Mitsubishi Lancer 2008 News

As interest rates bite and with it consumer belt-tightening, some analysts predict a slowdown this year.But the first two months of the year showed strong gains over the same period last year.Light-car sales rose 2236, or 22.5 per cent, and the small-car segment rose 1645, or 8.6 per cent, over February last year, according to the latest VFACTs industry sales figures.The off-roader, or SUV market, grew by 3365 vehicles, or 22.6 per cent.These gains were partially countered by declines in the large-car segment, down 2488 or 19.9 per cent, and medium-car segment, down 383 or 5.1 per cent.Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries chief executive Andrew McKeller says the runout of key models has affected volumes in the large and medium segments.The arrival of the new FG Falcon in May and expanding Holden Commodore line-up with its Sportwagon will help turn around sales figures in coming months, he says.Toyota was the top-selling brand in February with 20,703 sales, or 23 per cent of the market, ahead of Holden with 12,386 sales, 13.8 per cent, and Ford with 9405 sales, 10.5 per cent.For the year so far, Toyota leads Holden by 15,916 sales and remains market leader with a 22.4 per cent market share.Holden has a 13.1 per cent overall market share and Ford is third at 9.9 per cent.Among the light and small-car stars were the Suzuki Swift, Hyundai Getz, Mazda3, Toyota Corolla and Yaris, Honda Civic and Mitsubishi Lancer.Holden was large-car leader, selling 4313 VE Commodores, followed by Ford with 2520 Falcons and Toyota with 1855 Aurions.The announcement of the end of Mitsubishi 380 production affected February sales, the company sold only 471 380 V6s.Melbourne-based industry analyst Tony Robinson, of SurePlan, believes new-car demand will soften late in the year.There is usually a six to nine-month lag between spiking interest rates and its impact on buyer patterns, he says.But he is confident the market will still go close to one million sales this year. What's sellingTop 10 makes1 Toyota 20,7032 Holden 12,2363 Ford 94054 Mazda 70225 Honda 48006 Mitsubishi 54237 Nissan 51008 Subaru 33719 Hyundai 401010 Volkswagen 2883 Top 10 models 1 Holden Commodore 43132 Toyota Corolla 41913 Toyota HiLux 33254 Mazda3 28255 Ford Falcon 25206 Toyota Yaris 22807 Toyota Aurion 18558 Toyota Camry 17239 Mitsubishi Lancer 168210 Honda Civic 1665 

Mitsubishi Motors Australia revealed its Subaru WRX-chasing Lancer Ralliart at the Melbourne Motor Show. The price will probably be about $40,000 when it goes on sale in August. The newest Lancer family member is designed as a stepping stone between the ES, VR, VRX and blistering Evolution X. Mitsubishi president Robert McEniry describes the Ralliart as a “tougher version of the street-model Lancer.” The Ralliart is powered by a slightly detuned version of the 2.0-litre Mivec intercooled and turbocharged engine available in the Evolution X. Despite its lower state of tune, the car still pumps out 177kW and 343Nm and misses little in the way of performance features. It comes with Mitsubishi's twin-clutch sportronic shift transmission (TC-SST) automated manual transmission and full-time AWD with an active centre differential. Visually, the Ralliart has a distinctive front bumper design, rear spoiler and dual exhausts. Apart from the Lancer Ralliart, Mitsubishi will roll out the Lancer Sportback hatch later in the year. The Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart has a distinctive front bumper.  

The production version of the enticing Prototype-S sport hatchback, which makes its debut at the Geneva motor show this week, will arrive here in the third quarter of this year, Mitsubishi Australia has confirmed. Although not so avowedly Alfa Brera-looking as the original concept, Mitsubishi says the images released this week are the closest yet to the Sportback that will take its place next to the Lancer, Ralliart and Evo sedans.Derived from the sedan, the Prototype-S as seen at Geneva is distinguished by Mitsubishi's inverted-slant nose with trapezoidal grille front fascia and wide and low proportions.In the rear, the five-door Prototype-S boasts a deep liftgate and a colour-keyed roof spoiler, plus wraparound tail lamps.The cockpit features brown leather upholstery and a dashboard and door panels trimmed in black suede.It is mounted on 225/40R19 tyres on 19-inch five-spoke alloys. It uses a 2.0litre MIVEC-1 4-cylinder DOHC intercooled/ turbocharged engine, the unit that will also power the Subaru WRX-rivalling Ralliart.This is driven through the twin clutch SST-2 automated manual transmission and full-time 4WD driveline with an active centre differential (ACD).Mitsubishi Australia spokesman Robert Chadwick says the eventual Sportback, as the five-door iterations of the Lancer are to be known, will arrive here toward the end of this year, increasing sales of an already popular range.“We would hope to launch them all together but we're still in discussion with Japan,” Chadwick says.Also on show in Geneva from Tuesday is the “i MiEV”. Mitsubishi says the new-generation electric vehicle is currently under evaluation for export to international markets. It is undergoing fleet monitoring in Japan. 

