Sadly, the Lancer is dead, and you'll never see the Evo XI. However, the car survives with a serious refresh over in Asia. This week, the Grand Lancer made its debut in the Chinese and Taiwanese markets, featuring design updates we discovered last year.
Although the old Lancer can still be seen in places, the sedan has been refreshed with the same Dynamic Shield design. It's basically a big X that connects the sharp headlights, the grille, and some chrome trim pieces surrounding the fog lamps. The latest Outlander models have it too.
Apparently, demand for affordable Japanese sedans is so high in China that Mitsubishi just couldn't let go of the Lancer, even though it's an old car.
Even though they've been phased out in Europe and America, 1.8-liter engines are still popular, and that's what the "Grand Lancer" has. The single overhead cam MIVEC naturally-aspirated petrol four-cylinder engine makes 140 PS and 176 Nm, almost the same as the European Civic Sport. The only gearbox option is an INVECS-III CVT.
According to the regional driving cycle, the fuel economy of the 2017 Grand Lancer is a respectable 15.7 kilometers per liter, equivalent to 6.3 liters per 100 kilometers.
Cosmetically, the stand-out feature is the new set of automatic LED headlights. Along the sides, there are scalloped cutouts and other dynamic character lines, including those added by the skirts.
The trunk lip has a king at the end, and the taillights have gained a double C-shape. New two-tone 18-inch alloy wheels have also been added to the range-topping model.
The important part of sitting behind the wheel of the Grand Lancer is that it's been given improvements regarding noise vibration and harshness. The biggest addition to the redesigned dash is an eight-inch touchscreen infotainment system with navigation and digital TV, as well as a customizable Smart Dashboard digital instrument cluster. Those Chinese sure love their tech!
As far as safety, the sedan comes standard with brake assist, ISOFIX anchors, and six airbags. But there's none of that radar nonsense.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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