Mitsubishi Lancer 2010 News

Cars are either being built worse -- or companies are getting better at detecting faults.a range of models made over the last 10 years replacing potentially deadly Takata airbags in 1.3 million cars in Australia. a second, airbag-related recall for the Priusreplacing potentially deadly Takata airbags in 1.3 million cars in Australia

Mitsubishi has announced a global safety recall on their performance hero, the Lancer Evolution, for a faulty clutch master cylinder on the five-speed H-pattern manual transmission. The defect means the rally rocket's clutch could fail and the vehicle be unable to be shifted in and out of gears, risking a collision.The recall affects more than 12,000 cars around the world built at Mitsubishi's Mizushima plant -- the sole source of the Evolution model -- between December 12, 2007 and March 5, 2013, and 407 in Australia. "There have been no incidents of failure in Australia," Mitsubishi spokesperson Shayna Welsh says. "A fix will take approximately three hours and customers will be advised to contact their local Mitsubishi dealer to book in their vehicle."The carmaker will notify owners, and their local Mitsubishi service centre will replace the clutch master cylinders of any affected cars.This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott  

The Lancer has a 3.9 per cent slice of the sub-$40,000 small-car market, but faces off against a dominant Mazda3 with 18 per cent share, and the Toyota Corolla with 16.5 per cent. The small-car sector is virtually static in sales -- up just 0.9 per cent year-to-date -- but the buyer demand for compact, fuel-efficient cars means there are no signs of the sector weakening. Luring buyers with the value flag is the Mitsubishi ‘Special Action Model’ - or SAM - that gets a $19,990 drive-away price for a manual sedan based on the entry-level 2.0 litre ES model. SAM comes with metallic paint, choice of four colours, 16-inch five-spoke alloys, Ralliart front bumper and grille, VRX high-rise boot spoiler and extra bling. Mitsubishi has announced its “compact sedan” concept will become the next Lancer, but it could be three years away. The SAM is one of the special-edition models designed to maintain sales ahead of this next generation.  

It's the brainchild of Queensland's Team Nemo driver and manager Chris Eaton who will debut the car at the World Time Attack Challenge at Sydney Motorsport Park on Friday, August 10. "Other teams you'll see at World Time Attack started out with a road car and added different bits along the way," says Eaton. "From the beginning, our car has been a definite effort to integrate the aero with the suspension and driveline. Our goal has been to produce something with the best ability in every area.'' It started life as a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII but and two years of development by American aerodynamicist and data engineer Andrew Brilliant it emerges as a track animal with aerodynamics "not far off an F1 car''. Just look at the stats: At 200km/h the 950kg car makes 1.6 tonnes of downforce which means - theoretically - that you could drive it upside down on the roof of a tunnel without falling off. The team uses special Hankook semi-slick tyres with enough load rating to cope with the downforce and a 600kW turbo engine that had to be programmed to automatically drop the boost in corners to stop the wheels spinning. "The car has more than 600kW at the wheels and would struggle to get that power down in the corners if we didn't moderate the boost,'' Eaton says. "The autoboost also improves engine reliability." It is believed the car will lap Eastern Creek at 1m29s which is as fast as Craig Lowndes lapped his V8 Supercar on full slicks.  

