1998 Mitsubishi Magna Advance review from Australia and New Zealand

At 41924 kilometres, I required a new air conditioner compressor belt, due to uneven wear. This was not covered by the warranty. It cost me $42.00.

At 67553 kilometres, I had a new air conditioner compressor fitted due to a major clunk noise when the compressor engaged (both new & old compressors were genuine Mitsubishi parts). This was also fixed under warranty.

At 71366 kilometres, I needed a new steering column, due to a bushing prematurely wearing, causing the steering to clunk when lock was applied. This was fixed under warranty.

At 71706 kilometres, I had a flywheel failure - the whole flywheel had developed a huge crack through due to metal fatigue. This problem caused the clutch to self disintegrate upon engaging, necessitating a new clutch. This was replaced under warranty.

This is one family car that is a formidable contender in the marketplace.

It is supremely refined & smooth, has credible levels of build quality, adequate interior space, very good performance whilst delivering good fuel economy, & offering a compliant ride with excellent, predictable handling biased towards mild understeer.

The ABS brakes work well on asphalt roads as well as gravel, without exhibiting brake fade whilst maintaining full steering control & unwavering stability.

The front seats are very comfortable & supportive for hours on end, & have an excellent range of adjustments to find that perfect driving position.

The body is very rigid, the gearshift quality acceptably pleasant, & the ergonomics are very dependent on setting the correct driving position, which means they are extremely good.

In the 3 litre manual guise, I have had this vehicle from standstill to a true 100 km/h in 7.59 seconds. This is utilised by lift-throttle upshifts, & allowing for speedometer inaccuracy, which I have measured to 2km/h of optimism, therefore I have measured the performance to an indicated 102km/h.

I have measured the electronically limited top speed to be 213km/h (indicating 215km/h) in the Northern Territory.

The fuel consumption has hovered between a low of 6.9 litres/100km to a high of 11.3 litres/100km in general driving. At top speed, the fuel consumption increases to a high of 18-19litres/100km.