Review of the 2016 Mitsubishi Lancer SEL AWD

Here’s another car review from my husband, Will. 

Recently I had the pleasure of driving a 2016 Mitsubishi Lancer 2.4 SEL AWD for a week. The on-board computer really cleared things up for me.

I averaged 23 miles per hour during my week of driving. This is interesting for a couple of reasons: One is that I can’t imagine a scenario where knowing your average speed would be useful.

Me: “But officer, my average speed over the last week has only been 23 MPH.”

Officer: “Sorry, the maximum average speed in the city of Portland is 18 MPH. Here’s your ticket.”

Yet for some reason this and every other car computer is proud to announce this statistic.

The other thing that drew my attention here is that 23 is the same number as my average miles per gallon over the week… 23 MPH and 23 MPG!

Why there is no display for the statistic “Gallons Per Hour” I can only guess. Perhaps because 1 gallon of gas every hour seems like a lot? A gallon of gas weighs 6.3 pounds whereas a gallon of eggnog weighs 8.96 pounds. That means that burning a gallon of gas is very much like drinking 11 ¼ cups of eggnog. Every hour. That IS a lot of gas.

The good news is that that much eggnog provides a full 129 grams of much needed muscle-building protein. The FDA recommends 50 grams of protein per day in a diet of 2000 calories. Looks like I’m doing just fine.

Let’s break it down financially: If I drove for 3 hours each day, with gas prices at $2 per gallon I’m spending $6 per day. On the other hand, if I drank 11 ¼ cups of eggnog during each of the same 3 hours per day, with eggnog prices at $2.85 per half gallon I’m spending almost $12 per day.

You could go broke drinking that much eggnog – not to mention how many times you’d be in the hospital.

As it turns out, the Mitsubishi Lancer has won seven of the last 12 Arctic Rally races in Finland. On these snow and ice covered routes, the very same Mitsubishi Lancer averages 75 MPH for 2 ½ hours! I’ll bet they use more than 2 ½ gallons of gas during that race, though.

For once, off-roading capabilities seems like an appropriate feature for me to rate on one of these test vehicles. The time we screeched through the vacant mud puddle filled lot next to the new Dutch Bros. on 82nd in Clackamas, we didn’t get stuck but made a really big splash. I’d say the 2016 Lancer is quite capable off road.

In summary, I have produced a very simple “pros and cons” chart for the 2016 Mitsubishi Lancer.

Pros:

• MSRP is only $22,805. That’s not much for a new car, right?
• The wheels look awesome.
• Acceleration is quite acceptable – better than what I would have expected with the continuously variable transmission.
• The radio system very easily connects to your phone, and people don’t even notice you are on a Bluetooth.
• Gas consumption is much cheaper than eggnog consumption.

Cons:

• It’s 2016, and cars are doing basically the same thing they have been doing for the last 50 years. WHY aren’t there flying cars or at least hovercraft speeders like Luke and Obi-Wan drove in Star Wars Episode IV?

Please add some comments below if you would like to know more information about the Mitsubishi Lancer or to share your own experience in a Mitsubishi.

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