BRITISH driver Ben Barker has won the Formula 3 Australian Drivers Championship by the smallest winning margin in the series history and with the closest top three in series history. The 19-year-old scored the fastest lap in the final at Sandown Raceway last weekend by five one hundredths of a second claiming a bonus point and clinching the title from Mitch Evans. Barker's title is the third in three years for the dominating Adelaide outfit, Team BRM, and the third consecutive title for British-born drivers. Barker scored 220 points to Evans's 219, with Tom Tweedie on 208. Barker wasn't informed of his win until well into the cool-down lap following the race. "I couldn't believe it. It was a huge relief. I didn't know I had won and didn't know who had fastest lap so it was an amazing feeling to know that I had done it," Barker said. Tim Macrow won the race ahead of the three title contenders with Barker in fourth.BRISBANE teenager Chaz Mostert dominated the Formula Ford races at the Gold Coast 600 with pole position and a clean sweep of the three races to extend his championship lead to 83 points and his race-winning streak to six. The 18-year-old also secured a full-time drive in a Miles Racing Falcon in the V8 development series next year. He had his first race in the development series at Bathurst this month finishing fourth for the round. "Doing the development series next year seems to be the best way to go to get into the V8 Supercars," he said.There are two rounds to go in the eight-round Formula Ford series and 122 points up for grabs.QUEENSLANDER John Martin has wrapped up the Superleague Formula season with victory in two out of three races at Navarra in Spain, claiming more than $140,000 in prizemoney. Martin, 26, also charged from 18th to sixth in the reverse grid second race in his Beijing Guoan FC machine while his Alan Docking Racing (ADR) crew scored the fastest pitstop. It was the sixth time the 2006 Australian Formula Ford Champion had stood on the top step of the podium this season. The championship was won by Davide Rigon for (RSC Anderlecht ahead of Craig Dolby (Tottenham Hotspur) and Max Wissel (FC Basel). Martin was ninth in the series but fourth in the prizemoney with $516,000. He will return in 2011 with ADR.STUART Kostera took a clean sweep of race wins in the Australian Manufacturers Championship at Sandown at the weekend to clinch the title in his Mitsubishi Lancer EVO X. The West Australian took the title lead from Garry Holt (BMW 335i) who crashed out in the first corner of the first race and finished fourth in the second race. Kostera's teammate Inky Tulloch was second in both races, ahead of Jake Camilleri in his Mazda 3 MPS. Darren Hossack and James Sera finished one-two in the three Kerrick Sports Sedan Series races, with Sera scoring enough points to secure the title despite missing the opening round. Roger Lago wrapped up the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge after series rival Matt Kingsley crashed out in qualifying.THERE were three different winners in each V8 Ute race at the Gold Coast 600 at the weekend. Chris Pither won the first race and the round, rookie Rhys McNally claimed race two and series leader Grant Johnson won race three to extend his lead over Jack Elsegod by 86 points with one round to go at Sydney in December.PAUL Stokell won his first overall round of the Mini Challenge at the weekend in the Gold Coast 600. He scored a third, second and first place with former V8 Supercar racer Glenn Seton second for the round and local Beric Lynton third. The championship will come down to the wire in Sydney in December with series leader Chris Alajajian winning race one, but fourth in the second race and retiring with suspension damage in the third race. He leads Stokell inTHE absence of Chad Reed from the second round of the Australian Super X at the weekend allowed three American imports to dominate. Kevin Windham, Josh Hansen and Justin Brayton took out the open supercross on a slippery Canberra Stadium track. Best Australian was Jay Marmont in fourth. Hansen now leads the championship race followed by Brayton and Marmont in third. Reed won the first round in Newscastle with a one-off ride on a Honda, but flew back to the US last Sunday to stitch up a deal for the next season with either Honda or Yamaha. He is expected to miss this weekend's round in Launceston. Defending lites champ ion Matt Moss grabbed the holeshot and won the race to retain top slot.SEBASTIEN Loeb had already secured his seventh World Rally Championship in the previous round, but underlined his domination with his seventh victory of the season and 61st in his career by leading the Rally of Spain from start to finish in his Citroen. He was 35.3 seconds ahead of Petter Solberg with a slim 5.8 second margin over Loeb's teammate Dani Sordo. You Tube drifting star Ken Block finished ninth to secure his first WRC points. The final WRC round will be held in the UK next month.WAYNE Gardner's motorcycle racing legacy will continue with his son, Remy, following in his wheel tracks. The 12-year-old had his debut road race at the weekend in the Honda Racing Corporation NSF100 Trophy Worldwide Mini Bike race at Albacete Circuit in Spain. He raced against 35 other riders, but grappled with the reverse gear pattern shift and missed out by three places on the final for the top 18 riders. However, he finished fourth in the consolation final. "I loved battling against everyone. It was so much fun, I couldn't believe it," said the former World 500cc Champion's son.

