Mitsubishi Lancer 1.8 Invex test driven

Dippy · 24th February 2004, 17:33

Hey all

After checking out the EVO VI the HM guy had invited me to test drive the new 1.8 Lancer. This morning I had to go to the Autocar office for the Malaysian formalities. Was passing the showroom on the way so thought of taking the test drive. I walked into the showroom and the friendly receptionist obliged me immediately. . The driver took my personal details and soon I was joined by the Sales executive who accompanied me on the test along with their driver.

Car ready and I was off. The sales guy agreed to let me take the car to Worli Seaface so thats where we headed. I drove it in auto mode till we got to seaface wit the air con on. Was pretty easy to drive and driving position was good.

As soon as we hit the seaface, I switched off the a/c rolled down the windows and it was time to put the 120 bhp to test. I shifted from auto to the tip tronic mode and I was off. The car really accelerated well through the gears and sounded good too. I was lucky not to have traffic and so I really hit the throttle. You can really rev the car to high rpm before you shift into higher gear and the gears go down a shift as soon as you slow down. Though not any where or exciting as pressing the clutch , it still was pretty good to drive.

Handling which has always been a Lancer virtue was very good. I took the racing line on seaface and it held itself well pretty much. The speedo was not functional but the guy was quite honest to tell me that they plan to sell the car to some customer. Speedo not with standing , I easily managed a 150 but couldnt go more than that. Fuel efficiency is 8 in the city thats what the sales guy told me.

Now to the other points. The interiors are the same plasticky ones. HM should gave given it a fresh look. The three spoke steering finished in wood and leather looks good but the minus point hree is the horn which is right in the centre. Pretty difficult to reach while driving.

Music system was passe . The same old Kenwood cassette player with no CD. For a car costing 10 lakh plus ex Mumbai i think customers atleast dewserve that much . The car was shod with 13 inch wheels and MRF ZVTS rubber which really isnt enough for this car. I think 14 inchers with tubeless tyres should have been standard.

I feel the things mentioned above are worth considering because of the price.

Well after the seaface it was back to the aircon and auto mode. gave the car back to the dealership, he promised to send me some brochures which I expect soon.

Car give and back to my good old Zen , I headed on my way. The car is good but a but overpriced . I really wouldnt mind owning a pre owned one for a lesser price a couple of years down the line. But then if I do get the money, I'd go for the EVO anyday.

Thats my story. Now you guys check it out for yourselves.

Cheers

Dippy

GTO · 25th February 2004, 16:37

Hey Dippy,

Fantastic review of the Lancer 1.8. I just drove the car myself, having called Fortpoint to my office.

I really ripped the car apart on the worli seaface and easily touched 150 if not a couple of km/h more. The autobox has silky smooth gearshifts and the 1.8 liter 120 horspower engine feels its best when revving. Expectedly the car is much faster than its 1.5 sibling, even though its weighed down by the auto-box. I shifted over to manual over-ride mode when I got to the seaface and I didnt dislike it as much as I thought I would. It was a fun experience to work through the gears (believe me..redlined through each of the first three ratios) - a factor made easier by the on-board display of gear chosen.

Buttttttttttttt HM has really messed around with the quality of the Lancer. I have never seen plastics of such horrid quality on the insides of any of my friends Lancers (all 2000 or 2001 vintage). Even the power window controls, power mirror switches, arm rest....they reap of cheap plastic compared to the earlier Lancers. Whats more, the panel gaps were NOT AT ALL EVEN! This is the first time I have closely inspected recent Lancers and you can just tell that the good ol' Amby guys are at it again. The front of the car has the most ugly foglights I have ever seen on an Indian vehicle.

This car costs Rs. 10,11,088=00 on road. Thats mighty expensive for a 6 year old design and takes it bang into Corolla,Optra and Octavia territory. The only USP of the Lancer INVEX is the autobox. Frankly I think the only reason that HM did not launch a manual version of this car is that it would be maybe Rs.50,000=00 cheaper. Would you pay 9,61,000=00 for a Lancer without alloy wheels in 2004? My guess is no.

