2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Finally Confirmed

Well for all the skeptics out there who didn’t believe me when I posted info and pictures about the 2008 Lancer GSR, 2008 Lancer Evo and the 2008 Lancer, behold an actual image of the “Mitsubishi Lancer compact sport sedan”.

The Lancer will on display at the Detroit motor show this January. So whats changed apart from the angry nose? Well the new lancer isn’t really much of a small car anymore, infact its the biggest lancer yet. With an overall length of 4570 mm (35 mm longer than previous model), overall width of 1760 mm (65 mm wider than previous model), overall height of 1490 mm (60 mm taller than previous model) and wheelbase of 2635 mm (35 mm longer than previous model), the new lancer is definitely going to be the car that makes or breaks Mitsubishi globally.

So how come the new Lancer is so big? Well Mitsubishi are relatively short on cash, things aren’t going that well and cost cutting is everything, so what the smart engineers at Mitsubishi have done is to create one platform that can be used for a few different models, the first of which being the Mitsubishi Outlander.

The powertrain combines a new (152 hosepower) 2.0-liter DOHC MIVEC engine to a 6-speed Sportronic CVT transmission. It is good to see that the new lancer is coming out with a 6-speed CVT transmission, I hope the likes of Subaru will follow suit with the base model impreza. Steering wheel mounted paddle shifters that allow the driver to shift gears manually without taking his hand off the wheel can also be added to the package. \