WARREN Luff led a runaway win by the Ralliart Mitsubishi team in the first Australian 6-Hour enduro at Eastern Creek in Sydney last weekend. Luff put his Lancer Evo X on pole position and then he and Stuart Kostera romped away to win by more than two laps from Ralliart teammates Inky Tulloch and Steve Jones, with Peter Conroy and Mark Bram third in another Evo X.WILL Power stretched his lead in the IndyCar World Series with another win last weekend, this time on the Toronto street course in Canada. His fourth victory of the year came in a race of carnage, as he led home his closest championship challenger, Dario Franchitti, with Ryan Hunter-Reay third.THREE teams from the Fujitsu V8 Supercar championship will step up to the "main game'' with wildcard entries for the Phillip Island and Bathurst endurance events this year. Matthew White Motorsport, Greg Murphy Racing and Sieders Racing Team have been granted the wildcard starts.LE MANS winner Vern Schuppan lived a dream when he returned to the French track to race a 1960s Porsche 917 in this year's Classic race meeting. Schuppan won for Porsche in 1983 driving a 956, but stepped back into the 917 -- star of the Steve McQueen movie Le Mans - to share with another former race winner, Richard Attwood. The pair were third in their category across the Classic weekend.AN INJURED left arm has forced three-time world champion Jason Crump out of the Australian team for the speedway world cup in Europe from July 24-31. Crump is having surgery on his biceps and plans to return at the Scandinavian Grand Prix on August 18 as he continues his world title defence.TWO more drivers have been confirmed for next year's Formula One season. Scuderia Toro Rosso has re-signed youngsters Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari for another year.AMBITIOUS youngsters should make a case to CAMS soon for next year's Rising Star Program. Applications have opened and, with graduates including John Martin, James Davison and Tim Blanchard, the program is going well. Applications close on Friday, October 29. Nomination forms are at www.amsf.org.au

Last month a record 89,218 new-vehicle sales were reported up a solid 18.3 per cent on the 74,441 of May last year. The previous best May was in 2008, before the global financial crisis, with 8,640.It means 422,446 new-vehicle sales this year nationally, a good 20 per cent growth (or 70,000 more sales) on the first five months of last year.  The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, which released its Vfacts figures yesterday, now projects total sales of more than 1 million this calendar year.David Buttner, sales and marketing boss for Toyota which remains most popular brand in Australia predicts 1 million sales now will be easily passed in the financial year about to end.  In the 11 months of this financial year, the tally reads 904,551 vehicles. The final four weeks of ‘end of financial year sales’ have begun, and in each of the past three June totals, 100,000 has been achieved.Mr Buttner pointed out one in five new vehicles sold in Australia was now a Toyota.  FCAI head, Andrew McKellar said the SUV segment with 29 per cent growth on May last year and passenger cars, up 19 per cent, were leaders."But all segments increased during the month, demonstrating a genuine recovery in the marketplace," he said.  He said private buyers were returning in large numbers, taking over the momentum provided by business buyers this year.  Holden achieved its fifth consecutive month of growth, 24 per cent up on May last year.The Commodore with 3899 sales last month regained its top place while Toyota's HiLux, the April leader, was back to second place on 3665. It means Commodore remains in front in sales so far this year in its fight to be Australia's favourite car again in 2010.Falcon has third place for May and Mazda3 outsold rival Toyota Corolla while Holden Cruze imported at present but to be built in Adelaide from next year is in sixth place.  Mitsubishi is celebrating after its Lancer doubled sales of May last year to leap into the top-cars list.  Vehicles selling more than 1500 last month (with year-to-date in brackets):1. Holden Commodore 3899 (18,428)2. Toyota HiLux 3665 (17,287)3. Ford Falcon 3258 (13,349)4. Mazda3 2901 (16,155)5. Toyota Corolla 2796 (14,933)6. Holden Cruze 2484 (11,416)'7. Hyundai i30 2385 (13,588)8. Mitsubishi Lancer 2368 (10,129)9. Nissan Navara 1972 (8731)10. Toyota Camry 1966 (9088)11. Hyundai Getz 1957 (9629)12, Subaru Impreza 1597 (5253)13. Toyota Prado 1575 (7488)14. Mitsubishi Triton 1552 (6524)