Its a failure...I dont foresee too many Lancer 1.8's selling

GTO

Dippy · 25th February 2004, 16:49

Hey GTO

So you finally drove it. Yeah my points exact like i mentioned before. Plastics all over , not even a CD player in a 10 lakh plus car and that sucks. Fun to drive like you said though.
And oh yes if there are a few buyers I'm sure couple of yearts down the line a pre owned one for a low price may be a temptation.

Cheers

Revvmaster · 25th February 2004, 21:57

Hey guys

I myself got to drive the Invex today at Fortpoint. Here's how it went. 4:45 Pm i was in at Fortpoint. 4:50 was in the car. The salesman first took me till the entry point of Bandra-Worli sealink road and showed me how the tiptronic works (geesh wudnt wanna mess with the gearbox first up, wud u). After the customary round up of understanding the car. I got into the driver's seat and off we went.

Let me tell you, i completely agree with GTO on the quality of the car. Its got worse. What's worse is not its build strength, but its finish. I could see some chipped off plastics on the dashboard already, the kind u only see on cars that are 3-4 years old. Besides that the car seemed quite ok.

Once i started moving in auto i realised the torque that this car has. All of a sudden, driving a lancer became so effortless. Then when i turned around at Bandra and headed for the highway, i ripped her. Reaching 100-120 in no time with the sequential i realised a few things. The gear ratios are pretty much spot on, you can shift early and save fuel or shift later and enjoy the exhaust note. The steering is fluid, a small tug and it pulls along, pretty precise. Somehow though, i felt it lacked some feel (or maybe my matiz filters me with so much feel that i am sounding old...

) The ride and handling is good, but those 13 inchers do give some understeer as i pulled along at the meenatai thackeray bridge which is one of my old play-fields to test cars.

My conclusions from the test are this: HM, stop thinking Indians are fools. Give em a manual, 14 inchers (atleast), decent build quality, some more spec and a good price. Frankly i wudnt be surprised then if HM sells 1500 lancers a month against 300-400 odd nowadays. *The 1.8 has potential, it just needs some car-lovers to tinker around with it... THATS ALL.

GTO · 25th February 2004, 22:06

Boy, me Revvmaster and Dippy have committed an automotive crime. Remember how the cars speedo has been disconnected and he admitted that he is going to sell this car to an unknowing customer?

If only the poor chap whos buying it knew how well team-bhp has performed the "running-in" procedures of his car!!

GTO

P.S. Revv I know the chipped plastic you are talking about...to the right of the driver near the a/c louvre, correct?

Revvmaster · 25th February 2004, 22:24

HEHEHEHE

GTO, u caught me there on the running-in procedure and the disconnected cable. Reminds me of the autobiography by Lee Iacocca where they had to recall cars cuz they were showroom pieces.

BTW the chipped part u pointed out was exactly the same place i saw. Frankly, HM cud do away with that fake-wood on the steering and add some silver to the dashboard. Atleast it'll make the car sporty.

Dippy · 26th February 2004, 01:56

Yea Revv

They should stop advertising the cosmetic stuff and give good equipment at an attractive price. I guess if they had gone the Baleno way by offering the 1.5 at say around 6.5 to 6.75 max for the top of the range model and priced the 1.9 at say around 9 lakhs on road Mumbai . I feel they would have got some success. But no.. HM will never learn

I had just casually asked the sales guy why the speedo was off poor chap just told me that ..." well we will eventually sell this car"

He forgot that the so called new car doesnt have a run in period any more , Ripped by team- bhp in its initaial kilometers of its life .

Hey that gives me an idea" Why dont we make a " RIPPED BY TEAM-BHP" sticker and put it on the rear glass of every car we test and rip.. Ain t that cool

Cheers

Shan2nu · 26th February 2004, 10:48

Lets keep a close watch on this car and see which "lucky" guy gets to own it. Man....i tell you, this car is gonna be a real "Rip Off".............hahaha........

