What does this all add up to? Well aside from the obvious rims, rear wing and badging, only the trained eye of a true Mitsubishi fanboy will be able to discern a Ralliart over an EVO unless the cars are side by side. And getting into the cockpit, especially with the Recaro seat package, there’s nothing to give away the fact that you’re in a junior model. Even when you fire her up, snick the shifter into drive and pull away, you still could be in an EVO. Start moving over some ripples in the road, and an MR driver will realize that the suspenders are soaking up more of the surface, but floating a little more than his Bilsteins would allow. Flick the perfect leather wheel back and forth and there’s slightly more body roll, but not much. And to my recollection the Ralliart pulls out of the hole with noticeably more oomph. Smaller turbos will do that for you! Unfortunately smaller turbos run out steam much faster, so the power drops off very quickly—hence a 500rpm lower redline here. Stepping into the gas, the Ralliart generates an even more stifled version of the noise we’ve already grown to hate from the EVO–now its Dyson choking on a furball from an Old English Sheepdog. Not good!

While it’s making all that nasty noise though, you’re suddenly hustling along the road at a deceivingly rapid rate. I turned to my co-driver on the street loops of the press launch a few times, surprised that we were already at 80mph with a brief period of wide open throttle. The SST box makes short work of hustling through the gears seamlessly and putting the power to best use. Our street work consisted of almost perfectly paved smooth Washington country roads twisting through fields and forests just east of Seattle. Not exactly the best place to test suspension compliance but the thought is that the somewhat liveable, though firm ride of the EVO is more liveable in the Ralliart. Steering feel and action follows the lead from big brother EVO—direct, fast geared, well weighted and no wanting for road feel. Top-of-line! On the road, the Ralliart is very good. It will probably run point to point with anything in its class, but it has its limits. Don’t make the mistake of thinking its an EVO.

The EVO is a hero car. Jump in it, with a vague understanding of car control, you can go all the way to the ragged edge and hang your ass out there. I did! The throttle rotates it on command and it goes where you want it to go. I did also! Not so with the Ralliart. Running the Ralliart and EVO through the same autocross course on the same day and the shortcomings shine through very brightly. The EVO goes where you point it. The Ralliart plows like a pig. I misjudged a turn on the course and two footed (I know!) the brake pedal to no avail! But don’t get me wrong, in our humble Autofiendish opinion, comparing anything to the EVO that costs less than double its asking price ($80k), at least for pure driving, just ain’t fair. And the base price for the Ralliart is $26,000!

So here’s the conclusion. On the road, and not on the ragged edge, the Ralliart can run with the best in its class—think Subaru WRX, Volkswagen GTI and Mazdaspeed3. Get closer to the ragged edge, and not so much. The last two and a half tenths, unlike big EVO bro, are where it shines less. More weight (compared to the competition) and not-so-smart diff systems (compared to EVO X) that can’t overcome the physics of that weight let it down at its limits. But unless you spend a lot of time there, the convenience of the SST, the ass-grabbing comfort of the optional Recaros, and the incomparable steering mean that this Mitsubishi can wear that vaunted Ralliart badge with pride. With the fresh 2009 Subaru WRX also just down the pipe, the mid-twenty thousand dollar compact sports segment is at the hottest it has ever been, with the key competitors all having their strong points. We’re feeling a shootout coming on.

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