Team-BHP - View Single Post - Mitsubishi Lancer Mivec

Harrie · 2nd March 2009, 11:25

My tryst with fast cars started when one fine day I decided my life was getting bored and needed something to spice things up a little. So made a phone call to a very special person and I ended up with a "Psyched Palio 1.6 GTX"! The love affair lasted for more than a year. And then some problems started cropping up and I decided I it was time for something better.

I was initially looking at buying a petrol swift - mainly because I could get some body kits made on it and the fact that it could be turboed without burning a big hole in your pocket. I started looking out for cars and of course made a few calls to psycho bugging him about what to buy. And then it happened....

He said the red mivec lancer in Bangalore was still up for sale incase I was interested. It took me all of 8 hours to make my mind and I was on my way to Bangalore with a ridiculous amount of cash. Started from Coimbatore by 6 in the evening and by 2 in the morning he deal was done.

I was the proud owner of a lancer with a 4g92 swap aka The Mivec!

It took me about 2 weeks before I could get the car down to Coimbatore. Had to ask keshav to give the car a once over before I bring it down. After all this is the first time I am gonna be driving something as fast as the mivec.

The first time I drove the car was on the BTM Main road (what is it called??) I was thinking to myself did I make a mistake buying this car? The car had a nice exhaust but nothing much apart from it. It was only as fast as my palio. I was heartbroken. I had expected a lot more from the mivec and this was more like my palio. I stopped at a traffic signal. I was first in line. Looked around there were no cops. Thought might as well give this a try and floored the throttle when the lights turned green....

The car felt fast. 3000...4000...4500..5000...BAM! I was like heck... I was experiencing Mivec kick in on WOT for the first time. The exhaust was no longer a growl. It was shrieking. 6000...7000rpm and the acceleration didn’t let go. I was too scared to touch the redline. Immediately braked and shifted the car to neutral.

I spent the next 5 minutes trying to figure out what the heck happened. I was grinning and my eyes were gleaming behind the shades. I was floored. I knew Mivecs would be fast, had read about them from sideway's posts. But this was something very different! This was bliss. Motoring Nirvana!

But something was nagging in my head. The car was fast. Looked good with the kit in red. But somehow this was not my car. My previous car ( Palio1.6 ) had been very special to me and this bigger faster car somehow couldn’t take its place. Two track days, playing around with fiberglass kits didn’t quite make it. Something was missing. Something didn’t connect. The car was just that. A car. It didn’t connect the way the palio did. That’s when I decided something had to be done and fast. Then started the long process of upgrades and mods...

Paint.... Yes it had to be the paint first. My palio had the tangerine mist paint. I decided this car must also have some really different paintjob. So asked my painter to start work on the car fixing minor dents here and there. Then started looking for a suitable color. I must have spent about 6-7 hours at the paint shop going through the DuPont color shades looking for the perfect colors. Wanted a Ferrari Red on it first. But then they were getting too common. Thought of blue, cherry red, white and even matt black.

It was then when I was browsing the Lamborghini section that I stumbled across this....

It was called the Lambo Fire Opal Red. It’s a 3 stage metallic pearl with a white base coat. It was just what I was looking for. I knew it had to be this. My color atlast. The car looks very orangey in the sun and orange-red in the dark. I was in love with the color. My wife loved it. I still remember her eyes going wide when I opened up the covers on the car.

Well first things taken care of next was the long pending tire upgrade. There was just one way to do it. Advan Neovas AD-07. 205/55/15.

Some basic ice comprising of a pioneer HU and a set of infinity reference components. This is there for the time being. A more elaborate setup by Satya (Blueraven) is on the cards. Just waiting for a few funds to come through...

Suspension is ok as of now. The dampers need to be a bit stiffer. But will work on that in a while.

Now that the history of the car is over, let me get on to the ownership experience part of it.

