You are here : Mitsubishi Lancer Cedia - Another Brick In The Wall
While the interior is elegantly crafted to pamper the passengers, the ride quality of the Cedia does not do justice to occupant comfort. The McPherson
struts up front and independent multi-link setup on either end of the rear axle, both are perhaps a wee bit too softly sprung. While that translates into
an almost ferocious appetite for potholes and other surface anomalies, it is not very good news under spirited driving on the ghats. Push the car just a
little bit on the corners, and the rear-end wallow is pronounced. Featherweight Milind - after bouncing around in the rear seats for a while - came out thoroughly unimpressed.
The soft springs also do their bit to upset the Cedia's handling. It is not as sharp and intuitive as one would expect of a car of its lineage. The steering is a trifle
vague at all speeds; it calls for dollops of feedback if the Cedia is to be taken seriously as a driver's car.
Where the Cedia scores heavily is on the safety front. Airbags, ABS and EBD are standard on both variants of the Cedia. We tip our hats to HM-Mitsubishi for their commitment to occupant safety at every cost. Our brake tests returned impressive fi gures (100km/h - 0 in 52.36m) - attribute that to the four-wheel disc setup and its silicon brethren working overtime behind the scenes. Of course, we did not get a chance to test the airbag deployment system, but rest assured it will work when it should. Er, a word of advice: you don't need to test it either.
And that brings us to the two most tangible aspects of any car: its styling and its pricing. For a car to match up to a well-entrenched opponent, it has to score very high on either one (or both) of these parameters. Head-turning, aggressive styling-and-packaging that instantaneously sets the pulse racing and the adrenalin flowing is a sure-shot approach to guaranteeing success. On the other hand, compromises on every other front - styling and packaging included - can be compensated for with the help of an irresistible price. An aggressive price will, in one fell swoop, wipe off most gripes that a car may be born with. If a manufacturer can guarantee both, he must start arranging for ear-plugs. Over a period of time, the shrill jingle of cash registers can really damage the eardrums.
Unfortunately for the Cedia, the story is not quite rosy on either count. On the styling front, it is the familiar 'so near, yet so far' saga. Discerning enthusiasts will not miss the distinctive Evo VIII touches. The wedge in the middle of the grille with the Mitsubishi logo, the small ridge in the centre of the hood, the tail-lamps that seem to be lifted off an Evo: interesting design inspirations that would set any male's pulse racing. But then what happened? HM-Mitsubishi seems to have lost the plot midway through. What is with the 'feline' headlamps that just don't blend in with the Cedia's image: isn't it supposed to convey menacing aggression, like the Evo? I have a feeling that the swept-back headlamps play havoc with the Cedia's front-end; only wish the Cedia would've been blessed with the narroweyed 'don't mess with me' headlamp design similar to the Evo's. Finally, what about the thoroughly uninspiring profile? In an age where C-pillars merging into the bootlid are the norm, the Cedia's unimpressive profile is from another design era. Forgive me, but to yours truly, it seems like a childbirth gone completely awry.
Check out the Evo VIII's absolutely wicked shark-teeth vortex generator. Don't bother calculating how much extra downforce it generates. Think, instead, of the extra sales it could generate if bolted on to the Cedia's roof.
Massive rear spoiler. Muscular, sculpted bumpers and side-skirts. Body-coloured chic alloy wheels. The Cedia Sport gets all those but in amply watered down avatars. If only HM-Mitsubishi would go the whole hog with the Cedia, they would ensure stampedes at their showrooms. Sigh!
Design cues on the Cedia borrowed from the Evo VIII include the ridge on the bonnet and the wedge in the grille. Then again, HMMitsubishi gave up half-way through and trashed the menacing 'narrow-eye' headlamps for the Cedia's more palatable 'raisedeyebrows' look. No air intake cutouts, sculpted bumpers or sideskirts either. Give the Cedia an intra-venous shot of mean attitude, and the story could turn out very, very differently.
Solutions abound, nevertheless. If we can have fake wood inserts inside the cabin, why can't we have fake everything-else? Why can't we have fake air intake cut-aways on the bonnet? Why can't we have that delightful shark-teeth vortex generator on the roof at the rear? And chiselled bumpers and delicious side-skirts? Mind you, they may not serve the purpose they are intended to. But they will surely serve another - possibly more important - purpose: they will help sell the car. In a fiercely competitive segment, they will add the crucial 'product differentiators', which will help create a vastly different brand image for the Cedia.
I have a feeling I have whined enough about the Cedia's bland styling, now it's time to er...whine about its price. While the Cedia's Rs 10.78 lakh price-tag is not asking for the moon, it is certainly half-way up there. Without the advantage of compelling styling, the Cedia would need a massive price advantage over its rivals. However, at its price-point, the Cedia is on a collision course with the Corolla H1 and the Octavia Rider turbo-petrol. And that does not augur very well for the Cedia's prospects.
Sources tell us that HM-Mitsubishi wants to keep away from the non-existent 'performance' niche in India. But we will make do without the performance, gentlemen. At least for now. If the same engine-transmission-chassis package is clothed radically differently - with all the faux show-bits - it will help capture an audience that neither of the current C-segment barges are currently targeting. HM-Mitsubishi's best bet, in my opinion, remains a full-bodied, visually blown out 115-120PS sedan that will scream past 'humdrum family sedans' yelling 'Achtung baby', snapping a thousand necks in the process.
Source: Car India February 2006.
