Hmm. Interesting. The last time I drove a non-Evo Lancer, I was horribly unimpressed. Maybe that example was just a lemon - this time, things are much better. What seemed like nasty, servolike steering and a crashy-yet-floaty ride has somehow mutated into respectable-but-not-great front-end feel and a decidedly un-Lancerlike level of constrained comfort. Fantastic throttle and clutch calibration, too - it's virtually impossible to be unsmooth with this car. The stereo sounds pretty damn respectable for a budget econobox (which, let's be honest, is exactly what the Lancer is, despite its cool looks), the interior is decent, and the car has far more street cred than you'd expect, given its price. Complaints? The engine sounds horrible; a tiny bit more power would be nice; climate switches are chintzy and cheap-feeling. Also caught our example doing a bit of full-throttle surging last night on an extended highway run.
Not perfect, but a hell of a car for the price.