2nd March 2009, 11:25	#1 (permalink)
Harrie BHPian Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: KA 03, KL 12, TN 38 Posts: 677	Mitsubishi Lancer Mivec - Ownership Experience My tryst with fast cars started when one fine day I decided my life was getting bored and needed something to spice things up a little. So made a phone call to a very special person and I ended up with a "Psyched Palio 1.6 GTX"! The love affair lasted for more than a year. And then some problems started cropping up and I decided I it was time for something better. I was initially looking at buying a petrol swift - mainly because I could get some body kits made on it and the fact that it could be turboed without burning a big hole in your pocket. I started looking out for cars and of course made a few calls to psycho bugging him about what to buy. And then it happened.... He said the red mivec lancer in Bangalore was still up for sale incase I was interested. It took me all of 8 hours to make my mind and I was on my way to Bangalore with a ridiculous amount of cash. Started from Coimbatore by 6 in the evening and by 2 in the morning he deal was done. I was the proud owner of a lancer with a 4g92 swap aka The Mivec! It took me about 2 weeks before I could get the car down to Coimbatore. Had to ask keshav to give the car a once over before I bring it down. After all this is the first time I am gonna be driving something as fast as the mivec. The first time I drove the car was on the BTM Main road (what is it called??) I was thinking to myself did I make a mistake buying this car? The car had a nice exhaust but nothing much apart from it. It was only as fast as my palio. I was heartbroken. I had expected a lot more from the mivec and this was more like my palio. I stopped at a traffic signal. I was first in line. Looked around there were no cops. Thought might as well give this a try and floored the throttle when the lights turned green.... The car felt fast. 3000...4000...4500..5000...BAM! I was like heck... I was experiencing Mivec kick in on WOT for the first time. The exhaust was no longer a growl. It was shrieking. 6000...7000rpm and the acceleration didn’t let go. I was too scared to touch the redline. Immediately braked and shifted the car to neutral. I spent the next 5 minutes trying to figure out what the heck happened. I was grinning and my eyes were gleaming behind the shades. I was floored. I knew Mivecs would be fast, had read about them from sideway's posts. But this was something very different! This was bliss. Motoring Nirvana! But something was nagging in my head. The car was fast. Looked good with the kit in red. But somehow this was not my car. My previous car ( Palio1.6 ) had been very special to me and this bigger faster car somehow couldn’t take its place. Two track days, playing around with fiberglass kits didn’t quite make it. Something was missing. Something didn’t connect. The car was just that. A car. It didn’t connect the way the palio did. That’s when I decided something had to be done and fast. Then started the long process of upgrades and mods... Paint.... Yes it had to be the paint first. My palio had the tangerine mist paint. I decided this car must also have some really different paintjob. So asked my painter to start work on the car fixing minor dents here and there. Then started looking for a suitable color. I must have spent about 6-7 hours at the paint shop going through the DuPont color shades looking for the perfect colors. Wanted a Ferrari Red on it first. But then they were getting too common. Thought of blue, cherry red, white and even matt black. It was then when I was browsing the Lamborghini section that I stumbled across this.... It was called the Lambo Fire Opal Red. It’s a 3 stage metallic pearl with a white base coat. It was just what I was looking for. I knew it had to be this. My color atlast. The car looks very orangey in the sun and orange-red in the dark. I was in love with the color. My wife loved it. I still remember her eyes going wide when I opened up the covers on the car. Well first things taken care of next was the long pending tire upgrade. There was just one way to do it. Advan Neovas AD-07. 205/55/15. Some basic ice comprising of a pioneer HU and a set of infinity reference components. This is there for the time being. A more elaborate setup by Satya (Blueraven) is on the cards. Just waiting for a few funds to come through... Suspension is ok as of now. The dampers need to be a bit stiffer. But will work on that in a while. Now that the history of the car is over, let me get on to the ownership experience part of it. Attached Thumbnails __________________ 80 kmph in 5th gear has never been more fun!