| A wannabe Evo 8/9 - my first car (actually just a Lancer)
I bought my first car used last month, in Windsor. I had recently started working as an engineer and needed a car for my daily commute to work (since it's in the middle of nowhere).
I had a few options on my mind, namely the Subaru Impreza 2.5 RS (sedan or wagon), the Mazda 3, the Mitsubishi Lancer ES, Chevy Cobalt/Pontiac G5, Pontiac G6 and a few more. I was only gonna get a used car, since it pains me to see a brand new car depreciate as it leaves the dealership lot.
I was pretty close to getting either a 2007 Pontiac G6 (with the 3.5L V6) or a 2005 Ford Focus ST (the best Focus you can buy in North America) as both were very good deals and almost within my budget.
But then I saw a 2003 Lancer ES on display at Windsor Mitsubishi (Windsor dealership) and was pretty impressed with it.
This is the 2001-03 model year Lancer Cedia which you guys do not get in India, and it has a different front grille and an Evo 8/9 style rear tailgate. (A lot of people have tried to race me because of that)
A couple of test drives later, the only problem I found was a humming noise coming from the front right wheel bearing which is apparently a very common problem with imports. I still went ahead with the purchase and later on spent about 400 US$ replacing both the right axle and press fitting a new wheel bearing on it (from Detroit), and the noise was gone.
As far as the car itself is concerned, it drives and corners pretty good, and I love the engine sound when you rev the engine.
As far as driving impressions are concerned, it has the shortest first gear I've ever seen here, but the second gear is where it all starts to come alive. You rev it past 4000 rpm and it's all a big adrenaline rush from there.
And the skinny 14 inch tires do restrict its cornering capabilities to a certain extent, but I've done some pretty high speed cornering already without any noticeable loss of traction and tire squeal.
The only thing I dislike about the car is the steering at high speeds, which is very light. It's very useful in the city, when you corner at lower speeds, but when you're doing about 80 mph, the power assist still stays the same and you have to be extra careful while making high speed lane changes.
I do plan on some future upgrades like a cold air intake, maybe some headers and some bigger rims and tires. But other than that I want to keep it as reliable as possible, as it is the only way I can get to work (other than getting a cab).
Also I drove about 3700 km (more than 3/4ths of east-west coast) through the US from Windsor ON to Peace River AB where I started work.
It was quite an eventful road trip and took me about 4.5 days.
The car also fell into a ditch in North Dakota (US) during the severe snowstorms there recently and I had to get a Nissan Titan truck to pull me out. Thankfully both the car and the driver were unharmed.
I think that's one of my longest posts so far here. So won't go any further. I've posted some pics as well. They're from my bhp garage.
@mods: I thought that the ownership reports section was only for Indian cars, hence the thread here. | 
26th November 2008, 09:35