Of course with Mitsubishi’s cease-fire on local manufacturing, there ‘is’ a 380 on its Melbourne Motor Show stand, but it’s painted black and tucked away in the back corner.

While Mitsubishi's Evo X and Subaru's STi have a limited-edition snarl-off, the Ralliart will do battle in the high-volume arena.It is a class the brand has ignored since the '09s, when it had a Lancer GSR, but the newcomer, revealed at the Detroit Motor Show, is a serious contender.Like the Evo X, the Ralliart carries a 2-litre intercooled and turbocharged MIVEC engine, but detuned to produce 175kW — 31kW less than the Evo.Power is delivered to the full-time all-wheel drive through the Evo X's twin-clutch, auto-manual transmission with paddles on the steering wheel.It doesn't score the Super All Wheel Control drive system from the X, but has an active centre differential with an electronically controlled multi-plate clutch that splits torque to the front and rear depending on different driving conditions and surfaces.The styling is tamer than the X, but there is aggression in the body lines, twin outlet muffler and ducted aluminium bonnet that feeds air to the turbocharger.The Ralliart should arrive here in the last quarter of 2008.Meanwhile, Mitsubishi will debut its Prototype-S concept of the Lancer line at the 78th Geneva International Motor Show in March.It is powered by a 2-litre 4-cylinder DOHC MIVEC1 intercooler/turbocharger engine developing 177kW of power and 343Nm of torque, mated to Mitsubishi's high-efficiency Twin Clutch SST automated manual transmission.The full-time 4WD driveline features Mitsubishi's Active Centre Differential, which uses an electronically controlled multi-plate hydraulic clutch to tailor front/rear drive torque split to different driving conditions; delivering the best balance between steering response and traction. 

It was put to use last week for the pricing of the new Impreza STi (right), which is going to put huge pressure on the new Mitsubishi Evo X with its predicted pricing in the $70,000 range.

Australia's longest motor racing track, the 6.2km circuit up and down Mount Panorama at Bathurst is a lot of real estate to cover in a 12-hour race.Especially in a little four-cylinder Japanese buzz-bomb.But Adelaide real estate identity and motorsport enthusiast Michael Brock will squeeze his tall frame into his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII to take on the mountain in Sunday's 2008 WPS Bathurst 12-hour.The race is for GT Performance cars based on production cars and more closely reflects road cars than does the Bathurst 1000 race for V8 Supercars in October.Brock is a winning name at Bathurst. And not just the late Peter Brock. South Australia's only driver in this year's 12-hour, Michael Brock, has won there before, taking out the two-hour race in a 46-car field in 2002 co-driving his Evo VIII with Garry Young.Young, a championship-rated driver in the category, has been signed as a co-driver this time too.The third driver will be former rugby league star turned car racer Jack Elsegood, who only missed winning the V8 Utes title last year because of a flat tyre on the penultimate lap of the last race of the year.“The car has been totally rebuilt,” Brock said yesterday of his Coopers-green Lancer.“Steve Knight has prepared the car, the turbo has got more boost and it's now quicker."“What's exciting is that a few months ago at Mallala in a one-hour race it beat the car that won the Bathurst 12-hour last year.”That Mallala result encouraged him to enter the Bathurst 12-hour and he has secured sponsorship from Coopers Brewery, which used to back Brock in V8 Ute racing.Other sponsors are his own real estate firm Brock Harcourts and the Wellington Hotel at North Adelaide. “We're expecting to be competitive,” Brock said.Brock has been on an intensive gym program to get fit and ready to take the physical stress of racing the mountain track in a very hot cabin on a February day.He acknowledges that Elsegood and Young are more race-ready, and younger, and might do the greater share of the driving.The plan is for drivers to do 90-minute stints - quite a task in the heat when you come out to do it again and again over the 12 hours. 

