Just to annoy the V6 Mitsu crowd:
Drove the CJ Lancer to the airport, a round trip of about 60 km.
Fuel consumption was 6.3L /100 km on the way up (2 people in car), went up to 6.5 L/ 100 Km on the way back (4 people, luggage for 2).

Yes, I could have taken the TJ Magna, but it would have chewed through twice as much petrol. Needless to say, it doesn't get used all that much at the moment.

CJ Lancer 2.0, Adelaide to Melbourne without stopping for petrol. Averaged 6.8 with 4 people and boot full of luggage.
Drive it daily to work in peak hour, and only top up the tank once every 3-4 weeks.
Love that car.

There, that should annoy the V6 Magna crowd. lol

First car I have owned where the town and country consumption seem to be the same.
The TJ by comparison does 12 around town and 8 on a long trip.
That is down to the technology improvements over 10 years I guess.

It is likely due to a combination of many factors.
Though which of the two is faster and more effortless?
There is a substantial weight difference, and aerodynamics play a role.

Also 3rd gens seem to really vary in consumption. Mine for example doesn't seem to get these low highway figures people get (it is a 5 speed if that makes a difference) but around town it seems better than the others.
Maybe the shorter 5th uses more petrol on the highway, and the 5 gears help it moving along in the city with less effort

Lancer manual 2.0L weight = 1295 Kg.
110 KW @ 6,000 rpm, 197 Nm @ 4,200 rpm.
Top speed 200 KPH.

So, lighter and less power than the Magna.

Possible reasons for better fuel consumption:
MIVEC
Fly-by-wire
Electric power steering.
Better/more efficient ECU calibration (?)

I agree its a combination of many factors. Mivec, and weight are the two obvious. The 2.0l likes to rev if you push it.

As far as overall speed performance the Magna V6 leaves it for dead, but burns off more petrol doing it.
The two cars are different to drive and are chalk and cheese in that department.

Though which of the two is faster and more effortless?
Driving in peak hour traffic where I average 29km/h over 20 kms, the Lancer wins in that department, the Magna is just held back in peak traffic, and doesn't get a chance to perform. With a Magna you spend most time with the foot on the brake.
So what, if the Magna is first to the traffic lights. The Lancer will always get you from A to B in the same time.

Crusing on a highway at 100-110 km/h there is no difference, other than the feel of a solid and bigger roomier car in the Magna, and the Magna is lot quieter on the road. Overtaking times would be better in a Magna. So the Magna is a type of car I would take on an open road.
If you want to race between them, on a race track, the Magna wins.

My Lancer is a manual and the Magna an auto. I wouldn't bother in an automatic Lancer.

Conclusion: I drive the Lancer around the city, because it performs better overall than the Magna. The amount of money I save on Petrol justifies its existence. 50% less petrol.

+1 on all those points.

Overtaking in the Magna on the open road is easy, have yet to try it in the Lancer.

(I put $50 of petrol i the Lancer, then did 100 Km. According to the central display, I have 600 km to go around town to empty the tank. I wish the Magna could give me those numbers . . . )

I wouldn't mind a CJ LX manual once my magna dies

This thrwd's only fueling my decision

To be honest though the CJ Lancer can still be bought new but it is such an old car, let's not forget it came out in 2007. Mitsubishi just have no funding and the competition has now moved ahead (to be honest I think it always was ahead anyway, Mitsubishi is now just further behind).

I wouldn't mind a CJ LX manual once my magna dies

This thrwd's only fueling my decision

Just to help you decide - no pesky cam belt that needs replacing in these!

To be honest though the CJ Lancer can still be bought new but it is such an old car, let's not forget it came out in 2007. Mitsubishi just have no funding and the competition has now moved ahead (to be honest I think it always was ahead anyway, Mitsubishi is now just further behind).

Another way of looking at it, is that a current model should be well sorted and ultra reliable.
Quite a few improvements in those years.
Lots of spares at the wreckers in future, when the need arises.

How is the competition further ahead?
Just remember, if you wanted to stay current, you would be buying new every 2 years or so. (And why would anyone driving a Magna really care about being up to date in their car?)

The new 2013 and 14 Nissan pulsars are nearly as good as the lancers, albeit slower still, they feel more roomy then the lancer and comfy, to the standards of a third gen magna

I did 450 ks in one of the pulsars when I took one from work and it still showed me as only just under half a tank with getting 16.8 kilometers per litre

When I went to fill it up, for 450 ks, all I ended up paying was $36 or like 23 litre

I'm trying to get my boss to replace our corollas in our fleet with lancer hatchbacks but he's against mitsubishi for whatever reason

To be honest though the CJ Lancer can still be bought new but it is such an old car, let's not forget it came out in 2007. Mitsubishi just have no funding and the competition has now moved ahead (to be honest I think it always was ahead anyway, Mitsubishi is now just further behind).

Mitsubishi R&D is focusing into hybrid technology.
And the lancer CJ replacement will be totally new model in production for 2016+. Joint operation with Renault.

The problem with hybrid technology is the market has not been ready for it, yet.

Back on topic. I only managed 6.8 l/100 in peak hour today in the CJ LX. ;) I'm a bit of a lead foot, I know.

