Cedia is a compact four-door sedan, replacing the previous Lancer/Mirage twins.
The Cedia is built on a stretched Mirage platform, with increased rear leg room.
The rear wing for the sporty Cedia model.
The all-new Cedia interior.
The Cedia's GDI 1.8-L engine is combined with an electronically controlled CVT.
The Cedia's base GDI 1.5-L four-cylinder engine.
INVECS III CVT in the Cedia features six-position manual shift ability.
The Cedia's rear suspension is independent with multi-links.
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The name Cedia is coined from the new century and diamond, the latter representing Mitsubishi's triple-diamond corporate emblem. Mitsubishi pins its hopes on the new Cedia sedan for rejuvenation after a long lull in product strategy, which has been weighted heavily on its SUV lines. Mitsubishi refers to the Cedia as a "core product," competing head-on against some formidable new compact sedans, including the soon-to-be-revamped Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla, as well as Nissan's current Sunny (Sentra). The Cedia also consolidates Mitsubishi's two compact sedan ranges, the Mirage and Lancer, into a single lineup. For the U.S. market, the name Mirage will likely be continued with the new sedan.
The Cedia shares its platform with the Dion minivan. It is essentially a stretched version of the previous Lancer/Mirage sedan's, with a 2600-mm (102-in) wheelbase, which is 100 mm (3.9 in) longer than its predecessor's. The four-door sedan is 4360 mm (172 in) long, 1695 mm (67 in) wide, and 1430 mm (56 in) tall, representing increases of 70 mm (2.8 in), 5 mm (0.2 in), and 35 mm (1.4 in), respectively. Passenger accommodation benefits from these increases, especially rear legroom, which is 60 mm (2.4 in) more than the previous model's.
The chassis is carried over from the previous model with detail refinements. The front suspension uses MacPherson struts, and the rear the familiar multi-link type.
Two engine types are offered in the front-wheel-drive range. They are both Mitsubishi's gasoline direct-injection (GDI) variants. The 4G15 displaces 1468 cm3 and is rated at 74 kW (99 hp) at 6000 rpm and 137 N•m (101 lb•ft) at 3500 rpm on a 11.0:1 compression ratio, specified with regular-grade unleaded gasoline. The 4G93 is a 1834-cm3 unit producing 96 kW (129 hp) at 6000 rpm and 177 N•m (131 lb•ft) at 3750 rpm on a higher 12.0:1 compression ratio and requiring premium-grade fuel.
Mitsubishi calls new GDI applications the Sigma series. The Cedia's is the GDI-CVT combination. Mitsubishi has joined Japan's CVT race with its own transmissions, produced at the Kyoto Plant. The Dutch company VDT supplies the push-type steel belt. The engine/CVT computers centrally manage the GDI engine and CVT, expanding the engine's ultra-lean operating envelope to maximize fuel economy as well as enhancing performance. The CVT provides internal ratios ranging from 2.319: to 0.445:1. One version of the F1CA-2 CVT for the 1.8-L engine may be manually shifted through six forward positions. Mitsubishi claims a fuel consumption of about 5.6 L/100 km (42 mpg) with the 1.5-L GDI and CVT combination.
Mitsubishi will be developing the seventh generation of the ultra-high-performance, all-wheel-drive Evolution model on the new Cedia architecture, but unlikely with a GDI and CVT combination. The current Evolution VI is powered by a turbocharged 2.0-L inline four, combined with a heavier duty manual transmission.
Jack Yamaguchi
AEI August 2000
