For Mitsubishi, Ralliart is a somewhat hallowed name in certain circles. In the US its been mostly associated with trim packages that tarted up those nasty little Lancer econoboxes of days past sold through, for Mitsubishi execs at least, the best forgotten Zero Zero Zero program. Remember it? That’s the promotion that put half of Nevada’s exotic dancers in (very soon to be repoed) Eclipses a few years back. But in the rest of the world, Ralliart has been synonymous with Tommy Makinen’s WRC Evos and Dakar busting desert trucks. It’s no joke. When first leaked, the details of the 2009 Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart pointed to the US arm of Mitsu moving in the right direction finally for the moniker with a midrange, slightly defanged version of the EVO X MR complete with the trick SST auto-manual we love so much. Well I do, Jonny’s not so keen. We’re big fans of the EVO X MR, but that’s a whole other story you can catch up on here. Read on after the jump for the Ralliart…
Mitsubishi rummaged through the fairly diverse parts bin it has between the twenty thousand dollar FWD 160hp Lancer GTS and $40k EVO X MR. For motivation they stuffed the closed deck 4B11 I4 Turbo from the EVO X into the nose of a GTS along with the AWD system from last year’s EVO IX. The all important, delicious, double clutch SST box also made the trip. The steel stamped GTS suspension bits remained with some tuning of the dampers and bars, along with the GTS’ rim and tire pack. Keeping the EVO theme going, its aluminum hood is shared along with grill shape but with honeycomb plastic and a chrome surround instead of wire mesh and monochrome. Our current favorite car seats, the MR’s Recaros, are a must have $2k option above the $26k and change base price, and the other EVO interior bit we really like, that wonderful steering wheel is here too making the still plasticky interior liveable.
A few important bits didn’t make the cut for the Ralliart. The EVO’s mega-trick electronic active yaw control (AYC)—replaced by the EVO IX’s mechanical All Wheel Control diff setup. The EVO’s bespoke aluminum suspension parts also aren’t here, along with its two inch wider track, the 18×8.5inch BBS rims (with gummy tires!), the flares to cover them, and the big red Brembo stoppers behind them. The motor is dumbed down with a smaller single scroll turbo replacing the EVO’s expensive double scroll blower, a smaller intercooler and of course different ECU programming. The SST tranny only loses the third Super Sport mode, left with Normal and Sport programs. The Ralliart consequently makes a claimed 237hp, down from 291hp. Underrated according to unnamed sources!
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Posted By: Steve Levy |
Tags: 2009 2009 Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart EVO EVO MR Lancer Mitsubishi Ralliart Rally Replica Subaru WRX
The old Ralliart was a surprisingly satisfying car to drive–shame it was so hard on the eyes, inside and out.
I’ve been hoping that the new Ralliart would hit a bang for the buck sweet spot. But this review, already more positive than others I’ve read, says not quite. The “plowing” bit is a definite turn-off.
Don’t get us wrong. The Ralliart definitely provides big bang for the buck, especially with its SST gearbox in the mid $20ks. The big problem for the Ralliart is that it lives in the shadow of its absolutely excellent EVO X MR big brother, which is slightly unfair given the $13k price difference. It holds its own in its price segment with its competitors–GTI, WRX, C30–and they all have their pluses and minuses. Like I said, a comparo is probably coming soon.