ClubCJ - The CJ Lancer Club

Hi all,

Just thought I'd say hello. I've been lurking for a few days now, reading up on the CJ.

I'm considering trading in my '99 Ford Laser and switching to an MY10 Aspire.

I had a drive of a friends '09 CVT ES the other day, and it was quite nice.

So I've been looking at the Aspire (in white), and in the least getting the front windows tinted, rear parking sensors and maybe a wing on the back. Though I'm a bit iffy on the wing, don't want it blocking my rear view too much, don't want a huge overstated wing, but I think it makes the car look nice.

Would be most interested to hear how the ES and Aspire compare if anyone's driven both. In particular the diff between the 2.0 engine and the 2.4.

When I drove the 2.0, granted the car is still fairly new, I found it a bit thrashy and and the engine a little noisy. It didn't seem to quite have the 'squirt' feel that I get with my 99 Laser when giving the throttle a little jab.

I'm kinda hoping that the 2.4, combined with the CVT learning my driving style, and a decent amount of kms on the clock will result in it responding a bit more to my liking.

I found the seats a little lumpy in the ES too, hoping the leather in the Aspire is better.

Got a few other questions too:

If the gear stick is in Drive and one uses the paddles, does it flip into manual, if so, how does one get it out of manual, do you need to push the stick over to manual and back again? or is there a trick like squeezing both paddles at the same time.

What options and settings can be changed in the MMCS? Okay, so it runs the radio, CD, iPod, GPS, etc. but what else can it do?

Anyone heard yet if the colour LCD display (between the tacho and speedo) is available on the MY10 instead of the orange one?

How do people find driving the Lancer on long drives, like >3 hours, e.g. can you get comfortable? like, resting your arm on the window sill, position the steering wheel to steer from your lap etc?

Is there a good spot to put a glasses case? in my current car theres a nice little spot that I think is made just for a glasses case right by the driver door.

With the proximity key, I assume touching the door handle unlocks the car, is that correct? Can you lock it without using the fob? what about the boot, can that be opened by touch too?

What are the three buttons around the bottom left of the steering wheel, which look a bit like an afterthought? I can't seem to find high res enough images to see what they are for.

I think I'll leave it at that for now, hehe. Don't want to end up writing an epic essay with 50,000 questions.

I'll just finish by saying: I'm not really into modding that much, I'm not really handy like that or into fat exhausts and bling, but I'd be interested to hear about whether there are any little/easy things I can do to get better performance, economy, etc. - e.g. 95/98 RON PULP, good engine oil, etc. (I prefer to run my current car on 95 RON, I'd do that with the Aspire too; and I'd probably expect to use something like Castrol Edge 10w60 at the first oil change)

Thanks, and I look forward to making many more posts on here in the future.

MK

welcome mate firstly get a vrx they come in manual jokes ur choice, i run my car on shell unleaded not Ecrap and i get on average 780 k's out of a tank and i dont baby it at all mine is a 2L , secondly castrol edge is a great oil, yes performance mods are easy the easiest one is a K&N drop in filter..

Welcome!
Hope i can answer a couple questions!

In particular the diff between the 2.0 engine and the 2.4.

I found a significant difference between the 2 and the 2.4. With the 2.4 u have more torque and can feel the pull of the car. Considerable difference when i test drove both. I have driven, CVT 2.0 and 2.4 and the Manual 2.0 and 2.4. Personally i loved driving the Manuals of both engine types, eventually leading me to purchase a 2.4ltr Man. I found a huge difference driving the manual, i felt the cvts felt laggy when i drove them. With the aspire the CVT is the only option though. Best thing to do is head to a dealer and test drive one for yourself to get the feel of it.

With the proximity key, I assume touching the door handle unlocks the car, is that correct? Can you lock it without using the fob? what about the boot, can that be opened by touch too?

There is a sensor on the inside of the drivers and passengers door handle.
There is also a button on the door handle that locks the door.
The boot lid has a round button that when pushed opens the boot as long as u are within proximity.

What are the three buttons around the bottom left of the steering wheel, which look a bit like an afterthought? I can't seem to find high res enough images to see what they are for.

The buttons control the Bluetooth Handsfree System. The buttons are to start speech, answer and hang up.

I'll just finish by saying: I'm not really into modding that much, I'm not really handy like that or into fat exhausts and bling, but I'd be interested to hear about whether there are any little/easy things I can do to get better performance, economy.

Things like different intakes, eg. CAI (Cold Air Intakes), SRI (Short Ram Intakes, High Flow Air Filters (K&N, Blitz, HKS) can increase performance and are very easy to do.

How do people find driving the Lancer on long drives, like >3 hours, e.g. can you get comfortable? like, resting your arm on the window sill, position the steering wheel to steer from your lap etc?

