I was almost embarrassed to be seen in the old Lancer, especially in that god-awful yellow color that they almost all seemed to come in, but the new Lancer, even with the boy-racer rear wing, is much more attractive. The interior also seems to be put together much better. There are a few touches I don't care for, like the chintzy suede on the door panels, but in general the interior trim seems to be of a better quality than the previous version and is fairly pleasing to the eye.
The Lancer isn't exactly a ball of fire, but I'd say that the engine has enough power for its class. It doesn't make very nice noises, however.
The biggest problem that the Lancer has is that Mitsubishis seems to be invisible in the marketplace. The company now has a competitive entry-level car, but in order to compete with the Civic and the Mazda 3, it probably needs to stand out more than it does. Too bad, because it's a pretty nice car.