Well Im 26, married with a 2&1/2 yr old. The car seat fits fine in the middle, even has the anchor hooks up above, and below. Which the ones below can be used to anchor your 5pt harness to.

As far as road trips, we took a trip to the beach this summer, about a 2hr drive, it was fine, actually the best mpg I ever got, would of yes, loved to have the cruise control for the freeway driving, but its not that bad. I would of rather had CC then the AC.

And I personally like the feel of the seats, my back didn't hurt at all.

O yeah and about getting grociers, yah the trunk space is nice, $200 in groceries will fit in there. :-)

My car is not stock, but I think its still practical though.

Anyway, it depends on what your looking for, its a SPORTS car, not a luxury car, to be honest I was a little dissapointed when I saw the inside for the first time, almost changed my mind on getting this car after some of the other cars I test drove (BMW,Lexus,Audi) but I'v wanted this car for a long time, and now im glad I bought it! Its an EVO

Now only if they would sell me the McLaren for the same price

 

while the EVO is not my daily driver by selection, it ends up being the daily driver out of choice. i walk out my front door and my choice is either a 2003 evolution or a 96 jeep cherokee that leaks oil....hmmm tough decision, so the jeeps sits home most of the time. i even went camping once and choice the EVO over the jeep... thats a sickness

 

Yes there is a cargo net available for the trunk. I bought mine from mitsubishiparts.com for $22.80. You can't put a whole lot of stuff in it but it will fit a few bags of groceries and keep them from spilling all over the place.

Even the CF wing is practical: at outdoors events (meets, auto-x, picnics) you can eat off it:



Now I just gotta get me a RalliArt embroidered tablecloth...

 

I agree w/many of the members that this car needs a cruise control badly! As in luggage I fit a monitor, printer, and computer "just went shopping,"and few groceries... it didn't fit more than that. Recaros are comfortable and fits 4 people,and the speakers are nice "while the sti it doesn't come with it." Speed is outrageously quick, in a matter of few seconds I am going 60.

 

The Evo is (IMHO) a more practical car. My previous car was a 2000 Celica GTS, while a fun car, it really coun't carry more then 2 people comfortably. It was also low to the ground, so getting in and out was a pain sometimes.

Basically it comes down to this:
What are you looking for?
What is more important to you?

Pros:

- seats 4 people comfortably (with a decent amount of room I might add), 5 if needed.

- High Performance car. This is a street legal RACE CAR! It may be a toned down version of thier rally car, but it's really not toned down that much

- It may be a bit wider then a standard lancer, but it's a lancer, AKA: compact car. It's easy to park. Turning radius is decent (my old Celica was better) And you have trunk space.

Cons:
- Front seats are a bit narrow

- Suspension is stiff. Compaired to your Eclispse this will feel rock hard.

- Comfort is subjectable. I think the seats are comfortable, but I like my seats a bit stiffer. The bmw's however, has some really comfortable sets though.

- Gas milage is questionable. I average 20mpg (city/hwy) on 91 crap gas (gotta love CA! )

- Let's all say this again: No cruise control! It's really not geared for long highway driving. I'm not saying you cant, but that's not what this car is designed to do.


Basically if you are looking for a nice highway cruiser and plan on doing alot of long distance driving, this probably is not the car for you (IMHO).

However if your driving is local or under 2hrs, and you like to have some 'spritied' moments then this is your car.

If gas milage and comfort is your concern, may i suggest the standerd lancer, Honda civic coupe, or Toyota Corrolla (all are 30+mpg and resonably comfortable).

To reinterate, what is most important to you in your soon-to-be new car?

LHB

 

I dunno, I think that the Toyota Prius hybrid is kewl. Though I'm not crazy about the look...

 

AAAHHH!!! That just makes me cringe!! Please don't hurt the wing... it never did anything to you...

 

have you seen ALL the wreck threads??? the WING ALWAYS SURVIVES!!!

 

yeah really I have yet to see a broken wing. I say eat away on it!!!

 

At approx 5 times the strength of steel (Weight for weight) I wouldn't worry about sticking a burgar on the wing =)

My staff decided it would be hysterical to pile up beer cans on whats known as the "company picnic table" at our last bash.

Humph.

 

Keep in mind that at speed, the wing *supposedly* applies a lot of downforce to the rear end of the car, so it must be strong enough to resist that force. At rest there is no load on it and the weight of a few burgers and cans of soda--however unevenly distributed--represents a significantly lesser force.

Anyway that's the technical explanation.

The real reason I took to eating off the wing was that there wasn't any other nearly-level surface around, and I wouldn't want to scratch the car's paint finish. Granted the wing can scratch too--which is why I need that RalliArt tablecloth.

 

Oh great..

Let's "tailgate" on the Evo wing..

Brat anyone??!