I find the seats quite comfortable. I have a VRX so no leather but i have had no problems with the comfort factor. Steering wheel etc is adjustable and although i have had people complain about the height of the door sills when sitting, I don't have a problem resting my arm on it.

mk wrote: Hi all,

Just thought I'd say hello. I've been lurking for a few days now, reading up on the CJ.

I'm considering trading in my '99 Ford Laser and switching to an MY10 Aspire.

I had a drive of a friends '09 CVT ES the other day, and it was quite nice.

So I've been looking at the Aspire (in white), and in the least getting the front windows tinted, rear parking sensors and maybe a wing on the back. Though I'm a bit iffy on the wing, don't want it blocking my rear view too much, don't want a huge overstated wing, but I think it makes the car look nice.

Just go the lip spoiler. Looks really nice.

Would be most interested to hear how the ES and Aspire compare if anyone's driven both. In particular the diff between the 2.0 engine and the 2.4.

2.4 more gutsy down low than 2.0. And up high it pulls harder.

When I drove the 2.0, granted the car is still fairly new, I found it a bit thrashy and and the engine a little noisy. It didn't seem to quite have the 'squirt' feel that I get with my 99 Laser when giving the throttle a little jab.

Once they get a few KMs on them, they are a totally different engine! Quite punchy and sounds less tinny or thrashy with age.

I'm kinda hoping that the 2.4, combined with the CVT learning my driving style, and a decent amount of kms on the clock will result in it responding a bit more to my liking.

The 2.4 CVT does go well, and they are almost as responsive as a manual. But the CVT has an advantage of being able to keep the revs in the powerband the whole time it is accelerating, unlike a manual would. A CVT can beat a manual in a drag, but only if the manual driver stuffs the launch. The CVT launches too soft to beat a manual launch.

I found the seats a little lumpy in the ES too, hoping the leather in the Aspire is better.

Aspire seats are more bolstered than the ES seats too. Much better to sit in. The leather is quite good, but it's no Bentley.

Got a few other questions too:

If the gear stick is in Drive and one uses the paddles, does it flip into manual, if so, how does one get it out of manual, do you need to push the stick over to manual and back again? or is there a trick like squeezing both paddles at the same time.

Yes, a yank on the paddles whilst in D put it in Sport mode. A non-activity period of 5 minutes (or could be 2 minutes I forget) puts it back in D. Or you can pull the right paddle for 2 seconds and it goes back to D that way.

What options and settings can be changed in the MMCS? Okay, so it runs the radio, CD, iPod, GPS, etc. but what else can it do?

You can change ETACS functions of the car, such as lighting timings, Smart Key operation etc. See this thread: http://clubcj.net/viewtopic.php?t=2790 That lists all the function that are customisable in the Lancer. The MMCS can change all of them from memory.

Anyone heard yet if the colour LCD display (between the tacho and speedo) is available on the MY10 instead of the orange one?

Only in the Evo models

How do people find driving the Lancer on long drives, like >3 hours, e.g. can you get comfortable? like, resting your arm on the window sill, position the steering wheel to steer from your lap etc?

I don't have any problems at all getting comfortable. All my pervious cars I had a problem with. My feet used to go numb even. Not in the Lancer!

Is there a good spot to put a glasses case? in my current car theres a nice little spot that I think is made just for a glasses case right by the driver door.

The lidded centre console/arm rest is ideal for glasses cases etc. That's where mine go. Fits my GPS, iPod, Wallet, Sunnies all at once! Best sized console ever! Also, the lidded cup holders are good for that. Mine have no lids though (MY09 onwards got lids)

With the proximity key, I assume touching the door handle unlocks the car, is that correct? Can you lock it without using the fob? what about the boot, can that be opened by touch too?

Touching behind the door handle (just grabbing it really) unlocks the doors. But the fob has to be within arms reach (1M or so) of the door handle you are using to unlock the car. Locking is as simple as pressing the little black button on the door handle. Car can not be started without the key fob being inside the car. CAn't even do it when the fob is just outside the car. Very sensitive, which is a good thing. Ever seen the episode of Top Gear when they go to the USA?

What are the three buttons around the bottom left of the steering wheel, which look a bit like an afterthought? I can't seem to find high res enough images to see what they are for.

That is the Voice Control button, and Pickup and hangup for the Bluetooth.

I think I'll leave it at that for now, hehe. Don't want to end up writing an epic essay with 50,000 questions.

Don't hold back, ask as many questions as you like!!

I'll just finish by saying: I'm not really into modding that much, I'm not really handy like that or into fat exhausts and bling, but I'd be interested to hear about whether there are any little/easy things I can do to get better performance, economy, etc. - e.g. 95/98 RON PULP, good engine oil, etc. (I prefer to run my current car on 95 RON, I'd do that with the Aspire too; and I'd probably expect to use something like Castrol Edge 10w60 at the first oil change)

If fuel economy is what you're chasing, Run 95 or 98 fuel, and 10W30 or 10W40 oil.

