We r considering buying a used 2002 Mitsuibishi Lancer for our daughter & are concerned with the pick-up the car has with such a small engine. Any comments? Of course safety is our #1 concern with a 17 yr.old. Overall the Lancer gets a good safety rating but I'm worried about the pick-up abilities when merging in certain traffic patterns. we're going to test drive it today.
Thanks, Jigsaw

 

yeah it pulls real nice in 2nd and 3rd when you are at about 5k/rpm and the sound coming from the injen intake is... oh wait this is your 17 year old daughter we are talking about here.. my fault, allow me to start over.

If you are plannign on buying her the automatic lancer i haven't a clue. if she knows how to drive stick (and even if she doesn't) the 5-speed lancer is the perfect car for her. the pick up is astonishingly strong for its 103hp rating. she should have no problems if let's say merging into traffic on the Hwy and she needs to pull a little more speed to keep up with the flow. again, i can only speak for the 5-speed, cuz i would never touch an auto. anyone with an auto care to tag me out and take over? anyone?

 

First off, I drive an automatic and can say that I love it. Pick up has never been a problem with me even merging into the heavy traffic of Boston, MA. For a 120 hp 4 banger.....this car really goes. Im 16, so I know how (most) teenagers drive. Most of them nail the gas anyway so no matter what car you get they should have good pickup.

It seems to me that the lancer has a good safety rating. I believe it rated number 1 or 2 in Consumer Reports, even over the volvo s60. The car rides beautiful. You cant beat the quality of the car for under 17,000.

If you need more info feel free to email me at commisioner49@attbi.com

 

thanks ez, unfortunately the one we're looking at is an automatic. I'm not so sure if I want her driving a stick, she doesn't need any more distractions then the ones a typical teenager has.

 

thanks for the info OZ. We're going to go for a test drive today & hopefully make a purchase

 

It's pretty damn decent. I also don't know about auto, but there's a goodly amount of low end torque for a NA 2.0l4. I kinda wish I'd had a car like this as my first, but then I don't think I'd appreciate it as much. besides that, Mad Narg (My previous and first car) kicked ***.

I know it's not like I have any say, but I'd recommend a 5spd if she's capable of driving it. The Lancer's transmission is really kind (and oh-so forgiving) and I seriously think it'll pack a wee bit more oomph. At any rate...wanna adopt me and buy me a car too? I've only had two previous owners (simultaneously), no major accidents or health conditions, I don't take up much space, and I'm pretty quiet.

 

Wouldnt a stick help her concentrate more on driving becuase she needs to shift? And i am a teenager and we do have lots of distractions ^ ^. But anywho the car has great pick up so you shouldnt worry about merging.

 

daughter? 17? 2002?

damn i'm jealous

 

i got that car for my 16th b-day i'm a guy tho

 

Damn it all, I need richer parents . Regardless, the Lancer is no sports car but as a first car would be very nice (my first "car" was freakin' Plymouth Voyager). Excellent room and all the amenities a young lady might want (AC, CD player, power everything). As for power, as mentioned, it's no race car but merging into traffic is no problem (but I have a 5-spd ). The high torque figure for this car is a godsend considering it's heft but it gets it going off the line a bit quicker.

 

THe Oz is not my first car. The automatic was not my first choice. But for a first time driver the automatic lancer is just fine. The pick up is relatively good despite the size of the engine. Merging is no big deal its pretty easy. As most people said the amount of torque this lil engine can push out is amazin. jus tell your daughter not to be psycho behind the wheel kinda what i did to my first car. now look what happend totalled and got a new lancer.

 

Well it's not the size per se of the engine that's the problem, it's the tuning of said engine. At 2.0L the Lancer engine is bigger than the 160 HP 1.6L Civic Si, but hey, we still get more torque due to (annoyingly so) longer rods and higher displacement.

 

i got my lancer as my first car when i was 15

my dad only has his huge truck to drive so he pretty much bought me the lancer because he didnt want me driving his precious truck. it's an automatic too.. i really wanted a stick! oh well. its fun to drive