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Categories: 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS
Since time immemorial, automakers have been positioning their manual shifters in the center of the shifter surround (for lack of a better term). But Mitsubishi evidently wasn't satisfied with the status quo, because the shifter in our long-term Lancer GTS is noticeably off-center to the right (and unlike the Mini's shifter, which lists to the starboard side but is rooted in the center of the console, the Mitsu's is off-center from bottom to top). If anything, you'd think they would have done it the other way around, making the shifter closer to the driver rather than the passenger. Call me a nitpicker (hey, it's my job), but this bugs me every time I drive the Lancer...
To me it just reinforces this car's poser status (i.e., big wing, big wheels, no power, blender-like engine note).
Josh Sadlier, Associate Editor, Edmunds.com @ 16,529 miles
Categories: 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS
Although I find our 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer's cabin
spacious
and comfortable (with the exception of its
lack of steering-wheel telescope adjustment
), ultimately, it has some familiar Mitsubishi shortcomings. The plastics are grainy and easily scuffed. The leather wraps on the steering wheel and shifter are nearly always sticky. And the mediocre seat fabric shows every crumb and every stray hair. At the car wash today, I became the annoying customer, attempting to assist the staff with the vacuuming. I'm not ordinarily the fastidious type -- I just wanted
all
the lint off the seats. But if you look closely at this photo taken after the Lancer's bath, the crumbs have already begun to return.
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Categories: 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS
In our last episode, I'd loaded seven bulky items in the back of our 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STI for a trip to WIllow Springs Raceway for a test. The seven items fit with ease with the seats flopped down in the Subie, and it took about a minute to load or unload the stuff. The outgoing Impreza WRX STI had a trunk that wasn't expandable because the rear seats didn't fold. Score one for the new STI and its controversial 5-door hatchback body style.
But some of the feedback I got doubted a regular trunk would have a problem swallowing the same stuff. We don't have an EVO handy for another vs. STI shoot-out, but our 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS makes a fine trunk double. Without folding the seats, I could only fit 3 of the 7 items. I tried different combinations, but 3 was all she wrote.
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Categories: 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS,2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STI
I took a brief spin in our 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS last night and I was reminded again just how much I like this five-speed manual transmission. Yes, it's matched with a 2.0-liter engine that's nothing special. But between the just-right clutch engagement and the shifter's positive feel through the gates, the gearbox is certainly up to par in the $21K Lancer -- and it's better than some of the manuals you'll find in $30K cars. I haven't driven a manual-shift Honda Civic in a while, but I can't imagine I'd like it that much better...
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Categories: 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS
The display screen in the 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS (also our long-term Outlander so I'm guessing it's all across Mitsubishi), drives me nuts. Let me count the ways.
First of all, the buttons absolutely stink. They are small, flat, and utterly without texture. Aargh!!..
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Categories: 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS
I've been through quite a number of cars these past few weeks. One annoyance that's common with the majority of them makes me love our Lancer if only for one reason: a touch screen navigation system.
I've been in 5-Series, E-Series, the new Jag XF and a long list of others. The majority of them have rollers or some other kind of control knob...
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Categories: 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS
Jumped into our 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer this weekend and noticed this message pop up on the nav screen. Weirrrd! That periodic maintenance message usually only pops up on the trip computer located behind the steering wheel. Does this mean things are urgent now since we've ignored the light for so long?..
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Categories: 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS
Pictured above is the way our long term Lancer's headlights should stay when they are not turned on. They should be off.
You see, our Mitsubishi has daytime running lights (DRLs) and I am patently against using headlights as DRLs. I should mention that I'm not against DRLs but in this age of ever increasing in-car distractions, the brief two seconds out of ten that we allow ourselves to actually look where we're going, it's helpful to have two bright reminders of the oncoming car you're not supposed to run into...
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Categories: 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS
The Lancer has been in our fleet for a few months now, and its extravagantly sporty styling isn't as glaring to me as it first was. I slide behind the wheel, turn the ignition and the monster wing that dominates the rear-view mirror barely registers. I'll probably never truly be a fan of the car's fan-boy look, but the only aspects that make an impression me these days are the Lancer's positive ones. The satisfying feel of its shifter...
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Categories: 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS
Each time I drive our long-term 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS, I find myself remarking to myself how good the chassis is. The bodyshell is stiff, and this solidity gave Mitsubishi's engineers the freedom to equip it with damper valving that provides lots of wheel control yet a supple ride.
And that's exactly what they did. Excepting the weaksauce engine, this car simply drives and steers with the composure and precision of a more expensive car, and I notice it every time I'm behind the wheel...
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Categories: 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS
The other day I had a dilemma. I was faced with either taking our 2007 Mini Cooper S or 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer. I know these cars aren't usually shopped against each other but for the moment, I was trying to decide if I should follow my heart or my head.
Normally the Mini manages to win by tugging at my heart strings but since I was going to drive way the heck across town to Pasadena from Santa Monica in rush-hour traffic, I considered taking the Lancer...
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Categories: 2007 Mini Cooper S,2008 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS
Dear Mitsubishi,
May I humbly introduce to you a rather nifty concept: the tilt and telescoping steering column. It's actually been around for quite awhile. GM came up with it back in the 1960s and Cadillac was the first brand to receive it. Telescoping took a while to catch on, but by the late 1990s, lowly VW New Beetles had them and a majority of vehicles come so-equipped today. And yet, I see that not a single vehicle Mitsubishi sells in the United States comes with this feature...
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Categories: 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS
I’m not the first to notice the
unpleasant noises our long-term Mitusbishi Lancer makes at higher engine speeds. But after spending a weekend putting up with the Mitsu’s uncivilized under-hood racket, I think this topic deserves its own post. Chief Road Test Editor Chris Walton has opined that the Lancer’s 2.0-liter, 152 hp four sounds “
janitorial” -- but I think that’s too kind. What this frumpy four-banger really sounds like at full-tilt is your standard-issue $40 blender...
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Categories: 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS
