[raajks]

Its been 11 months of
- Ownership
- Ecstacy
- Confusion
- Doubt
- Happiness
- Joy
- Family expansion
- Career moves
- Autocross
- K-1000
- Track day
- Ghat driving
- Endurance highway driving
- Bouncy patches
- Giant speed brakers
- India inc!

As you can imagine the car been through a lot and so has the owner.

Changes made (Not too proud!)
- Sparco pedals
- Everything else is a part of the standard equipment
- Thought of driving a Lancer Evolution IX somewhere outside, did curb my performance gremlins

Driving style

Family mode (65%)

The love bug has smitted my wife hard as she loves the Cedia
(Dare I say it) more than me.

The idea is to comfortably cruze at good speeds with AC on all the time.
It goobles the hard roads, the humungous speed brakers and keeps us cool with its amazing air conditioner.

Being reliable has been a top expectation from the car. It has never let me down. The comfort to handle a new born coupled with the handling to take some difficult road conditions has won many admirers within my family.

Braking inspite of the Bridgestone RE88s (Current Cedia Sports comes with the GIII Potenzas) has been top notch. Has saved me from a few close shaves.

As I keep the revs at 2K - 4K RPM most of the time, the milege has been in the range of 15 - 16 (sometimes).

It's not always a state of a calm lake all the time, Waves of turbulance hit me hard when I have to go shopping on the
- busiest streets
- Tight parking spots
- Traffic

Sometimes and Only sometimes ..I do enjoy it as I get the special attention. What actually saves the day is the

- Excellent driving position allowing me to get a good road view
- Torque of the two litre engine
- A tight turning radius of 4.9m, As I overshoot a shopping mall or a petty shop or a late min realization that I had to take right instead of left. I am sure it is conceivable that I can an authority on this feature.

- A spacious boot to carry truck loads of bags with dignity

Sport mode (35%)
Breaking from the shackles of mundance living, I explore the world of accelerating hard with
- Heel & Toe downshifts
- Left foot braking
- And more..

Exploited the 5 month single status
- Been the standby zero car exploring the stages of K-1000
- Long drives on winding ghat sections
- Nandi hills
- Chamundi
- Coorg
- Pondicherry in the winding roads
- Track day at Chennai (WOW!)
- One night drive

This car can be truly appreciated when you take it on the
- Winding roads
- Smooth Gravel
- Hill sections
- Ghat sections

As you move higher than 4.5 RPM the note played from the engine is music to the ears. I would call it the INDIAN EVO with a few shortcomings It is a fantastic car .. No doubt! Depression sets in when you look at the fuel needle of your car and intensifies further when you compare it to

raj.barcode's / Tadu / Prabhu's Diesel Elantra
Karthik's - Swift Vdi
Krish's - Getz Crdi

These guys even if they move at insane speeds, their fuel needle never seem to come down. This is one of those moments where I look up and thank the abundance in my life!

What I like
- The turn in to every corner
- Handling
- Braking, straight line stabilty
- Excellent value for money
- Reliable
- Torquey engine
- Ground clearance
- Chasis
- The fit and finish
- Looks (It's a stunner in my opinion)
- Carbon / Titanium interiors
- Air conditioning
- Service (I really like the service and A** of Mitsubishi)

What I would like to see

- More power (150 - 170 BHP would be perfect)
- Handling complimented with a more stiffened suspension
- DOHC head of the 4G93 (Evolution IX engine without the Turbo is also acceptable)

This car is a delight and it comes with an excellent potential for peformance modifications. INRC 2010 may see atleast 12 Cedias taking part.

As an average JOE it is my daily drive / family transporter (Pun intended!) / Sport mode driver (Heart of a racer).
It fits the bill perfectly as it can wear many hats with ease.

[RajaTaurus]

"What I would like to see
- More power (150 - 170 BHP would be perfect)"
Well thats what I hear - the new Lancer modded to Indian conditions. Expected in June. Who said that? Maya Motors.! This Year? Yes.!

I went through the trackday threads and seen you there too. I couldn't make it that time, but I have a promise to fulfill to my Cedia - to take her on track day soon.
Well, pretty much if I am to copy-paste all you said and it would become my 16000 Kms report.
Have done a Chennai-Bangalore, A Chennai-Pondy and recently Chennai-Srikalahasti.
Must agree with you on one thing and wanted to say it. This car is amazing on winding roads. The way it rides, you only have to hold back the 'lagaan', lest the horses gallop away into oblivion.!
Many more K- kms of happy driving.

[gaurav_chopra04]

Nice reviews Raj. Good to hear from you after a long time..

Originally Posted by raajks

Its been 11 months of
...Autocross... K-1000...Track day...
As you can imagine the car been through a lot and so has the owner.

The best one can do with this car..

Changes made ...Sparco pedals..
where did you source the pedals from and for how much?

Braking inspite of the Bridgestone RE88s (Current Cedia Sports comes with the GIII Potenzas) has been top notch. Has saved me from a few close shaves.

You've been testing the limits....eehhhh

As I keep the revs at 2K - 4K RPM most of the time, the milege has been in the range of 15 - 16 (sometimes).

Just Perfect..the best I have managed is 14.5 with a very light foot.. usually get around 10-11.

Sport mode (35%)
Breaking from the shackles of mundance living, I explore the world of accelerating hard with
- Heel & Toe downshifts
- Left foot braking where on the earth did you learn to do that
- And more..is there still more to it?

As you move higher than 4.5 RPM the note played from the engine is music to the ears. I would call it the INDIAN EVO with a few shortcomings It is a fantastic car .. No doubt!

Dont remind me of the engine sound note.. I loved and lived it almost every time in my car in the initial 2-3 months ownership.. later, it was the indeed the fuel needle that forced me to sit back.

Depression sets in when you look at the fuel needle of your car and intensifies further when you compare it to

raj.barcode's / Tadu / Prabhu's Diesel Elantra
Karthik's - Swift Vdi
Krish's - Getz Crdi

These guys even if they move at insane speeds, their fuel needle never seem to come down. This is one of those moments where I look up and thank the abundance in my life!

I hope you remember you drive a petrol and that too a 2-Litre.

What I like
Service (I really like the service and A** of Mitsubishi)

Something which many people dont know. I too love their service here in Delhi

What I would like to see

- More power (150 - 170 BHP would be perfect)

see if you can grab the March Edition of CAR India magazine, they showed a Cedia with a Garrett P5 turbo producing 13psi of boost and 280PS from the 4G94, 0-100 in 7.09 sec. Loved reading it, wonder what it would be to drive, though they said there was a lot of turbo lag.

- Handling complimented with a more stiffened suspension
Hot Bits... anyone!

- DOHC head of the 4G93

I didnt know this is possible.. how does it help?

[raajks]

Thanks Raja_Tarus & Gaurav!

Yes, it feels great to be back!
The Sparco pedals were sourced from the US, its promotes a good heel & toe feel.

There is more, but not on this thread!
Agree, Agree & Agree to your response.

I have been holding back on the performance mods as I was nt sure on being around.
The turbo mods might lower the reliability of the car. 280 PS is fabulous!

[Car&me]

Great Ownership reviews and happy to hear happiness in every cedia owner. Good to hear that you get 15KMPL.
Lot of people are apprehensive about Mitsu servicing. I have never felt so in the past 30 months. Neither the car has let me down anywhere; not the Service guys when I visit them for the regular services. Infact the car has visited the service center only for the oil changes. (I do the wheel alignments outside). People who dont own Mitsu talk a lot about Mitsu service, badly.

I am a proud owner of cedia select which has done 33K; driven in Hyderabad and Chennai. Longest drive being Hyderabad to Madurai via Ooty. Was so great. Never felt tired. Had it not been for a vacation in Ooty, I would have driven straight to Madurai, (16 hours may be). I get 12KMPL, average.
Right now trying to dress it up with leather seats (select comes with fabric). Researching on Stanely's, Ovions and Haitons.
Family loves it, my wife and kid does not want to change the car and therefore took the decision to plunge for Seat covers.
In short, we are loviiinnngg it.

[WhiteKnight]

Nicely written. I do agree that it is a looker- I like old generation cars than the new-gen wiz kids.

Btw, guess we crossed paths on Saturday evening, when I was exiting AECS at CMRIT.

Also, where do you do the servicing?

[RajaTaurus]

btw, may I know what was the time you did on MMSC track?

[raajks]

@Car&me:
Completely agree, been through the similar grind myself.
The service has been amazing, it is also worthwhile to mention that the service was only the basic service. The car has been trouble free (touch wood!)
Its good to see lovers and not owners for the Cedia.