Hybrid technology, it's being pushed hard. Still some questions to be answered before it makes the mainstream though:

How long do the battery packs last?
What is the cost, money wise, energy wise and ecology wise, of making the batteries and recycling them?
What is the fuel consumption and performance like of a hybrid on a long trip, like across the Nullabor, or Adelaide to Darwin?

Anyhow, I think we have annoyed the old tech Magna owners enough . . . . just one last parting shot, I can't resist . . .

I'm just waiting for a "cash for clunkers" campaign to start, so I can dump my TJ.

(Runs for cover, puts flame suit on.)

Nissan Pulsars are a heap of crap

I go to Adelaide usually once a fortnight, I try and get the lancer as even the auto gets on average 6.5ish for the 40 - 50km of driving I do

Sometimes they "upgrade" me to the Pulsar when they have no lancers available and these the best I can get is 8.5 driving it like a granny.

The reason I go to SA is to assist with my 100 year old grandmother, I take her to doctors etc so ability to get in and out of the car for her is essential, with the Lancer she has no issues at all, with the Pulsar she finds it hard to get onto the front seat as she has limited mobility. The Lancer will fit her walking frame in the boot no issues, the Pulsar is a tight fit to the point I usually put it in the back seat so as not to risk damage to the car or the walker.

Good comparison on a practical basis between the Lancer and Pulsar.

(I did notice the doors on the Lancer were bloody huge when we first got it. Wifey wanted a Pulsar but I talked her into buying the Lancer as I have no enthusiasm for maintaining anything that is not a Mitsu.)

The new Mazda 3 is fairly nice, as a competitor to the Lancer

Mitsubishi R&D is focusing into hybrid technology.
And the lancer CJ replacement will be totally new model in production for 2016+. Joint operation with Renault.

The problem with hybrid technology is the market has not been ready for it, yet.

Back on topic. I only managed 6.8 l/100 in peak hour today in the CJ LX. ;) I'm a bit of a lead foot, I know.

How comfortable are the leather seats in the LX?

I'd rather hear it first hand by an owner rather then by a possibly biased road tester

My parents had the lancer since 2007, its a cvt model but still gets respectable low 7s around the city. over 130,000 on the clock and has not gone in for any repairs yet. While the lancer is quite old when compared to other models in the class, its an awesome value for money. You can now pick up XLS (vrx) with leather trim, sat nav...... for 24k driveaway

Wife wanted a new one and was willing to spend the $20K in cash (bank cheque really). Mitsu dealer didn't have a manual to try out (WTF? A yard full of Mitsubishis and not a single ES manual?) but the Holden dealer down the road had a second hand one (2011, 28,000 Km, classed as a "MY 2012" model), bought that without a test drive or haggling for $14K.

Haven't regretted the impulse buy. lol

How comfortable are the leather seats in the LX?

I'd rather hear it first hand by an owner rather then by a possibly biased road tester

No problems.
The leather seats are comfortable and firm with good support without any sag. Its one of the first things we noticed when we first sat in the car.
Within the first month the wife and I drove it to Melbourne and back. We didn't have any back problems as you normally would expect after a long drive.

The seats come with good side support, keep you seated firmly in place, and stop you sliding around in them.

The leather is on the stiff/hard side. But its no different to my GTVi.

As an added bonus in the LX, the front seats are heated. We bought the car during summer, so it wasn't until winter that we tried the heat settings. Two heat settings. One is warm just right, the other is "hot-toasty", probably a little to hot for us males, unless you like cooked gonads.

The leather quality is typical Mitsubishi, they only apply leather on the parts that touch your body with vinyl in the unseen parts. The drivers side support is starting to wear 2 years down the track. Probably from my belt rubbing each time I get in and out as it rubs on the bucket seat.

The best features are usually the little things that Mitsi have added that make driving a pleasure.
1. One touch lane change indicators
2. One touch windscreen wash and wipe
3. One touch headlights 20s stay on after you get out of your car and lock it
4. Bluetooth for phone
5. Ipod support with voice (if you like that sort of thing)
6. The drivers seat is electric.
7. Smart Key entry (once you have it you cant live without it)
8. Leather steering wheel with remote controls and leather handbrake

For what I paid for this car brand new, the competition does not come close.

Mitsi as usual do cut on unwanted costs, and it can be noticed by us enthusiasts, probably not by the average public.

They no longer support rear sway bars on models other than the VRX/sports. So they have repositioned the exhaust and muffler in a position that does not support it anyway.
If you want a rear sway bar, it can be done, but you need to spend the money.

No interior floor illumination. If you want it its a $200 option. (or get out the soldering iron :happy:)

Auto folding mirrors, auto headlights and auto wipers, and only in the VRX models.

There is a holder for an emergency flare, only supplied in Japan, so effectively it becomes a flashlight holder.

The spare is a lightweight space saver. Only to be used in an emergency.

Sound system is middle of the road. But is OK for 90% of the general public.

No GPS/DVD in the head unit in the base models.

I think I have digressed from the seats. :ninja:

6.3 L/100 km on a 300 km drive today, mostly at 100 KPH.
Translates to 44 mpg in the old currency.