Thanks, and I look forward to making many more posts on here in the future.

Welcome to the club mate, glad to have you on board!!

MK

Answers above, in Bold.

P.S. I love Aspires

Damn, got beaten while I was typing it all!! haha

Wow, you guys are really quick!

Thanks for the great answers so far. Certainly helping me along in my decision to buy.

Hey there, welcome to the club.

I have a 2.0 CVT myself (RX as noted in my sig) I find even on the 2.0 it learns your driving style pretty well.

The one thing I'll say on the matter of the CVT over the manual you get taller gearing. Manual is 5 speed. CVT in Sport is 6 and in D it goes even taller. Great for the economy on long highway drives. I've had it as low as 6.1lt/100km and you won't see that in a manual.

I've got a K&N performance pannel filter in mine and have found it breathes a lot better.

SIR-VRX wrote:Just go the lip spoiler. Looks really nice.

Is that an option I can ask the dealer for?

Are there any pics around of that one?

SIR-VRX wrote:2.4 more gutsy down low than 2.0. And up high it pulls harder.

Once they get a few KMs on them, they are a totally different engine! Quite punchy and sounds less tinny or thrashy with age.

The 2.4 CVT does go well, and they are almost as responsive as a manual. But the CVT has an advantage of being able to keep the revs in the powerband the whole time it is accelerating, unlike a manual would. A CVT can beat a manual in a drag, but only if the manual driver stuffs the launch. The CVT launches too soft to beat a manual launch.

That's certainly good to hear.

SIR-VRX wrote:Aspire seats are more bolstered than the ES seats too. Much better to sit in. The leather is quite good, but it's no Bentley.

By more bolstered, you mean they support you more from the sides? contoured better?

SIR-VRX wrote:Yes, a yank on the paddles whilst in D put it in Sport mode. A non-activity period of 5 minutes (or could be 2 minutes I forget) puts it back in D. Or you can pull the right paddle for 2 seconds and it goes back to D that way.

Awesome, that's really cool. I was worried that it'd be moving the stick back and forth.

SIR-VRX wrote:Only in the Evo models

That's a real pitty. It looks really nice. Can't believe Mitsubishi didn't use the MY10 model update to roll that out.

SIR-VRX wrote:The lidded centre console/arm rest is ideal for glasses cases etc. That's where mine go. Fits my GPS, iPod, Wallet, Sunnies all at once! Best sized console ever! Also, the lidded cup holders are good for that. Mine have no lids though (MY09 onwards got lids)

Great, that's actually quite important to me, as I keep my prescription sunnies in my car. Easy access is a requirement

Somewhere to stash the iPhone would be handy too. If I get one, I'm going to order the iPod cable and ask for it to most likely be routed to the cup holder compartment instead of the glovebox.

Then I'll get an adapter so it'll charge there too.

SIR-VRX wrote:Touching behind the door handle (just grabbing it really) unlocks the doors. But the fob has to be within arms reach (1M or so) of the door handle you are using to unlock the car. Locking is as simple as pressing the little black button on the door handle. Car can not be started without the key fob being inside the car. CAn't even do it when the fob is just outside the car. Very sensitive, which is a good thing. Ever seen the episode of Top Gear when they go to the USA?

Yes, I saw that ep of Top Gear (awesome show), really good to hear that Mitsu. have thought about this stuff carefully. I think the keyless fob thing is a really cool feature.

SIR-VRX wrote:If fuel economy is what you're chasing, Run 95 or 98 fuel, and 10W30 or 10W40 oil.

What's the significance of the difference between 10W30/40/50/60?

Couple more questions:

the HID lights, how good are they compared to normal headlights? are they the high beam, the low beam or both?

does the audio system support playing AAC (M4A) files off of CD's?

How is the Sat Nav compared to say a Garmin? Am I correct in that the maps come on DVD, does the DVD have to be loaded all the time? or do they download to internal memory?

scraverX wrote:The one thing I'll say on the matter of the CVT over the manual you get taller gearing. Manual is 5 speed. CVT in Sport is 6 and in D it goes even taller. Great for the economy on long highway drives. I've had it as low as 6.1lt/100km and you won't see that in a manual.

Wow, that's impressive, what RPM is the engine at in D at say 110km/h?

scraverX wrote:I've got a K&N performance pannel filter in mine and have found it breathes a lot better.

Interesting, seems I might have to look into that. When you say it breathes a lot better, what characteristics of how the engine performs does that change?

deano1964 wrote:Welcome!
I find the seats quite comfortable. I have a VRX so no leather but i have had no problems with the comfort factor. Steering wheel etc is adjustable and although i have had people complain about the height of the door sills when sitting, I don't have a problem resting my arm on it.

