Mitsubishi Lancer

The 2008 Lancer redesign brought great improvements, including a decent ride and fairly agile handling. Its 2.0-liter four-cylinder has good acceleration, but the engine is sluggish from a stop, tends to moan at high revs, and returns uncompetitive fuel economy. The cabin is furnished with drab plastics, but the controls are simple to use. The sporty, AWD Ralliart is quick and agile. But it's also noisier, has a stiff ride, and its automated manual transmission is annoying during all but the most spirited drives. The high-performance Lancer Evolution is a turbocharged all-wheel-drive rally car for the road.

This iteration of the Lancer is an unimpressive compact sedan. Slow, with clumsy handling and poor ride quality, the model trailed the compact sedan field of its day. While the interior is spacious, the seats are uncomfortable and noise levels are quite high. The model also earned a Poor ranking in IIHS side-crash testing.