Regards...
Shan2nu

1st April 2004, 21:09

well so it looks like weve all been probably driving the same white example,,at worli sea face when i asked the salesman why there were no alloys,,he said

,,Sir : our roads r not suited for alloy wheels,so we provide it as option for customers who want it

Dippy · 1st April 2004, 21:19

Hahahaha now thats a joke he didnt tell you who drove the car before.. You should have told him ure part of the same gang snoops

Cheers

headers · 11th May 2006, 20:00

when the speedo was not working? Maybe you could elaborate on that part!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTO

Hey Dippy,

Fantastic review of the Lancer 1.8. I just drove the car myself, having called Fortpoint to my office.

I really ripped the car apart on the worli seaface and easily touched 150 if not a couple of km/h more. The autobox has silky smooth gearshifts and the 1.8 liter 120 horspower engine feels its best when revving. Expectedly the car is much faster than its 1.5 sibling, even though its weighed down by the auto-box. I shifted over to manual over-ride mode when I got to the seaface and I didnt dislike it as much as I thought I would. It was a fun experience to work through the gears (believe me..redlined through each of the first three ratios) - a factor made easier by the on-board display of gear chosen.

Buttttttttttttt HM has really messed around with the quality of the Lancer. I have never seen plastics of such horrid quality on the insides of any of my friends Lancers (all 2000 or 2001 vintage). Even the power window controls, power mirror switches, arm rest....they reap of cheap plastic compared to the earlier Lancers. Whats more, the panel gaps were NOT AT ALL EVEN! This is the first time I have closely inspected recent Lancers and you can just tell that the good ol' Amby guys are at it again. The front of the car has the most ugly foglights I have ever seen on an Indian vehicle.

This car costs Rs. 10,11,088=00 on road. Thats mighty expensive for a 6 year old design and takes it bang into Corolla,Optra and Octavia territory. The only USP of the Lancer INVEX is the autobox. Frankly I think the only reason that HM did not launch a manual version of this car is that it would be maybe Rs.50,000=00 cheaper. Would you pay 9,61,000=00 for a Lancer without alloy wheels in 2004? My guess is no.

Its a failure...I dont foresee too many Lancer 1.8's selling

GTO

devarshi84 · 12th May 2006, 05:01

Hey newbie. Welcome to the forums but read properly.

He has said atleast 150km/hr if not more.

Lancer 1.8 makes an excellent choice against the cvt and the vtec. The only downside looks to be the the dated interiors and ol exteriors. Some prominent people here have talked about detrtiorated quality in plastics and panel gaps but I am yet to come by a similar model.

I have driven the invecs thrice and I was pretty impressed by the cars interior quality. the last one( aug 2005) did have minor panel gaps visible. but A member Rishi Kapoor has reported otherwise with high praises.

24th February 2004, 17:33	#1
Dippy Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Mumbai, India Posts: 7,561 Thanked: 2,470 Times	Hey all After checking out the EVO VI the HM guy had invited me to test drive the new 1.8 Lancer. This morning I had to go to the Autocar office for the Malaysian formalities. Was passing the showroom on the way so thought of taking the test drive. I walked into the showroom and the friendly receptionist obliged me immediately. . The driver took my personal details and soon I was joined by the Sales executive who accompanied me on the test along with their driver. Car ready and I was off. The sales guy agreed to let me take the car to Worli Seaface so thats where we headed. I drove it in auto mode till we got to seaface wit the air con on. Was pretty easy to drive and driving position was good. As soon as we hit the seaface, I switched off the a/c rolled down the windows and it was time to put the 120 bhp to test. I shifted from auto to the tip tronic mode and I was off. The car really accelerated well through the gears and sounded good too. I was lucky not to have traffic and so I really hit the throttle. You can really rev the car to high rpm before you shift into higher gear and the gears go down a shift as soon as you slow down. Though not any where or exciting as pressing the clutch , it still was pretty good to drive. Handling which has always been a Lancer virtue was very good. I took the racing line on seaface and it held itself well pretty much. The speedo was not functional but the guy was quite honest to tell me that they plan to sell the car to some customer. Speedo not with standing , I easily managed a 150 but couldnt go more than that. Fuel efficiency is 8 in the city thats what the sales guy told me. Now to the other points. The interiors are the same plasticky ones. HM should gave given it a fresh look. The three spoke steering finished in wood and leather looks good but the minus point hree is the horn which is right in the centre. Pretty difficult to reach while driving. Music system was passe . The same old Kenwood cassette player with no CD. For a car costing 10 lakh plus ex Mumbai i think customers atleast dewserve that much . The car was shod with 13 inch wheels and MRF ZVTS rubber which really isnt enough for this car. I think 14 inchers with tubeless tyres should have been standard. I feel the things mentioned above are worth considering because of the price. Well after the seaface it was back to the aircon and auto mode. gave the car back to the dealership, he promised to send me some brochures which I expect soon. Car give and back to my good old Zen , I headed on my way. The car is good but a but overpriced . I really wouldnt mind owning a pre owned one for a lesser price a couple of years down the line. But then if I do get the money, I'd go for the EVO anyday. Thats my story. Now you guys check it out for yourselves. Cheers Dippy
	() Thanks

