Need a new car before the year ends. Owning a 2003 mistu lancer and a DSM I’d prefer a lancer with some spark for my next purchase but I’m afraid of a few things.

1) Insurance cost: I paid $390 a month when I first got my lancer in 2004, I was 19 so thing s have changed but I refuse to pay a high BS insurance like before. I can find out my initial premium from my insurance company what I’m really curious about is how much it may go up after an accident.

2) Transmission: Any bogging or is it close to manual performance? A scenario, if I hit a hairpin turn and brake hard before apex while going from 4th down to 1st then gunning it out will the tranny play nice? Same with a chicane that has a slight bump in the payment. Will it play nice during a downshift?

Reason, I like to auto-x (I know that’s pretty much 2nd gear the whole time so doesn’t matter), track day and other auto racing events.
I know this has probably been discussed before so please direct me to that thread.

 

You might have problems selecting 1st while slowing down quickly. However, one could make a solid argument that you should never select 1st while the car is in motion. 1st is a SUPER low gear, and 2nd will be low enough for 99% of the turns you'll encounter while the car is in motion. In general, the transmission WILL do what you tell it. The only time it won't is when it sees you trying to select a gear that will result in bouncing the rev limiter (i.e. it tells you to **** off when you're being an *** hat).

 

This was the response I was looking for, thanks.
I was mainly just curious if someone was going to tell me that the trannies comp would say “not today” during a downshift that a manual could make with no problems. I’m ok with mechanical limitations but can’t deal with computers intervening negatively.
I was told by someone who races a ralliart that you should get a tranny cooler. Any experience with this?

 

and from my experience - leave it sport/auto - it will keep the revs up and let you concentrate on your turning/brake/accel points (and shift faster than you could. I could not get the car to upset the rear if left it to do its own gear changes)

 

I can only speak from 10 years of lapping another car, and 3 years of lapping on medium-sized proper tracks (ie not auto-x) in two different model years of RAs with a number of upgrades, but here is what I like to use:

Dry Track
. ASC: Off
. ACD: Tarmac
. SST: Sport/manual mode
(I find sport mode tends not to downshift as quickly as I would prefer, leaving me in one gear higher than I want in tight corners)

Rainy Track
. ASC: Off (depending on your comfort level and how wet it is, you may want to turn it on)
. ACD: Gravel
. SST in Sport/auto mode
(This frees up both hands to be on the wheel when traction is compromised, sport/auto delayed downshift & early upshifting keeps wheelspin to a minimum)

 

I forgot about the various settings you have to use. I guess I need to test drive one with a cool salesman.

I'm coming from a car with no abs, which I actually prefer and got pretty good at threshold braking. (off topic)

Now I'll have to learn how to set-up a tranny depending on conditions lol.

 

Thanks for the veteran advice.

 

Anyone able to help out with the insurance question???

 

I autocross quite a bit, I usually run with ASC off and sport manual mode. Keeping it in auto is not a bad way to go either (keeps the RPM up for you). I left foot brake so less bogging, but like it was said earlier it's more of being able to select first and shifting back to second fast enough when you slow down too much (I found myself still in second many times), which is more of a driver problem then a car issue. The biggest downfall though is stock tires, change asap. As for insurance the best thing to do is call and get quotes because it varies so much these days. I pay about $2500 a year under my parents (a lot of speeding tickets and 2 not at fault accidents). As for getting into an accident many companies have accident forgiveness now and shrinking deductibles, so shop around, no ones going to be able to tell how much your rate will go up.

 

OP: I see you are in G'Burg - talk to King Mitsu - you happen to be right next to one of the best RA/EVO dealerships on the Best Coast

 

For insurance , shop around.. some categorize them as evo's and some as lancers.