DANIEL Ricciardo scored the biggest victory yet in his career when he won the Renault 3.5 supporting race at the Monaco Grand Prix. The Perth youngster qualified on pole and beat home the series leader, Russian Mikhail Aleshin, to also move into second place on the points table.CAM McConville starred in his first serious hit-out since retiring from full-time racing in the V8 Supercar championship, dominating the Fujitsu Championship round at Winton last weekend. McConville -- who took his only "main game'' win at Winton - scored two wins and a second to take maximum points ahead of Steve Owen and Nick Percat, as he used the weekend to warm up for endurance co-driving work with the Holden Racing Team at Phillip Island and Bathurst.GLENN Seton is back for Bathurst in October, joining the Kelly Racing driver roster of Jason Bargwanna, Todd and Rick Kelly, for the V8 Supercar endurance events. Seton, now 45, will be making his 26th start at Mount Panorama and is still searching for his first win, with his final co-driver at Mount Panorama yet to be confirmed.JACK Perkins will join Tim Slade in his Falcon for Phillip Island and Bathurst. The two youngsters are great mates and will drive a car in the Stone Brothers Racing stable.SIMON and Sue Evans took top points at Coffs Harbour in the latest round of the Australian Rally Championship, benefiting as Scott Pedder -who won the first of two heats in his Mitsubishi Lancer - rolled late on the second day, in a similar mishap to the factory-backed Honda Civic of Eli Evans.ASH Walsh used a pair of wins to take round honours in the Australian Formula Ford championship at Winton, though a slow start to the season means he is still only third in points, behind Chaz Mostert and Nick Foster. Mostert won the other race and Liam Sager took the hard charger award.GRANT Johnson and Andrew Fisher finished first and second in the V8 Utes round at Winton and hold the same positions in the championship pointscore. Johnson, from Perth, won two races, with the third going to Gary Baxter of Adelaide.SIR Jack Brabham is already confirmed as special guest at the Christmas party for 20 Victoria car clubs that will be held at the Powerhouse in Albert Park on November 27. The three-time world champion follows previous guests Harry Firth, Jim Richards and Larry Perkins at the annual event, which is backed by Shannons.

The company's new president and CEO, Masahiko Takahashi, says the importer would not chase a quick fix to grab a bigger slice of the sales pie.  "I want sustainable, steady growth," he says. "But I want to improve the quality of our business in every sense, in terms of product, market share and sales."In 2008 the company closed its Adelaide manufacturing plant, only to be followed last year by the global economic crisis.  Despite two body blows, the company's local sales fared well.Mitsubishi sold 57,000 vehicles last year about 4000 vehicles shy of its 2008 result.  This year Takahashi is confident the company will match and possibly exceed its 2009 sales figure as the car market continues to surge.Mitsubishi sales are up almost 20 per cent this year, in line with the overall market.  The company's small Lancer remains a dominant seller but its four-wheel drive line-up is also strong.One of Takahashi's first tasks is to launch new products to help drive up the company's market share.  "But I also want to fine-tune our products to better suit Australian needs," he says.Apart from tweaks to its existing vehicles, Mitsubishi will add another crossover off-roader, the small ASX, in August.  It will be pitched into the profitable compact off-roader segment, which is experiencing massive growth.Off-roader sales are up 35 per cent this year as buyers move out of family sedans and into lifestyle vehicles.  "The global trend is for smaller compact off-roaders and we believe this trend will become very noticeable in Australia as well," he says.Takahashi, like other car company executives is also closely watching the emerging Chinese carmakers.  With Chinese carmakers like Geely on the Australian doorstep and Great Wall Motors vehicles now on sale local, he was not as pessimistic as other importers about these emerging low-cost cars."Competition will be tough but it will also open up opportunities," he says.  A 27-year veteran of Mitsubishi Motors Corp, Takahashi has worked extensively in Japan, the Middle East and Latin America overseeing marketing, distribution and sales for those regions.For the past five years he has held several key roles in the company's local operations.  Takahashi replaces Robert McEniry, who steered the company through the Adelaide plant closure.

