Stylish Lancer is an appealing alternative

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Unfortunately it has also been treated a little shabbily by its Mitsubishi parents who have never really marketed it very well - and that's a great pity, because it is a very pleasant car in its own right.

Where the Evo is an exciting tar scorcher, the Lancer is a much more sedate compact saloon designed for more mundane duties such as daily commuting and family trips.

The compact saloon market is not about sexy looks and goose-bump driving thrills but more about reliability, value for money, space, comfort, safety, and affordable style.

And that's where the Lancer scores well, even against tough opposition such as VW Jetta, Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic, Hyundai Elantra and the Chevrolet Optra.

In fact, it is refreshingly different to the rest of the saloon car gang in many ways.

For a start, it has lovely lines, with a front end that looks very similar to the Volvo and a rear end that could easily be a blend of Alfa Romeo and Lexus.

The cabin is neatly proportioned and well laid out with a good combination of silver and black, enhanced by red-lined gauges and dials. Not exactly sporty or terribly upmarket, but neat, functional and pleasant on the eye all the same.

The cloth-covered seats are big and comfortable and the Lancer has stacks of legroom, both front and rear.

The backseat is split by a fold-down arm-rest which has duel drink-holders. The backrest can also be split 60:40 to treble the normal boot space.

Between the front seats there is a handy storage compartment for cellphones, a few CD's or sun glasses.

The sound system is good and the aircon coped admirably with the stinking hot weather we experienced in the time we scooted around in the Boland.

On the road, the Lancer is quite zippy with a keenness to rev and the engine has a pleasant gruff voice which some might find intrusive in the cabin, but we loved it.

Under the bonnet, the 16-valve twin-came 2.0-litre comfortably churns out 114kW and 199Nm which is enough for a top speed of just over 200km/h and a zero to 100km/h sprint in about nine seconds.

The gearshift is smooth and quick and although the steering is a little light and lacks feedback, it is not vague enough to be irritating. It certainly makes parking a pleasure.

The ride is quite smooth, but as to be expected of a car of this nature, it tends to cater for comfort, not for speed, with the result being quite a bit of body movement under heavy braking and fast cornering - not that the sort of person who drives this type of car is ever likely to push it to extremes.

Under normal commuting conditions, the ride is gentle, comfortable and quiet.

Mitsubishi has a good name around town and the Lancer scored well in recent JD Power surveys. The Lancer feels like it's been well put together and with it weighing in at only R175,000 (which includes a five-year/100,000km maintenance plan), it certainly is very competitively priced.

As an overall package it undoubtedly presents an interesting and viable option in this segment of the market, particularly to those who like to be a little different from the rest.

It's an easy, practical family car that will do good service on the school run and it's peppy enough for daddy to go brrm-brrm on the way to work and pretend it's an Evo.