The Supporting Role: Mitsubishi Lancer GLS

Since its introduction early this year, much had been written about the Mitsubishi Lancer, especially the MX variant with its 6-speed continuously variable transmission or CVT. Like the lead actor in a movie, the MX got all the attention with its video entertainment system, leather seats and dual airbag-equipped safety features during the media and advertising hoopla following its introduction.

And like a supporting role in a movie which eventually fades into the background, a character can only be remembered if he or she was able to upstage the lead actor in at least one important scene. Could the Lancer GLS upstage its more popular (and more expensive) MX brother? We called Arlan Reyes of Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corporation to find out and he graciously lent us a GLS with the INVECS III CVT for a week of evaluation.

Externally, the Lancer MX and the GLS look the same. They are both sheathed in a new body design which Mitsubishi heralds in its ad campaign as a "new age compact sedan" with "vitality and stylish class". The new car definitely looks longer, taller and wider than the previous Lancer but it still manages to have a "family resemblance" to the Lancer lineage. (After all, the Lancer is one of the best loved and longest continuous-running sedans in the country, from the L-type, the box-type to the previous model with the "sliced pizza" triangular tail lamps and achieved cult status with its super-expensive hyper-performance Evolution-series.) Both MX and GLS models sport a roof-mounted antenna as well as 15-inch 6-spoke wheels wrapped in 195/55-R15 tires. You really have to look closely at both cars to distinguish one from the other.

Aside from the "MX" and the "GLS" emblems in the rear and the "CVT" emblems at the side of the GLS, it is in the interior that the Lancer variants differ. The MX boasts of leather seating surfaces and trim, as well as the aforementioned video entertainment system (with a dash-mounted retractable LCD screen), while the GLS has cloth-covered seats and a 6-speaker in-dash single CD/AM/FM audio system with built-in 3-band equalizer. And while the MX provides an airbag for both of the front passengers, only the driver has an airbag in the GLS.

The new Lancer, whether in MX or GLS guise, is powered by a SOHC 16-valve ECI-Multi Point electronic fuel injected 1584cc 4-cylinder 4G18 engine that churns out 110PS at 6200rpm and 14.1 Nm of torque at 4200 rpm. The MX delivers this power to the front wheels through a 6-speed CVT while the GLS does so with a CVT that varies the gear ratios seamlessly from 2.319 to 0.445 and reaches the driving wheels with a tall 5.686:1 final drive ratio.

So how does the Lancer GLS drive?

If you are used to driving a car equipped with an automatic transmission, you’ll think that something is wrong with the GLS’s transmission. Well, nothing is really wrong with it; it’s just that you will be expecting some "shift-shock" (that slight jerking motion when the transmission shifts from one gear to the next) and then find none. You would also expect to feel and hear a reduction in engine speed as the transmission shifts, but again, the engine revs stay fixed at a certain speed. You’d be fooled into thinking that the transmission has a slipping clutch or something, but you could also feel that the car is building up speed.

Because that’s how CVT really works. It seamlessly shifts ratios while maintaining the engine speed. During the test drive, I gently pressed the accelerator, kept the revs at a little below 3000rpm and the Lancer moved gracefully from crawling speed to 100kph without any drama. I did not feel gear change nor did the engine rev up or down, but just a slow and uncanny build-up of speed. I then slowed down to 20kph to repeat the experiment but this time I pressed the pedal to the metal and the engine revs rose up to a nudge above 6000rpm. Sounding ferocious with its constant engine speeds and almost sounding like a car with a slipping clutch, the Lancer accelerated faster towards the century mark without any shift-shock normally associated with a full-throttle assault.

However, the exercise proved too fast and too furious that a youth in a lowered, faux-carbon fiber-hooded, big-tachometer-on-the-dash, fat-tired, coffee can-sized exhaust-equipped silver-grey boy racer ran alongside and challenged me and my ride to an impromptu drag race along my not-so-public test route. We were nose-to-nose up to 120kph when the oncoming traffic forced us to step on the brakes. With 14-inch ventilated disc brakes in front and 9-inch drums in the rear of the Lancer GLS, I had more confidence to brake later and I was able grab the front slot ahead of the boy racer. He may have had more power in his heavily-modified car, but I had more guts. I guess he must be steaming from being beaten by a stock sedan because he kept revving and taunting me for another race. Sorry, Bubba. Better luck next time.

Not that we condone drag racing on the streets, but when you’re driving a Lancer GLS, boy racers on the prowl may think you’re revving for a race. Every time you floor the accelerator, the CVT pegs the engine rev at that speed and the exhaust sounds like you stuck it in gear to let the other driver know you’re racing, although the CVT was just keeping the engine in its torque range for optimum acceleration.

Driven with civility in and around our traffic-snarled metropolis, the Mitsubishi Lancer GLS with INVECS-III CVT is a joy with its seamless shifts, smooth operation and decent fuel economy. Pushed to the (rev) limit, it lacks refinement and can be quite unnerving with its steady engine revs and detached slipping-clutch feel. A sedate family car, the GLS is; a boy racer, it’s not.

However, with its constant engine speeds, a turbocharger would be a perfect partner to boost up its horses. Hmmm...