Only 550 of the Brooklands model Bentleys are available worldwide."They are tailor-made to the exact specifications of each customer,” said Sue Young, the spokeswoman for Queensland Bentley.Ms Young said the Brisbane buyer wanted to remain anonymous, as did two other Queenslanders who have expressed an interest in getting one of the luxury coupes.She said all three currently own a Bentley Arnage T, worth about $545,000.Maserati's latest GranTurismo will be seen in Australia for the first time at the show, which opens at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre at noon on 1, February 2008.The sports car's appeal seems to have outweighed its $293,000 price tag, because 150 Australian orders have already been taken for the new model, including 20 from Queensland, according the company's Australian general manager, Edward Butler.No other Maserati has sold as quickly and the waiting list for the 2008 GranTurismo is greater than the firm's Australian and New Zealand sales last year, Mr Butler said.Luxury-car sellers say their models have become increasingly popular with younger professionals."The 20 to 35-year age group is taking a much bigger slice of the market share,” said Audi Centre Brisbane dealer principal Greg Willims. “There is no doubt the prosperity in Queensland is growing.”Adam O'Brien, of Brisbane Prestige Cars in Fortitude Valley, said manufacturers were working harder to attract young customers in a bid to keep them for life.Danny Singh, 31, of Brendale in Brisbane's northwest, recently bought a luxury H3 Hummer from Brisbane Prestige Cars for $70,000 then spent a further $15,000 on modifications.Also making their Australian debuts at the show will be new-look versions of cult street machines the Subaru WRX STi, the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution — known as the Evo X to fans because it is the 10th in the series.Both are expected to be in the $60,000 bracket.Australia will be represented in the go-fast stakes by a Ford Performance Vehicles version of the Territory SUV, the yet-to-be-released F6 X all-wheel-drive wagon.Brisbane International Motor Show, Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, South Bank, runs from Friday to February 10; Monday to Saturday, 10am-10pm; Sunday, 10am-6pm. Adults $17.50, children $10.

The two-seater sports coupe, launched at the Detroit motor show, features a snarling shark nose and gaping trapezoidal maw, rising waistline and powerful haunches set off by 21-inch wheels sitting in pumped arches.Body weight has been kept to a minimum with the use of a rigid aluminium space frame and impact-resistant plastic body panels. The butterfly doors swing up to reveal a wraparound double cockpit of leather with aluminium accents and pared-down instruments.An opening in the matte black bonnet exposes the cover of a new 2.2-litre four-cylinder common-rail turbodiesel engine that uses MIVEC4 valve timing optimisation and a variable-diffuser/variable geometry turbocharger to give the best possible combination of efficiency and boost across the rev range.The unit develops 150kW of power and 420Nm of torque, while a new catalytic converter system that combines diesel particulation with a diesel oxidation catalyst and a nitrous oxide trap catalyst keeps emissions to the US's Tier 2 Bin 5 standards — which are more stringent than Euro 5 and even on Euro 6 with regard to NOx.The Concept-RA uses the twin clutch auto-manual transmission and Super All Wheel Control drive system from the Evolution X, with active steering and damping, active centre differential, active yaw control, active stability control all working to give the driver more command over torque, steering input, braking and dynamics. Translation: better traction, cornering and stability. Sadly, Mitsubishi says the car is a technology showcase and is not likely to end up on showroom floors.“This is for show only,” managing director of product development for Mitsubishi Motors, Tetsuro Aikawa says.“It's a one-off concept built for this particular show on a running car that is a Lancer platform,” says Mitsubishi's US product communications manager Maurice Durand. He says the although the initial drawing came from an American designer, Mitsubishi designers from around the world contributed. How long before they might make a decision about whether to take it further?Aikawa says he “cannot comment”, but Durand says it will be years rather than months.“But just because it's on a Lancer platform doesn't mean a production version of it would be on that as well,” Durand says. “This is merely for the show car.“You already have the suspension and the platform engineered with a running car so you can put a show car shell on it.”There are no plans to utilise any of the Concept-RA in Mitsubishi's Eclispse for the US.“We're about to launch the 2009 Eclipse in the US, which is a freshened version of the current platform of the Eclipse,” Durand says. 

For performance enthusiasts it is like winning the lottery twice.