25th February 2004, 16:37	#2
GTO Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Bombay Posts: 70,546 Thanked: 300,779 Times View My Garage	Hey Dippy, Fantastic review of the Lancer 1.8. I just drove the car myself, having called Fortpoint to my office. I really ripped the car apart on the worli seaface and easily touched 150 if not a couple of km/h more. The autobox has silky smooth gearshifts and the 1.8 liter 120 horspower engine feels its best when revving. Expectedly the car is much faster than its 1.5 sibling, even though its weighed down by the auto-box. I shifted over to manual over-ride mode when I got to the seaface and I didnt dislike it as much as I thought I would. It was a fun experience to work through the gears (believe me..redlined through each of the first three ratios) - a factor made easier by the on-board display of gear chosen. Buttttttttttttt HM has really messed around with the quality of the Lancer. I have never seen plastics of such horrid quality on the insides of any of my friends Lancers (all 2000 or 2001 vintage). Even the power window controls, power mirror switches, arm rest....they reap of cheap plastic compared to the earlier Lancers. Whats more, the panel gaps were NOT AT ALL EVEN! This is the first time I have closely inspected recent Lancers and you can just tell that the good ol' Amby guys are at it again. The front of the car has the most ugly foglights I have ever seen on an Indian vehicle. This car costs Rs. 10,11,088=00 on road. Thats mighty expensive for a 6 year old design and takes it bang into Corolla,Optra and Octavia territory. The only USP of the Lancer INVEX is the autobox. Frankly I think the only reason that HM did not launch a manual version of this car is that it would be maybe Rs.50,000=00 cheaper. Would you pay 9,61,000=00 for a Lancer without alloy wheels in 2004? My guess is no. Its a failure...I dont foresee too many Lancer 1.8's selling GTO
	() Thanks

25th February 2004, 16:49	#3
Dippy Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Mumbai, India Posts: 7,561 Thanked: 2,470 Times	Hey GTO So you finally drove it. Yeah my points exact like i mentioned before. Plastics all over , not even a CD player in a 10 lakh plus car and that sucks. Fun to drive like you said though. And oh yes if there are a few buyers I'm sure couple of yearts down the line a pre owned one for a low price may be a temptation. Cheers
	() Thanks

25th February 2004, 21:57	#4
Revvmaster Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Bombay Posts: 1,190 Thanked: 95 Times	Hey guys I myself got to drive the Invex today at Fortpoint. Here's how it went. 4:45 Pm i was in at Fortpoint. 4:50 was in the car. The salesman first took me till the entry point of Bandra-Worli sealink road and showed me how the tiptronic works (geesh wudnt wanna mess with the gearbox first up, wud u). After the customary round up of understanding the car. I got into the driver's seat and off we went. Let me tell you, i completely agree with GTO on the quality of the car. Its got worse. What's worse is not its build strength, but its finish. I could see some chipped off plastics on the dashboard already, the kind u only see on cars that are 3-4 years old. Besides that the car seemed quite ok. Once i started moving in auto i realised the torque that this car has. All of a sudden, driving a lancer became so effortless. Then when i turned around at Bandra and headed for the highway, i ripped her. Reaching 100-120 in no time with the sequential i realised a few things. The gear ratios are pretty much spot on, you can shift early and save fuel or shift later and enjoy the exhaust note. The steering is fluid, a small tug and it pulls along, pretty precise. Somehow though, i felt it lacked some feel (or maybe my matiz filters me with so much feel that i am sounding old... ) The ride and handling is good, but those 13 inchers do give some understeer as i pulled along at the meenatai thackeray bridge which is one of my old play-fields to test cars. My conclusions from the test are this: HM, stop thinking Indians are fools. Give em a manual, 14 inchers (atleast), decent build quality, some more spec and a good price. Frankly i wudnt be surprised then if HM sells 1500 lancers a month against 300-400 odd nowadays. *The 1.8 has potential, it just needs some car-lovers to tinker around with it... THATS ALL.
	() Thanks

