2000 Mitsubishi Lancer GLi review from Australia and New Zealand

I would like to say that I'm very pleased with my car at the moment, although there is some rust in the front of the car. The rust is on the East West support strut near the front toe point (under the bumper), usually this is where one bumps the car when driving out of steep drive ways.

Other than this I'm very pleased.

I’m a very tall person, and the Driver’s seat just doesn’t go back far enough. I’ve noticed since owning this car, that my right hip, is starting to hurt because I’m force to sit closer to the driver’s wheel then I would normally like too.

Performance. Although the fuel tank is a 50 litre one, when the Fuel gauge gets to E (for empty) It will only accept another 30 Litres (plus or minus) to make it full again. I’ve been told that it is fitted with fuel light which tells you there is only 10 litres left, I have never seen this and I wouldn’t want to let my car run on the empty tank.

Usually because I’m a lead footed, I get around 8 litres per 100km. Add to this its an Automatic and I suppose its OK. Between fill ups I get around 350 Km on 24 litres. The number I saw on the Mitsubishi website are COMPLETELY wrong for me, I have never been able to achieve 6.5 litres on a high way drive. Neighbours of ours, Own the exacted same model and everything, and they have told me, they were able to drive 1000Km between Sydney and Melbourne (Australia) with no attempt to save fuel. When they went to fill up again in Melbourne, It would only take around 45 litre of fuel, making it around 5 Litres per 100 Km.

Servicing. I’ve always kept this car in GREAT working order. It has a scheduled service every 15000 Km (or every May of each year) and most things are checked or replaced. The only thing I don’t like about the service is that the Automatic Transitions Fluid is not replaced each service as a matter of course. Instead this is a requested extra service, making me pay more money on top of the basic charge.  Although I believe everything in the car should be replace more frequently then it says in the servicing book, when I ask the people at Mitsubishi “Can you change all the engine fluids and filters? (eg. Power Steering fluid, Automatic Transmission fluid, Engine oil, Brake fluid, Air fliter, Fuel filter and Oil filters.)” the immediate response is “why” and my natural inclination is, “because it is MY car”

Handling. I love this car’s handling. The power steering just makes a world of difference. To turn into a street that is 90 degrees from the car, simply turn the wheel ¼ of a full turn. When Traveling at 130 Km/H as one does here is Australia, You can Hardly hear the engine reminding you its there. It has no real road noise, You cant hear the tires, engine or transmission beating away. Wind noise is something that must be tackled. I’m not sure what it might be, but traveling at the mentioned speeds, I can hear a quiet weaseling noises coming from the driver’s door just near the Radio antenna. I think it could be the door seals catching the air or something similar. What I’m really driving at, is that you can still have that conversion with you pet Mouse if you wished because you would still be able to hear his quiet squeaks.

Climate Control. The people at Mitsubishi (Japan) have really worked this one out. The Climate controls are well set out even when you can’t look at them because you should be driving, you should be able to figure what you’re pressing. First, where the air comes out. This is something that I don’t usually change on my travels and so logically, it is placed further away from the driver on the passenger’s side. The fan is conveniently in the centre. Next to that, the air conditioning and rear window demist switches. These are something that I don’t usually change, once I set the fan speed to one it stays there, meanwhile the air conditioning is always on no matter the out side temperature. The most used control, the temperature dial is right there, right next to the steering wheel which is very handy for me. Plus below all of these is the recycle and fresh air slider, with me, it stays on Recycle.

Sound. When I brought this car, EVERYTHING was stock. Nothing had been changed or been upgraded for anything aftermarket and this includes the sound system. It has a single in dash Clarion CD player with 45 Watts per speaker. There are four speakers. Which I’m quiet fond of, and which makes some of my friends very envious. Simple to use controls, like big round button for volume and a longer push button for track up and down. Simple really when you are trying to find it when driving.

Mitsubishi genuine parts (after sales). Seeing as I’ve brought this car stock and it had nothing added to it, I found when I wanted to put Mitsubishi driving lights on the car, they were $500 for the pair and that’s not including the switch that is needed, the relays or any extra wiring. I also had this trouble when I wanted a Spoiler, Mitsubishi said that it would be $700 Unpainted and not fitted. Well I fixed them; I went down to the local wreckers and brought the lights and spoiler for only $200. Although I did get a friend to fit and paint the spoiler for $50.