Mitsubishi Lancer SE offers four-wheel-drive on the cheap

I figured it would be a slow week when Mitsubishi delivered to the CNET garage a 2013 Lancer that lacked either Evo or Ralliart badges. The rally star Lancer Evo is a glorious little street-fighter, while the Ralliart version is almost as good.

But this 2013 Lancer SE showed me a couple of tricks that ultimately made for some fun driving adventures.

Bargain four-wheel-drive Among Mitsubishi’s limited line of vehicles, the Lancer is the stalwart — an economy car offered in multiple trims, and with some tech options. The Lancer SE delivered to CNET was a midtrim model, above the DE and ES models, on par with the GT, but below the Ralliart and Evo.

The main feature setting the SE apart from the DE, ES, and GT Lancers is four-wheel drive, in the form of Mitsubishi’s All-Wheel-Control (AWC) system. The SE includes a rocker switch on the console that allows the driver to select front-wheel-drive, all-wheel-drive, or differential lock mode, which maintains power at all four wheels.

At a base price of $ 20,295, the Lancer SE is not the cheapest all-wheel-drive car you can get, as the Subaru Impreza undercuts it. But nothing else in t… [Read more]

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