25th February 2004, 22:06	#5
GTO Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Bombay Posts: 70,546 Thanked: 300,779 Times View My Garage	Boy, me Revvmaster and Dippy have committed an automotive crime. Remember how the cars speedo has been disconnected and he admitted that he is going to sell this car to an unknowing customer? If only the poor chap whos buying it knew how well team-bhp has performed the "running-in" procedures of his car!! GTO P.S. Revv I know the chipped plastic you are talking about...to the right of the driver near the a/c louvre, correct?
	() Thanks

25th February 2004, 22:24	#6
Revvmaster Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Bombay Posts: 1,190 Thanked: 95 Times	HEHEHEHE GTO, u caught me there on the running-in procedure and the disconnected cable. Reminds me of the autobiography by Lee Iacocca where they had to recall cars cuz they were showroom pieces. BTW the chipped part u pointed out was exactly the same place i saw. Frankly, HM cud do away with that fake-wood on the steering and add some silver to the dashboard. Atleast it'll make the car sporty.
	() Thanks

26th February 2004, 01:56	#7
Dippy Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Mumbai, India Posts: 7,561 Thanked: 2,470 Times	Yea Revv They should stop advertising the cosmetic stuff and give good equipment at an attractive price. I guess if they had gone the Baleno way by offering the 1.5 at say around 6.5 to 6.75 max for the top of the range model and priced the 1.9 at say around 9 lakhs on road Mumbai . I feel they would have got some success. But no.. HM will never learn I had just casually asked the sales guy why the speedo was off poor chap just told me that ..." well we will eventually sell this car" He forgot that the so called new car doesnt have a run in period any more , Ripped by team- bhp in its initaial kilometers of its life . Hey that gives me an idea" Why dont we make a " RIPPED BY TEAM-BHP" sticker and put it on the rear glass of every car we test and rip.. Ain t that cool Cheers
	() Thanks

26th February 2004, 10:48	#8
Shan2nu Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Hubli - Karnata Posts: 5,533 Thanked: 125 Times View My Garage	Lets keep a close watch on this car and see which "lucky" guy gets to own it. Man....i tell you, this car is gonna be a real "Rip Off".............hahaha........ Regards... Shan2nu
	() Thanks

1st April 2004, 21:09	#9
snoopy41 Posts: n/a	well so it looks like weve all been probably driving the same white example,,at worli sea face when i asked the salesman why there were no alloys,,he said ,,Sir : our roads r not suited for alloy wheels,so we provide it as option for customers who want it
	() Thanks

1st April 2004, 21:19	#10
Dippy Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Mumbai, India Posts: 7,561 Thanked: 2,470 Times	Hahahaha now thats a joke he didnt tell you who drove the car before.. You should have told him ure part of the same gang snoops Cheers
	() Thanks

12th May 2006, 05:01	#12
devarshi84 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Ahmedabad - Tor Posts: 4,024 Thanked: 211 Times View My Garage	Hey newbie. Welcome to the forums but read properly. He has said atleast 150km/hr if not more. Lancer 1.8 makes an excellent choice against the cvt and the vtec. The only downside looks to be the the dated interiors and ol exteriors. Some prominent people here have talked about detrtiorated quality in plastics and panel gaps but I am yet to come by a similar model. I have driven the invecs thrice and I was pretty impressed by the cars interior quality. the last one( aug 2005) did have minor panel gaps visible. but A member Rishi Kapoor has reported otherwise with high praises.
	() Thanks