Mitsubishi’s tryout at competing with the Honda Civic SiR of the day. The Lancer MR is a rare breed in Singapore’s civic climate.
With the success of the Honda Civic VTi (EG) being anything to go by during the early nineties, Mitsubishi was also playing to dominate the market with their own set of fast economy cars.
The CB-generation Lancer was the equivalent fighter to Honda and others, with the export market GTi (CB5) trim being the heavy hitter with a twincam 1.8-litre 4G93 naturally aspirated engine. If an extra kick was needed, the GSR trim was available with the same engine but with a factory turbocharger.
Powertrains were similar come the introduction of the CK-generation. That 1.8-litre 4G93 was still there, but for some markets was it less effective to roll out the 1.8. So the next performance piece, the MR or CB4 chassis, followed into the model lineup of the new body.
The Lancer MR came forward as the CK4 chassis for the new Lancer. The powertrain was the same, a 1.6-litre Category A COE-friendly 4G92 twincam engine with a sky-high 8,200 RPM redline.
Introduced in the previous generation and now standard is Mitsubishi’s variable valve timing called MIVEC. On a basic level, MIVEC is similar to Honda’s VTEC; VTEC has two separate cam profiles, which makes the change and notably sound more obvious when it switches from quick to very quick. MIVEC works with three cam profiles, so the transitions are more muted but serve a similar purpose.
The Lancer MR CK4 would inherit this 4G92 MIVEC powertrain, and would be a healthy launch to combat the Civic SiR of its time. As both cars sat squarely in mostly the same market segment as high-revving Cat A COE performance saloons, the common joke about the rivalry tends to be, “are you a SiR or MR?”
The CK4 as offered came with either a 4-speed tiptronic automatic (INVECS-II) or a 5-speed manual transmission. Tiptronic, or Steptronic, is an automatic with a locking torque converter, referred to as manual override. This means the driver may “row” his own gears similarly to a modern Dual-Clutch Transmission (DCT). Either transmission is mated to a front-wheel drive system, unlike the all-wheel drive system found in the zippy Evolution.
All this kick meant the Lancer MR had a healthy quoted power output of 173 horsepower and 167 Nm of torque. But both were not available on a whim, only reached at 7,500 and 7,000 RPM respectively. The last stage of that MIVEC system would also kick at 5,000 RPM, lower than the Honda Civic SiR’s VTEC switchover at around 5,500 RPM.
At its launch, the Lancer MR was offered by Cycle & Carriage at S$123,800 including COE as of July 1997. These units were opulently equipped in base specification with an electric sunroof amongst other “upmarket” standard features like twin airbags and color-matching bumpers.
This is one of two CK4 left in Singapore. This was sold with the automatic transmission, whilst the other unit is a manual.
In recent memory, this car has traded hands multiple times. Throughout the 2010s, this would be SCU1252L as its original registration number before being switched to the current SNQ8349L plate. It was a black unit with twin-tip muffler and a contrasting photography sticker on the trunk. The front bumper has always had this… sunken piece on the grille area – should you find a photo of the front of the car, its quite obvious. I’m surprised that it has stuck for as far back as the late 2010s.
In recent years, it was resprayed into the white as seen here, now on white Volk Racing TE37 wheels.
The body kit is that of a Lancer Evolution VI (6). Across the normal Lancer and Evolution 4-6, the base car is effectively identical with respective revisions and upgrades across each model. The same base means parts are mostly plug-and-play and conversion-ready. Many normal Lancer and even Evolutions have been converted into later models.
Across multiple sale listings, this unit was been modified previously with a MIVEC RS headers (maybe OEM extractors?), SARD radiator, Automatic Transmission Fluid (ATF) cooler, Evolution III (3) twin-pot calipers with DIXCEL brake pads, BC Racing V1 coilovers, Evolution VI (6) body kit and other goodies.
This unit is set to expire in March of 2028, with the other unit expiring in April 2029. Across a check in 2023 to check population numbers of old Lancer, there were 11 recorded Lancer GLXi of both CB and CK-generation combined. This number has already dwindled with at least two units being scrapped since.
Alongside the performance Lancer MR is also remaining Lancer Evolutions of this body. There are three units still remaining, but original chassis remains hard to ascertain as each of them have respectively been upgraded into other Evolution series. A piece of trivia is there used to be an original Tommi Makinen Edition (TME) Evolution registered locally, which was supposedly converted into a drag car afterwards and deregistered.
~Efini
Gallery:
Photos taken September 26 2026
Read more: RoadNotes: Honda Civic SiR VS Mitsubishi Lancer MR
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