While the 2013 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution GSR isn’t going to go head to head with the major supersportscars coming out, it is still super in its own way, and a sports car. In fact, while it looks very street friendly, it was built for sporty driving from the wheels up. Everyone that takes it for a spin gets out saying words like “Fun”, “fast” and while maybe not totally “furious”, definitely more than assertive.

The 2013 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution GSR comes in an all wheel drive configuration to offer assured driving no matter what kind or terrain or snowy, wet driving conditions you happen to be maneuvering through.  The 2.0 liter turbocharged four cylinder engine offers 291 horsepower which is more than enough to get this smaller sized model up and running in seconds flat. It is paired with a five speed manual or you can opt up to the Evo MR six speed, dual clutch automatic transmission depending on how you enjoy your driving the most.

When you crawl inside the 2013 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution GSR, you will either love it or hate it depending on how comfortable you feel in the seats. The seats are snug fitting and you can choose them in Recaro seating. If you like to feel hugged in tight, then you will love how they feel. Otherwise, you will be less than pleased. This is a sports car and the rear seats aren’t made for plushly carrying passengers, mostly just groceries or other small portables, but they aren’t too bad for shorter trips. In fact if you are looking for space, this car probably won’t be for you as it’s not built for cargo room, it’s built for performance.

The 2013 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution GSR overall is a great car, but might be a tad overpriced coming in at about $34,695 for the bare bones basic version. If you don’t mind spending the extra cash though, you should be in store for some fun driving adventures.

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The 2014 Mitsubishi Outlander is getting ready to go on sale in America and the price for the base, ES model is set to $22,995 with an additional $835 destination fee. Along with that low price, Mitsubishi lowered the prices over last year for the Outlander SE version by $200 and also cut prices for the GT version by $800. That means you can get the SE for $23,795 plus destination fees, or opt up for the GT and still fall under $30,000. Specifically, you’ll pay $27,795 plus destination fees for the 2014 Mitsubishi Outlander GT version. That one will get you the V6 engine, the Super All-Wheel Control system and HID headlamps.

The base model 2014 Mitsubishi Outlander hosts a 2.4 liter four cylinder engine mated to a continuously variable transmission and an all-wheel-drive system. That will get about 166 horsepower which isn’t going to win any races, but will get you some great gas mileage at about 29 highway miles per gallon and 24 city miles per gallon.  These are some of the best fuel ratings for a 7 passenger vehicle.

One step up is the 2014 Mitsubishi Outlander SE that starts at $23,795. For this you get additional standard equipment, 18 inch alloy wheels, 6.1 inch touch panel display CD/MP3 with an HD Radio audio system, heated front seats, dual-zone automatic climate control, Mitsubishi’s FUSE Handsfree Link System, FAST Key passive entry system with a push-button engine ignition on/off switch amongst other features.

Opt up one more grade to the 2014 Mitsubishi Outlander GT for $27,795 and you can add a V6 engine that will give you significantly more horses, the Super All-Wheel Control (S-AWC), SiriusXM satellite radio, steering wheel mounted paddle shifters, HID headlamps, and upgraded interior trim.

Finally, there is the 2014 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV model, but prices aren’t announced yet for this one. It is the 100% electric powered version model. More information about this one will be released as it comes in.

Source Mitsubishi

If you always find yourself rooting for the underdog, then you will love to root for the 2014 Mitsubishi Outlander. This, actually, pretty satisfying SUV has had one heck of a time. There was a marketing cutback which took it out from people’s attention to the point many of us thought this vehicle had just sort of faded away. Then there was no North American chairman to rally the forces to push this sturdy go-mobile along in sales at the dealerships, and then there were a few models that came out there were less than wonderful for Mitsubishi fans. Now, it’s a new year and a new model and we all wait to see how this new Outlander, once a favorite in the SUV category will end up making out.

Mitsubishi promises that everything is brand new on the 2014 Mitsubishi Outlander and they have plans to hit the marketing mediums on a larger scale to announce their great new SUV for soccer moms and busy drivers to consider as their next new transportation option.

To further sweeten the pot, drivers will have three Outlanders to pick and choose from. There is the 2014 Mitsubishi Outlander ES and SE which you can get with front wheel drive or optional S-AWC four wheel drive and a 2014 Mitsubishi Outlander GT that comes standard with the S-AWC. The ES and SE both get smaller engines which are pretty okay on fuel economy, in fact that is about the best out of the competition due to the 2.4 liter four cylinder MIVEC engine. With that you can get up to 25 miles per gallon in the city, 31 mpg on the highway and 27 combined. In the GT though, you get the assertive driving with a 3.0 liter MIVEC V6 engine. This engine will get 224 horsepower and 214 pound feet of torque that still isn’t horrible with fuel economy.

