I'm more of a bimmer fanatic myself - a BMW fan. Even got a soft spot for convertibles. (Yea, I know what that says about me. heh.)

So it's a bit unusual for me to be doing a paid review for TheCarConnection.com's Mitsubishi Lancer reviews. But I'm also a very thorough researcher. It took me over two months to cull over countless reviews and assess assorted cars before I found one that I liked. That means TCC's reviews would have been something I would have bookmarked in my research.

I don't think I actually read any of their articles in my BMW search though, but that's probably because they didn't show up in any search results. I'm sure they want to change that. Hence this paid review.

If you're in the market for a Mitsubishi Lancer, you'll definitely want to do your homework. Buying a car is a major purchase. Any major purchase should be preceded with careful research.

To their credit, TCC does a pretty good job of reviewing the Lancer. Their review starts with a one-page summary called the Bottom Line. In it, the editor (who is cited by name so you know it's not some faceless bot) includes his Likes, Dislikes, and Buying Tips. The summary itself is pretty helpful, with good info about the car, its features, and its class. A comparison with similar cars is there too. It concludes with a one-sentence statement - the true Bottom Line - such as: "The 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer is a basic but sporty sedan with some tech features not often offered in this class."

Then there's a Full Review with a five-part section including Styling, Performance, Comfort & Quality, Safety, and Features - each of which is rated 1 out of 10. This rating is factored into an overall rating which appears on every page. Quotes are included and pulled out of other expert reviews, such as Cars.com, Motor Trend, Car and Driver, Edmunds, and Kelley Blue Book. I believe the rating comes from TCC's staff of editors, who read all of the reviews out there and aggregates them into a cohesive article. That's a pretty nifty idea if you don't have the time to read alot.

Complimenting this content are other helpful bits of info, such as a Photo Gallery, a 360 View, Trims and Specs, Related News, Other Expert Reviews, Consumer Opinions, Free Price Quotes, and related cars in which you might also be interested.

The Photo Gallery seems to have an odd discrepancy. At the bottom of the Overview page are a set of colorful photos, yet the link in the left-hand column points to a set of generic-looking images supplied by eVox Productions. The same set of images are in both redundant links, but I guess the editor realized that readers would prefer the more colorful pictures over the eVox pictures (and rightly so). This gallery is done in AJAX and scrolls through all the images automatically.

The 360 View is pretty cool too. It's an embedded Flash player - also from eVox - and rotates the car around. Neat. I'm kind of glad it's not a clunky Quicktime player.

The Trim and Specs are helpful. I spent a lot of time comparing the various trims of my car. Although no editorial content is provided in this section, the specs are helpful. It even lists the MSRP and fuel economy for each.

Related News pulls from other TCC articles. Other Expert Reviews links to outside car review sites. And Consumer Opinions also links to user reviews from other sites. The Free Price Quotes - probably another source of revenue (though how much they're actually making, I don't know; it's a tough market) - allow you to enter in your contact info so a nearby dealer can call or email you.

The related cars section is cool. TCC lists similar cars that it figures you may also want to check out. That's a nice feature.

In proper social media marketing fashion, buttons to share this overview on del.icio.us, Digg.com, Yahoo! Buzz, StumbleUpon, Facebook, and more, are all included.

Sounds pretty damn thorough, huh? It sure looks it. Although they aren't doing any actual tests on the cars themselves, they're aggregating info from around the web, much like Yahoo! (YHOO) Autos and MSN (MSFT) Autos actually. Yahoo! Autos doesn't have an editorial staff that aggregates various articles though, but they do have a way to get email alerts every time a new review is published on the web. MSN Autos does one-up TCC though. They include safety and reliability info, which I did use in my research. (Note: as of this post, MSN Autos doesn't have any reliability data for the 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer. Oh well.)

Other than that, there really isn't much I can criticize in TCC's review. It's pretty damn thorough and aggregates much of what is out there. The user interface is nice too; it's usable, readable, and easy to navigate.

A Palo-Alto-based VC-funded start-up called The Car Advisory Network, now called High Gear Media, purchased TCC in 2007 and gave it a huge redesign earlier this year. They look nothing like they did back in January 2008. And interestingly enough, a bunch of Yahoo! execs work there now. Hmmm. That's some mighty brainage. I'll have to keep an eye on them to see where they take this site… Nice job, guys.