@White Knight:
What car was yours? Next time I will make it a point to wave for sure.
Currently at Bangalore we have 2 service centers for Mitsu
1) At Southern motors
2) At Hosur road
My service centre has been Southern motors so far.

@RajaTaurus
Did not do the laps with the transponders but I was totally enjoying myself to the tee!
I am sure I would get pelted, but Narain's 2:17 could have been beaten.
The car inspite of its soft rear is pretty good on the track

[RajaTaurus]

Originally Posted by raajks

@RajaTaurus
Did not do the laps with the transponders but I was totally enjoying myself to the tee!
I am sure I would get pelted, but Narain's 2:17 could have been beaten.
The car inspite of its soft rear is pretty good on the track

I will be happy to join you in receiving the 'pelting' if any. I have been watching Gill's recent track test videos of various exotics very closely, again and again. He sure was not 'at home' with any of those cars and it clearly showed up at every corner he was making. Its the corners one must improve to beat the time and not the straights. One has to get the 'feel' of the car and get completely 'into' the car to have the confidence and get the maximum out of the car. If he had driven his very own Cedia sports, he would sure have beaten the dream number '2.00' on MMSC. And the same goes with Narain as well.

[Nikhilb2008]

I hate to get into a number's game on this nice ownership review thread, but 2:00 on a stock Cedia, even with Ad07s is impossible.

Probably in the 2:15s or so, but not 2:00.

Supercars like the Audi A4 3.2 FSI were doing about 2:03 -2:06.

Anyway, nice report Raaj. I can feel the enthusiasm you have for this car in your report!

[brraj]

Well maintained car there raj.
So decided to keep it for life finally?

[Car&me]

brraj's question to Raj about keeping it for life, prompted me to think on my history of ownership.

I have been driving since since 1991 (early days were my Dad's car). I started with my first own car which was a used Esteem in 2001. Since then I have owned / changed 10 cars. I have not owned any car more than 1.5 years. Call it stayed in US and was shifting places and so on and so forth. Never wanted to have one for life.

But interestingly, since I bought, owned and experienced Cedia I dont want to buy another car. I have owned this for the past 30 months, this is the longest one I have owned and driven; still I dont get bored.
A few days back I thought of going for a new car after the car becomes 3 years old (in Sep 2010). I thought and TDed many cars(altis, civic, laura, safari, used Endeavour) within 15lac budget. But my heart and my family goes back to Cedia.
I have a black Cedia Select now; was seriously contemplating a white Sports cedia with all the new gizmos there. But mind comes in and starts asking question like why should you change the car, when its running fine. So I might hold on to the same car for another 2 years with some refreshements like new leather seat covers.

In short Cedia experience has made me want only cedia and in the current scene under 15 lacs, I am not seeing any other car providing me the content that Cedia is providing.
The only fear factor I have is, will Mitsu shut down its operations in India? They do provide excellent service. But the fact that there is no proper marketing and selling, makes me think that they (mitsu / HM) are not interested in Indian market (unlike singapore, Honkong or Thailand) where they are visibile in a good way.
If the shut down happens, then I have to think away from Mitsu.

[RajaTaurus]

^^ Exactly my line of thoughts too. I was going to ask Maya motors to upgrade the ICE to the touch-screen thingie and add a spoiler and the front/rear airdam and convert my baby into a sports car and own it another 3 years. Its going to complete 3 years coming September.
Mitsu shut down operations in India? I sure don't think so. If that be the case, they would have done it around 2006 or so, when they were selling just over 20 cedias in the market. But, all the signals coming out points otherwise. They seem to go bigtime here in India and I sincerely hope the signals covert themselves into reality.

[WhiteKnight]

Originally Posted by raajks

@White Knight:
What car was yours? Next time I will make it a point to wave for sure.
Currently at Bangalore we have 2 service centers for Mitsu
1) At Southern motors
2) At Hosur road
My service centre has been Southern motors so far.

Do check my garage. Anyway, yours is a star = easy to spot

Btw, good to hear that Southern motors have improved.

[krish3]

Nice long term review of a car which I love. I have test driven it and was amazed on how under-estimated this beautiful car is. I was planning to buy a used model before Hyundai reduced the price of Getz Crdi.

Keep going and do not sell off this beauty. Maybe someday Mitsu will wake up and bring out an EVO for a good price. Till that day.. Enjoy your CEDIA