Comparison with 2006 Mitsubishi Lancer:
Alhamdulillah our Lancer has been with us since 28th of September, 2006. Yes I still remember the date it entered the family. It was bought brand new back then and has loyally served us so far Masha Allah.
So comparing the latest entry in the garage, the GLi AT, with Lancer is a bit confusing.
The driving feel and comfort from the 8 years old Lancer can be called at a tie with the new Corolla, previous Corollas never even came close to the comfort Lancer offered, that is why didn't buy any of them. The feel you get while driving the 8 years old Lancer, you get almost the same, or might be a bit less, in the brand new Corolla.
Suspension wise again both can be compared at par, still the Lancer's suspension feels a bit softer than Corolla, you can say 18-20 difference.
Cabin space is more obviously of the Corolla in comparison with the Lancer, but Lancer's interior ain't squeezed either.
Engines of both cars are 1300 cc, horsepower of Lancer as stated by its manual is 90 hp and the Corolla has 82 hp according to the people, didn't check it's manual so far. However, none of the cars feel under-powered at all. In fact, I tested my Lancer against several 1300 cc cars and to everyone's surprise, it was faster than many of them, other than the current Honda City.
If we compare the built quality, Lancer takes the lead. The car is properly assembled and professionally painted, unlike the Corolla which has rough paint on the door handles, and Lancer's body including the bumpers is stronger than the Corolla. However, Corolla's built quality isn't bad either but the rough paint on door handles really bugs me, IMC could've done a better job at it. Other than that, everything seems to be in order.
Fuel consumption at the moment cannot be compared because Corolla has a brand new sealed engine, it will take some time before its fuel average improves, not expecting wonders but anything above 10 km/l is reasonable enough.
The interior plastic that is used in Lancer is far more superior than that used in Corolla, it is quite evident even to the naked eye. The Lancer interior feels solid, while that of Corolla looks a bit more fragile in its comparison.
Road grip of Lancer is unmatched in its class, this new Corolla is trying to come close to it and it is faring better than the previous models.
One additional thing that the Lancer has is driving seat height adjuster, which the Corolla lacks and is quite a beneficial feature to be honest, because my height is 5'6" and I can easily see the bonnet of Lancer whereas in Corolla I have to struggle a bit.
If we compare the original speakers of both the cars, then again Lancer takes the lead, the stock speakers are Masha Allah still pumping good even after 8 years of abuse not use
One problem that Lancer had was of low ride height specially with passengers and luggage but I got rid of that when its tires got changed, I got a slightly higher profile tires, from 185/65/R14 to 185/70/R14 and because of such a minor change the speed-bump touching menace went away. Corolla has a good ride height and it's very hard that a Corolla on stock suspension ever touches a speed-bump, even if you put a buffalo in the trunk
So that was all that could come up in my mind regarding comparison in Lancer, any other queries in comparison of these two particular cars, feel free to ask