But even if not a sure thing, you wouldn’t bet big against it.  Within days of the traumatic three-car incident that smashed both a fair amount of the screaming Mazda RX-8 SP competing in this year’s rally – and any hopes of the car finishing  –  Mazda Motorsport’s formidable boss, Allan Horsley, had begun to think not of what might have been (that would be challenging the eventual winning Lamborghini Gallardo Super Trofeo Strada), but what will be…In the wake of that trauma, Horsley’s team directed its full focus into Mazda’s second entry, the Mazda3 MPS driven by Brendan Reeves and navigated by his sister Rhianon Smyth. In this they achieved second in the Showroom class and a little less than astonishing ninth overall. Not only was it the fastest front-wheel-drive, it licked Porsches, Evos, WRXs and an Audi TT-RS.No mean feat over five days, 40 stages and 2000km of competitive driving in often appallingly, all too Tasmanian autumn conditions piloting what one of the crew wryly described as a “turbo, front drive shopping trolley”.“For those people who think that a two-wheel drive can’t perform in the wet, just look at Brendan and Rhianon’s result,” said Horsley, a figure of local motor racing legend, who has never been constrained by convention. “With the best car, the best crew and the best team behind them – anything is possible.”The “best car” in the entire Targa, Mazda would argue, was not the weepingly expensive Lambo, though this was the one that captured not only the Targa title, but the hearts and minds of the spectating public.   Going into the third day, the Mazda team confidence that this Targa could be theirs was evident.This Horsley special RX-8’s bantam 1280kg and forced induction rotary engine imbued it with lynx-like agility through Tasmania’s endless twisties into which it was able to brake, according to driver Steve Glenney, some 100 metres later than certain rivals.When the going got straight, however, it couldn’t hope to match the kilometre-crushing Lambo. Already, though, Horsley is onto solutions to extract more in 2011.That engine – or at least its essential ingredients – will be housed in a newly-built RX-8 SP after an incident 11.6km into the Mount Roland leg that made one of the Targa’s most spectacular stages memorable for all the wrong reasons. But for the razor reflexes of Glenney, it might have also have been the site of a tragedy.Pouring into the first bend of a double apex right hander near the peak of the mount – not too far from where Eric Bana memorably came to grief a few years back – Launceston’s Simon Froude struck oil on the road and speared his Porsche 911 into the “cheese grater” steel cable that stands between competitors and likely oblivion in the form of an almost sheer drop.With the Porsche snagged by the front axle, its nose pointed towards the heavens, the crew of the next car through – David Ayers and Robbie Bolton in their Nismo 400R – halted as per race regulations and rushed to their aid.Then Glenney, with navigator Bernie Webb, poured through at perhaps 160km/h. With a split second to react, Glenney flung the car about and went into back of the Nismo, left three quarters first – a brilliant manoeuvre that surely saved himself and Webb from disaster. But not the RX-8 SP.“It was running beautifully,’’ Webb lamented as we waited for the flatbed to retrieve the shattered Mazda from the mountain road that now seemed even wetter and colder. “We’d had issues, but we’d overcome them. We’re out through no fault of our own.”By race’s end on Sunday afternoon, the Mazda crew, though ebullient over the MPS, knew they’d be back in 2011 to take care of what they clearly regard as unfinished business.Besides, what matters the 19th event when you can win the 20th and bequeath to the buying public an RX-8 SP 20th Targa (very) special edition?  You wouldn’t bet against it.In the meantime, we drivers of keenness, but infinitely less ability, can approximate in street legal form the Mazda Targa experience without access to car manufacturer’s racing budget.Every inch a rival for Volkswagen’s award-winning Golf GTI, the Mazda3 MPS starts from similar money - $38,435 – and packs an output that towers over the VW’s: the Japanese entrant rings 190kW and 380Nm from its turbo-charged four potter, over the German’s 155kW/280Nm.The RX-8, meanwhile, remains the world’s only mass –produced rotary engined car. While the version available to you and I comes without the Motorsport’s turbo-charger, but it does rev past 8000rpm and, from $55,715 (though you really want the $57,778 GT), seems unbelievably reasonable for something unique.