Yeah, I wish Mitsubishi offered it on the new Lancer.

You know, before I started this thread, I didn't think it was that clean, but it has gotten a lot of complements. I probably just focus on the dirt that only I would notice. It has gotten a lot cleaner though since I changed the valve cover gasket. And it probably helps that I live somewhere where it doesn't snow.

I have to give credit for that awesome shot, and all of the pictures really, to my fiance. She's a better photographer, and my hands where too covered with brake dust and paint overspray at the time to even touch a camera.

 

I can't believe it's already been a year since we shot these pics. The look of the car hasn't changed much. It had a Hope sticker on the back window during the last couple months before the election. I bought and already lost two new Hot Import Night Stickers to replace the old two that are still on the car. I've been thinking about maybe just removing the old ones since the design is beginning to look a little dated. I'm not sure what to put there, or if I should just leave it blank. I was also thinking about removing my evom stickers and just putting one on the bottom of the back window.

At this point I kind of feel like a traitor in waiting. I love my car, but I really like the extra 40 horses that my girlfriend's VW has. I wanted an RA but now they seem as though they are being priced out of reach. I actually find myself considering the new Subbie/Toyota coupe that's in development or maybe the Genesis coupe. I even considered an old S13. I guess I could go used Evo, but I've just always wanted to buy a car that's only been driven by me and comes without paint damage.

As a long-term review, I can say there isn't much that I can complain about with this car. The handling is awesome, it looks nice and you can drive it at full wick without breaking the law (since it's low on power). I will say that I am getting tired of the auto tranny. Althought the solid motor mounts do their job as intended, the vibration in the steering gets on my nerves some days. This car could really be great with forty or fifty more horsepower and a manual trans. With 115,000 miles on it though, and lots of potentially cool rides in development, it's hard to justify the expense.

I'm not gonna be a jerk and say that the Lancer sucks, I've learned a lot from it, and will continue to do so since I probably won't have payment money for another year or so. I drive it every day and it still starts up every morning. I'm still wanting to take it out on the track and see what it can do, it's just a matter of finding an HPDE event and the cash. Well, I'm done ranting for now...

 

Yeah i agree dude... Most of us that own lancers eventually feel this way about the car.. It's great for what it is but does not have enough power and is not easy very easy to gain power without turbo and stuff... I feel the same way about my car too.. I put it on craigslist but no one has called yet (damn economy)....Well good luck with what ever you plan on doing...

 

^ yeah i think were all on the same page haha

 

nice

get a lip kit though

 

Just turbo it (and get it working right ) I have like 145,000 miles and I'm recently boosted, auto too btw.

 

clean ride it looks great

 

i love you car. i went more custom parts then the bolts on.. but turbo is the way to go! (+40hp easy, even at only a 4-5psi) do the it cheap route and get it all done custom!!!!

 

Yeah, it could be easy to just turbo it but this is my daily driver, so it needs to stay reliable and I'm not an engineer. Plus, when you factor in that cars have come a very very long way in just the past five years, I could still be missing out on a lot of things... like comfortable seats. When you add together the cost of turbo (a thousand at least, and that's if I could diy it), better seats (three to four thousand), a transmission that works the way that it should (manually or at least semi-manually), and a better stereo, I might as well just wait a couple more years and trade up to something that has all that to begin with, along with probably having a platform with more potential.

It's weird how when you approach thirty, things like seats and ride comfort start to become more important than they used to. I'm still all about performance first and foremost though. I just don't want to miss out on the other stuff.

 

Really, I think it's the seats and the solid motor mounts. Both are doing what they where made to do but don't bode well in concert with each other. The seats: made to sit on and be... well, economical (cheap). The solid motor mounts would be awesome if this wheren't my daily driver. They do their job well of transmitting the power more directly but in stop and go traffic... every day... for several years.

 

Cheap seat/solid engine mount discomfort problem fixed, well sort of... My fiancee and I are commuting together in her white MkV Rabbit (lots of torque - 2.5L 5 cylinder) and the Lancer rests in the garage. The only thing I have to worry about now is how I'm gonna afford a timing belt change after I get married this January. It's sitting just above 120,000 miles, so it mostly just sits, outside of the occasional trip to the store. I'm thinking in the down time I might get around to detailing it to an even cleaner level than it was two years ago when I took the pics on the first page.

 

Sadly I'm going to have to sell the Lancer soon, and not for something more fun, but to help get rid of some credit debt. I'm looking for stock engine mounts, if anyone has stock ones in good shape and wants to trade for RRM solid one's, pm me. Hopefully with those back to stock, and maybe if I can figure out the AC problem (hisses and blows hot) maybe I can get $4K. I'll probably still be on the forums from time to time, mostly in the off topic area's Winter 09/Summer 10 Forza league. Cheers to Road Race, Calvin of SpeedElement, and everyone on the forum who's helped with this car throughout the years. I really didn't want to say goodbye to this car so soon, and especially not in this way, but that's how life goes sometimes. Maybe if I get my finances in order, I'll be able to get into an FT86 in a few years, or an STi, or maybe even a used Evo.

Cheers

 

Sorry to hear that. That's a clean-looking car. But wouldn't it be cheaper to keep the car than get another one with unknown history? Just my opinion. Come back in a an EVO bro, you'll love it. =D Take care!

 

I'll still have another car, my wife's 07 VW Rabbit. It handles pretty well for a stock car and although not being a manual, it's at least got tiptronic. It could be worse. I could have no car, or something American. It's just that I really enjoyed the Teins and the wider tires on the Lancer. It's also more willing to let me rev it out than the Rabbit is. It's taken me a long time to get the Lancer to the level of grip and go-kartiness. I might return to Mitsubishis someday, with a X. Mitsubishi's really got to improve their dealership network down here first. I don't go to the dealership very often with the VW, but it's good to have it there when you need it if there's a part I can't find at a local shop, or fluids. We finally just got one locally for the first time in a couple of years. Also, as much as I've drooled over the Evo IX, I probably wouldn't buy one since I've lived with the cheap Lancer interior for the past seven years, and would really like something better, especially since I've been spoiled in the VW. That's why I'd probably go with the X, if I can ever afford one. Either that or a new STI. I'm open minded.

 

Update: I got everything fixed yesterday: AC recharged, timing belt changed (plus water pump, since they were in there), rear brakes adjusted, brake fluid changed. Only thing left before she's ready to sell is to get some stock engine mounts to revert those back to stock. I can sell those, since there isn't anything wrong with them. It was really nice to drive the old car in comfort for the first time in about a year. I can kind of see where the car's strengths and weaknesses are after having to not drive it for a while. The engine response is better than a drive by wire car, and the automatic trans isn't any slower than other auto trans. In fact, the Lancer goes from Drive to Reverse or Reverse to Drive much quicker than our nearly new VW Rabbit. It's simply lacking in power. It makes a satisfying sound when you push the "go" pedal, but there's not a whole lot of power there. Not that I ever thought there was, but it's more pronounced when you've been driving around with 30 more horsepower and 50 more lb/ft of torque. I took a pretty quick left hand turn to make it through a light and it still out corners most FWD's out there. I built her for handling and that's still what really sets this car apart from the others. It was kind of an unexpected birthday present to enjoy my own car for once (turned 30 yesterday).