1996 Mitsubishi Lancer GLXI CE coupe 16 valves review from Australia and New Zealand

This is a fair reliable car; it has stuck through with my family from the beginning till now.

I only started driving it when I got my provisional license in year 2001.

But it did have a few electrical problems in late 2001, which resulted in the shorting of the Electronic Processing Unit. It turned out to be a lose wire scraping within the engine bay.

It freaked me out, as me and my friend were testing its gears, suddenly the rev meter clocked.

It appeared that one of the wires in the engine bay was apparently lose and was messing up the electrical flow.

Total Fixing cost: $250AUD.

Currently while driving the lancer, I do hear a banging noise, when ever the auto transmission shifts a gear down.

I' am not too sure what it is, maybe it's the gear box; maybe something lose in the engine bay because I do seriously take the car to its handling limits.

Also the hand break suffers most if you use it often in your driving abilities.

Basically this is a real neat car to drive; I would recommend this to be any teenager's first car.

Lancers looks nasty when they are modified, especially I saw this one lancer within Sydney's western suburbs.

It had a neat European dragon air brushed all over the lancer's body, with its twin exhausts and extremely sharp 17 inch wheels.

It is a 1.8 Auto sports coupe, which means it dose have a fair bit of power, it holds general 92kw engine power stock.

So imagine the simple gain you will get if you fitted in a simple sports air filter, exhaust, replace the extractors & have a decent air intake system weather it would be air intakes upon the bonnet or an air intake trumpet system.

It's extractors do tend to look seriously rusty, but it's only looks and still will hold for years to come.

It is comfortable for the driver and passenger and is reasonable to fit 5 people, as it is a 2 door car.

This car is beautiful on its handling; I am so impressed as I did drive a few of my friends cars', which were Honda Integra, Mazda 121 and Suzuki GTI swift.

I can't stress how sweet the lancer's handling is, especially in the wet.

But when you drive this baby long enough, you will know when it will slide.

It's sharp maneuvers like the 180 and 360 degree turns are impressive, but I wouldn't recommend hand break corner turns for amateurs as I did have 2 minor accidents while attempting to do this within 2 mini streets.

It can make the turn easy, but recovering from it is tricky.

Also be sure if you do decide to turbo this baby, you will give WRX's run for its money.

Providing that you are willing to spend less than 10 grand in modifications including replacing the gear box.

If you really want to test it's ability, hire a race track.

I give it thumbs up.

Please don't be a full maniac with this car, its engine bay looks really not permanent for maniac conditions, as wires will get lose.

It is affordable, you can get a decent second hand Lancer GLXI, from $12,000AUD to $17,000AUD, reasonable price if your purchasing in year 2002.

And by the way, never be afraid to use the brakes, just don't use them too hard in the wet, you will regret it as it is a front wheel drive.

Yasha J.F.