1 Feb 1997
The Satria was based on the (unseen locally) 1992 Mitsubishi CC Mirage nee Lancer three-door hatchback, just as the Wira/Persona and M21 were.
This car had a better chance of success, owing to the pretty styling, keen pricing and road manners that bettered arch-rivals the Daewoo 1.5i and Lanos, Ford Festiva and Hyundai Excel.
Five four-cylinder engines were offered – a 66kW/126Nm 1.5-litre OHC 8V unit in the GL (until ’99) and GLi (revised to 64kW/120Nm output from November 2000 in the GLi, post-2000 XLi and XLS) a 55kW108Nm 1.3 in the post-’99 GL and short-lived 2000-01 GLS a 70kW/138Nm 1.6 SOHC 16V unit in the pre-2000 XLi the Persona’s 83kW/137Nm 1.6 DOHC 16V in the Feb 2000 to Nov 2000 Satria XLi “Son of a Gun” and the post-’99 GTi’s 103kW/164Nm 1.8-litre DOHC 16V.
The latter two benefited greatly from Lotus tuned suspension and steering (that made it fun to fling around), a gutsy and involving engine, an attractive bodykit and alloy wheels, and high equipment levels.
