Gadgetory

just a handful of years ago this Lancer se would have been a pretty cool contender in its category today in 2013 it's like taking a trip back to the Soviet Union everything is a generation behind from another era let's drive this 2013 Lancer se and check the tech or at least the places where it should be let's face it Mitsubishi is not long for the US market they don't fix some things and fix them fast their car lineup consists of three versions of this Lancer and the gallant which I didn't know they even made anymore they're pinning all their hopes right now on the 2014 Outlander meanwhile we've got this Lancer in kind of mid trim to show us where the company's gone stale on the vine the last couple of years so inside the Lancer the first thing you're struck by and I mean struck by are the acres of bad plastic more than you'll see anywhere this side of a recycling plant hard bad finishes that don't really gap well yeah brings us to this head unit that is right out of the 80s am/fm single CD and an orange dot matrix display functionally yes but just barely that's bass we've upgraded as you can see to the Rockford Fosgate audio systems 710 Watts that also rolls in six CD player like anybody cares about that anymore huge old sub in the trunk you see our aux jacks are down there infuriating lis they are a pair of RCA S which I've heard from a lot of you about saying why are CAS give me an aux mini that's what I always have now if you want Bluetooth hands-free don't get all excited we have the buttons we just don't have the functionality behind them that's part of an extra cost option that also rolls in bluetooth streaming and a USB jack as I understand it though the USB jack replaces the aux input doesn't augment it I could be wrong on that but that's how I read the spec a little disturbing if it's true now navigations optional which would bring you the LCD on this dashboard that would also roll in some different media choice of a 40 gigabyte hard drive for media which you're never going to use so it's basically a twenty four hundred dollar navigation system I'm not big on that knowing Mitsubishi's finesse with cabin tech ID Oh often have entirely at least on this generation now the SC has the middle engine of a Lancer you can actually on the lower trims get a smaller engine a two litre inline-four we have the 2.4 litre inline-four this is a hotter one above this for the Evo of course we'll deal with that another video 168 horsepower 167 foot-pounds of torque out of this engine sitting very conventionally crossways here in the front car weighs about 31 20 gets up to 60 miles per hour in just a tick under 8 seconds while delivering 20 to 29 mpg one gearbox on the SE the CVT continuously variable transmission you cannot get the 5-speed manual unless you go down trim and you can't get mitsubishi x' dual clutch automated manual they're excellent SST gearbox unless you go up to an Evo so you're stuck with this combination now what our Lancer does have it sets it apart in many ways is all-wheel drive they call it all-wheel control you may have seen that rocker switch in the cabin you've got a two wheel drive front mode you've got an automatically managed all-wheel drive mode or an all-wheel drive lock mode putting it into more serious round for those of you that live in serious weather now I've never worked on a farm but I'm pretty darn sure I could write some Steinbeck caliber prose about driving a tractor at this point because I've spent time in the Lancer this SC has a coarse harshness about it that's coming in from both Road vibration as well as from this engine that makes some horrible noises it's not a pleasant experience the CVT transmission takes what might be a nice motor there might be some good power and response in there I believe there is and really mutes the hell out of it now the all-wheel drive as I mentioned is a bonus on this vehicle it's one of its strong selling points unfortunately it's April in San Francisco I don't have any way to really put it to a test so we'll take the word of many many owners who've attested that it's a great system to have at a really good price so there's not a whole lot as to take away from this car except that it's one of the last econo boxes that is still in a cano box most inexpensive compact cars have got to gone upmarket these days and left the Econo role to the really small cars the little sub compacts and and little urban a class and be class cars so this is an odd role that Mitsu is kind of hanging on to here and one that they know they have to evacuate fairly soon okay here's high price auto Lancer se if you must 21:09 t gets the car delivered an SC trim every CVT only at that level then another 1550 into the premium package good choice here Rockford Fosgate audio six CD satellite radio power glass roof it's a good value then you also want the fuse hands-free kit for just 400 bucks you get hands-free calling thank you bluetooth streaming USB adapter what I wouldn't do is spend a nearly twenty four hundred bucks on the navigation plus 40 gig hard drive thing there tech isn't good enough to warrant what is one of the higher prices for that system bottom line you buy a Lancer because you really value that all-wheel control technology that is definitely a point in its favor and Mitsu's got reputation of building cars that are tough as the day is long but this guy's on its way out as this era of Mitsubishi lameness so you really need to wait