Interesting, I like leaning my arm on the sill. Thanks for the detail.

Welcome to the Club!
Will try and answer the remaining questions for you....

mk wrote:Though I'm a bit iffy on the wing, don't want it blocking my rear view too much, don't want a huge overstated wing, but I think it makes the car look nice.

The normal VRX wing, can obscure rear vision. It can be a bit disconcerting at first, but you work around it and now I don't see it as an impediment. You can get the low-rise version of the wing, get the same look (sorta) without the obstruction.

Got a few other questions too:

If the gear stick is in Drive and one uses the paddles, does it flip into manual, if so, how does one get it out of manual, do you need to push the stick over to manual and back again? or is there a trick like squeezing both paddles at the same time.

You can hold the right paddle (I think it's the right one, it got OFF/+ engraved on it) down for 2 seconds to disengage. You can also just flip the shift right then left if you want. Same difference.

What options and settings can be changed in the MMCS? Okay, so it runs the radio, CD, iPod, GPS, etc. but what else can it do?

Climate control, change some of the ETACS customisation functions, like how long the room lamp stays on when you turn the ignition off, number of blinks for your "courtesy" flasher (that's the thing when you don't press the turn stalk down fully, just tap it so it does 3 or 5 flashes, for like changing lanes and stuff) and a few other bits and piecs. I don't have MMCS so I cant give you full run down.

Anyone heard yet if the colour LCD display (between the tacho and speedo) is available on the MY10 instead of the orange one?

Yes, unfortunately only for the Ralliart MY10 and up. I was hoping my VRX MY10 would have it. Nope. Daggy retro orange.

Is there a good spot to put a glasses case? in my current car theres a nice little spot that I think is made just for a glasses case right by the driver door.

Nope. I'm always trying to put my sunnies some where safe.


Edit: I really should read the thread and see I've been beaten. Not a good idea to catch on ClubCJ after a nightshift and lacking sleep.

mk wrote:Is that an option I can ask the dealer for?

Are there any pics around of that one?

Yes it is a dealer option, just like the other spoiler. The lip spoiler suits the Aspire really well, I personally think the other spoilers wreck the prestige look.

mk wrote:By more bolstered, you mean they support you more from the sides? contoured better?

Yes, the sides of the seat are thicker and shaped larger to provide more support to the user. Also they look much better!

mk wrote:What's the significance of the difference between 10W30/40/50/60?

Manufacturers choose thinner oil (lower numbers) to reduce friction in the engine. This results in slightly less fuel economy. Not a massive difference, but to them every bit helps. However the pay off for that is more engine wear. So I run 5W50 Full Synthetic oil and being thicker protects the engine better against wear, but more friction. I'd rather the extra protection over a slightly better fuel figure. By slightly I'm talking < 1L/100km

mk wrote:the HID lights, how good are they compared to normal headlights? are they the high beam, the low beam or both?

Bloody awesome!!! They are bi-xenon, meaning High and Low beams. They also have AFS. AFS is a separate light on each headlight that turns on when you turn your steering wheel in a particular direction, and it lights up around the corner etc. Works pretty well actually.

mk wrote:does the audio system support playing AAC (M4A) files off of CD's?

The regular stereo does not, but I'm not sure about the MMCS Unit. but the iPod/iPhone does (duh!), so use that

mk wrote:How is the Sat Nav compared to say a Garmin? Am I correct in that the maps come on DVD, does the DVD have to be loaded all the time? or do they download to internal memory?

I haven't used one extensively enough myself, but based on the use I have had it appears pretty good! has more functions than a Garmin etc. You can get average speed, fuel economy etc from it too.

Hope that helps

wow - thanks for asking all the questions i wouldn't have mk! and welcome aboard

they're a decent enough bunch but loads of information waiting to be uncovered!

not going into as much detail as the others,

2.4L soo much better than the 2L.

i find the window sill too high for me, but im getting used to it.

i have my sunnies in a round case (about the size of a coke can) and i out in on the cup holder in the door.

i have tried diffrent octane fuels and havent noticed any diffrence whats so ever.

I think the lip spoiler would look good.


and can have a signed document saying that you "arent into modding much" we will soon change that

Go the Aspire's. They are a great car.
Here is my rear lip spoiler. I prefer it to the vrx as it is discreate and suits the Aspire. I fitted with the help of my friend who own a crash repair shop. We did not drill hole to attach, but used the double sided tape provided and added Sikaflex to hold it. Dealers will drill holes in your paint and charge 1-2 hours labour. It is not worth it as using Sikaflex cost $10 a tube. You only use 10% of it and it takes 3-4 minutes to install. No it will not come off either with sikaflex. The bonus with the spoiler it helps with parking as you can see where the back of the car is
Image URL: http://www.images.clubcj.net/results/20 ... 15_car.jpg
BBCode: