2002 Mitsubishi Lancer OZ Rally Edition review from North America

First off, I bought the car with VERY high mileage on it (96k).. so it was out of warranty in three months.

The timing belt went out in traffic a year ago. Amazingly, no damage!

Check engine light was stuck on (most likely from the cold air intake).

Slight electrical issues with the gauge lighting. (random flickers) Mitsubishi's are known for having minor electric issues (gauges, lights for your cig lighter, A/C, etc.)

Headlights could be brighter.

For the price I paid, the mileage, and the fact that I am hard on cars, this car was absolutely terrific!

The timing belt going out was due to the dealer stating it had been replaced when it had not, and myself putting another 30k miles on it.

Amazingly the engine took NO DAMAGE when this belt went out in traffic.

At first I was disappointed in the horsepower. I added a cold air intake, Slotted cross-drilled brake rotors, slight exhaust (not any crazy dooky pipes.. just something a little bigger), performance plugs, performance wires (kind of a joke.. only 2 wires.. other 2 are coil packs), eventually bumping the horsepower to about 142, and improving the handling greatly.

Sadly, last week a deer ended her life :-( I was t-boned by a deer, then I t-boned a tree.

I was going slow enough (under 35mph) that the airbags did not deploy, but the safety features that where supposed to work DID. This car saved my life without a doubt. The snappy handling, excellent crumple zones, and upgraded suspension (only on the OZ edition I believe) kept me from going off of a mountain.

I would recommend this car to anyone!

Once again, I bought it with nearly 100k miles on it, and put over 60k on it in less than 3 years! I maxed the top end NUMEROUS times, even skipped a couple of oil changes and she just kept running!

Very safe car, just remember, it does NOT have ABS. so.. if you are about to be in an accident, you have to act accordingly. If you just stomp the brake, a sliding you will go. It's a rally edition, when the deer hit me, I downshifted, popped the clutch, counter steered, tapped e-brake, etc. And she performed to the best of her ability with the left rim being destroyed by the deer all that time, wet roads with street (not all-terrain) tires.

5 stars and an A+ to this car!