[madan80]

I took the Cedia for a test drive yesterday. Gwash - i fell in love. The solid feel, the commanding view and the way the engine purrs to life, there was no two ways- i had to get my hands on this car.,
I took it for a short drive - bout 2 kms, checking on bad roads and the pickup. i was able to go at extremely low speeds in the 3rd gear - pretty impressive. the dead pedal- very useful. Im 6'3 and entry and exit from this car was so very comfortable. I could also drive with ease. No need to splay my feet in order to make way for the steering so thats a great point.

Sigh - i found my next car... but its outa my reach! :(

[razor4077]

Test vehicle: Mitsubishi Cedia Sport
Testers: The usual suspects... shuvc, vrooooooom and me.
Test track: Salt Lake Sector V and Rajarhat expressway

First off, I must commend the HM dealer (Austin Distributors) who were very proactive in organizing this TD. They called me up a couple of times and set up the time for today afternoon.
The car was a brand new shiny black Cedia Sport.

Exterior Looks: Car looks mean and purposeful from the front, especially with the blackened headlamps of the Sport version. Skirts and spoiler add to the effect, which is pretty good overall. I am not too fond of the rear though, and it looks like it's kinda "hanging" a bit too low in the back. The small rear lamp clusters and low number plate positioning do not help either. The profile is nice except for the rear.

Interiors: I really like the interiors of the Sport. The Cedia Spirit's wood + beige interiors are not that good... the dark dashboard with carbon fibre and leather trim of this version looks really nice. Full leather upholstery, with leather wrapped steering & gear lever gives the insides a plush yet sporty feel. I am not a big fan of the dual toned steering cover though (should have been all black, not black+white).

Equipment: Comes pretty loaded for a car of this price. ABS, EBD, dual airbags, disc brakes on all wheels, Blaupunkt HU etc. Stock ICE is not that bad, though will not satisfy audio enthusiasts. All in all, very good VFM.

Driving Experience:
The roads were a little crowded at the start, so we got a chance to test the behaviour in bumper to bumper traffic. Drives very smooth at low speeds, and you can shift to a higher gear and coast along without any knocking. We were doing around 30 in 4th gear comfortably (cannot be sure since the speedo was as usual disconnected ).
Rides over potholes and rough patches very smoothly at all speeds. Very comfortable car.
A/C seemed effective enough, although this is January and we couldn't test it under harsh conditions.

Once we hit some clearer roads, we stepped on the gas. It's a 2 litre engine that puts out around 117 BHP. The power delivery was smooth and refined, and low end torque seemed pretty good. However, I felt that it didn't perform like a 2 Litre powerplant should. Salesman told me that it was detuned to give better fuel economy, a must for the Indian market. Maybe an ECU remap or a piggyback can help
Anyway, the car is powerful. Again, cannot say what speeds we were doing given the disconnected speedo, but the acceleration was pretty darn nice. It's not as crazy as a Palio 1.6 or a Magnum, but gets the job done in a quiet, refined manner.
Gear shift was nice, but not as smooth as the Lancer's (but better than many others). I liked the driving position, but there is no height adjustment for the driver's seat!!
Handling was good without being spectacular. Somehow, the car lacked a "connect"... it did what was asked of it, without really being a part of you. For example, in the corners or while changing direction sharply, the steering felt very neutral with minimal feedback. And that's where I would rate a Lancer or a Fiesta higher. But all in all, handling was good... and we took some corners at high speeds without managing to upset the car much.

Fuel economy: Was told it gives around 10 KPL on an average in the city with A/C. Expect about 1-2 KPL less with spirited driving. So this is not for the economy minded.

Price: OTR around 9.6 for Cedia Sport in Calcutta, but with discounts it comes to around 9.2. Spirit costs about 60k less.

Conclusion:
This is a great VFM car. You get great equipment and comfort with pretty good performance and handling. HM/Mitsubishi's Achilles heel is the after sales service, but I was assured that they have gotten their act together now. Spares as also readily available and almost 50% cheaper than the old Lancer's.
So it's a great buy for someone who is looking for a comfortable cruiser which can get down and dirty when the need arises. I am a big Mitsubishi fan, but I would not buy a Cedia for the simple reason that has a very neutral feel to it and is not as powerful as it could have been. Maybe if Mitsubishi launched an actual Sports version (read: MIVEC!).......

[BUSA]

Nice report Razor, so which car you finally planning to go for?

P.S Your excel sheet is still not posted