You can check out the video to learn more:

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The automakers who won the hearts of America’s Car Brand Perception know how to keep a good thing going and this latest Consumer Reports survey proves it. The top six brands from last year are the top six brands again for this year. This survey goes across the country to poll drivers about what they think of the available brands in seven categories including quality, safety, value, performance, design/style, technology/innovation and environmentally friendly/green. All these scores are added up together and the car with the most points wins.

While the top six from last year held their spots, not all automakers lived up to expectations though. “This past year brought stability and increased sales to much of the automotive industry. Yet, the brand awareness scores for some like BMW, Buick and Hyundai have declined,” said Jeff Bartlett, deputy auto editor online, Consumer Reports. “The data shows that it has become harder for companies to compete for share of mind. Consumers are not seeing as much differentiation between brands as they have in the past.”

Best Overall brand perception Ratings:

• Toyota: 133
• Ford: 118
• Honda: 114
• Chevrolet: 94
• Mercedes-Benz: 77
• Volvo: 77
• Cadillac: 66
• BMW: 66
• Dodge: 56
• Tesla: 55

Worst Overall brand perception Ratings:

• Scion: 6
• Mitsubishi: 6
• Ram: 7
• Fiat: 8
• Mini: 10
• Land Rover: 11
• Jaguar: 15
• Mazda: 16
• Jeep: 16
• Porsche: 21

The survey also proved that quality and safety are the most important considerations for how drivers choose their new vehicles. Next is value and performance. Environmental factors while nice for everyone to talk about, boils down to what is going to help save money versus what will help save the planet, but if a car can offer both, then it immediately ranks higher in popularity.

Source Consumer Reports

While most of the automakers are celebrating great sales seasons for 2012, in fact the best it’s been since 2007, not all of them have reason to celebrate. Of course all the cars can’t win popularity contests and the 10 Worst Selling Cars of 2012 are left feeling like wallflowers. Of course selling the lowest amount of vehicles for 2012 doesn’t mean all of these models are bad cars, it could just be that the public hasn’t really caught on to what the makers had in mind when they released them. Of course some of them should go back the drawing board, and fast, if they hope to do a better job for this year’s sales season.

In order to be in the top ten worst selling vehicles the cars had to come in under the $100,000 mark because let’s face it, there are some awesome cars out there over that mark but people just can’t afford to put out their pennies for them. Also if a model was cancelled in 2012 it didn’t qualify either because who wants to buy vehicles that are no longer going to be in existence anyway? Here is the list though for the vehicles that qualify:

10 Worst Selling Cars of 2012

10. Volvo C30 priced at $25,500 sold 2,827 units

9. BMW Z4 priced at $47,350 sold 2,751 units

8. Audi TT priced at $39,545 sold 2,226 units

7. Subaru Tribeca priced at $32,595 sold 2,075 units

6. Suzuki Equator priced at $19,449 sold 1,966 units

5. Cadillac Escalade EXT priced at $63,060 sold 1,934 units

4. Nissan GT-R priced at $96,820 sold 1,188 units

3. Acura ZDX priced at $50,920 sold 775 units

2. Mitsubishi Lancer Sportback priced at $18,495 sold 702 units

1. Mitsubishi i-MiEV priced at $29,125 sold 588 units

While Suzuki bows out of the American automotive market, Mitsubishi becomes more serious than ever about ramping up their American brand image, despite their low sales. This past year 55,000 Mitsubishi models left the dealerships which might sound like quite a few, but when you compare a whole brand to just one vehicle from the Honda lineup that sold 276,000 just this past year, you can see that is barely a drop in the bucket. The Honda model that sold so many is the Civic despite being dropped from the Consumer Reports Recommended List due to its disappointing handling performance. But Mitsubishi president Osamu Masuko is determined to change things around and the Mitsubishi organization is doing some strategic positioning to further ensure their goals are met. The first goal set is to sell 80,000 vehicles within the next fiscal year.

To help Masuko and Mitsubishi reach their new goal of 80,000 sales for the year, the updated Mitsubishi Mirage will be making its appearance at dealerships early next fall. This little bargain mobile has been selling out even though the Thailand plant is at full capacity of 150,000 cars. The plant will be expanded to be able to churn out an additional 50,000 Mirage compacts.

To compound Mitsubishi sales further, the Mitsubishi Outlander Plug In will show up early in 2014. The Outlander has always been a favorite in the American market and the new Plug In version is expected to great in sales. The Outlander is built in Normal, Illinois and that plant, which currently produced 50,000 units a year will be expanded in order to create 20,000 additional units to go out for sale. Many of the additional Outlander Plug Ins will be exported to Russia, Latin America and the Middle East.

It sounds like Mitsubishi has their work cut out for them. What is most important to Masuko at this time is, “What we have to do is to provide these dealers with attractive products,” he said. “If you don’t provide dealers attractive products, they are not going to invest in their dealerships.”

Source Auto News