New Ralliart May Be The Best Performance Deal Under $20K
Written: May 17 '04 (Updated Nov 23 '04)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Remarkable performance, superb steering, handling, and shifter, exciting demeanor, solid feel, balanced package.
Cons: Unexceptional interior, undistinguished looks, some may dislike ride stiffness and prominent exhaust note.
The Bottom Line: Ralliart's tweaks have transformed the ho-hum Lancer into a potent, spirited sport compact. The interior still isn't much to look at, but nothing offers this much fun so cheap.
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| drive571's Full Review: 2004 Mitsubishi Lancer |
My Experience
I test-drove a Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart at a local dealership. My test drive lasted about half an hour and covered city streets and the freeway.
Performance
The Ralliart's 2.4-liter engine is one of the car's best features. It puts out 162 horsepower--42 more than the engine in lesser Lancers--and completely transforms the character of the car.
While base Lancers are fairly innocuous in terms of acceleration, the Ralliart is a legitimately potent machine. On my test drive, it accelerated promptly off the line, pulled hard in the midrange, and made a lunge to the redline when I gave it free reign at high revs. This is pretty serious stuff, and my seat-of-the pants impression was backed up by its recently-published 0-60 times: 6.9 seconds, according to Motor Trend, or 7.3 if you ask Car and Driver.
Best of all, the Ralliart does more than just achieve impressive numbers--it feels good doing it. Throttle response is instantaneous, and the engine emits a sporty, metallic snarl that I found extremely gratifying. The Ralliart's exhaust note contributes to the fun, with a prominent but mellow growl that sounds "tuned"--like a classier version of an aftermarket big-bore exhaust.
The icing on the cake is that this engine is surprisingly refined. It's reasonably quiet in gentle driving, doesn't send rude vibrations through the cabin, and never gets thrashy even when given the boot. Plus, its variable valve timing system is smooth and unintrusive in operation. Unlike most Honda and Toyota engines, where the cam changeover (and resulting power increase) occurs abruptly, the Ralliart's was virtually unnoticeable, giving the car a remarkably broad, linear, and flexible powerband. Combine all of these qualities, and it's clear that the Ralliart has the best powerplant available in the sub-$20K sport-compact class.
Transmission/Clutch
The Ralliart's transmission was another best-in-class, with a beautifully simple explanation: this unit is lifted directly from the legendary Lancer Evolution. And while I've never driven an Evolution, the Ralliart's shifter certainly feels worthy of its rally-car relative. Its throws are ultra-short and crisp, making fast gearchanges easy and enormously satisfying. Effort is a bit higher than usual, but the mechanically-connected feel and flawless precision are more than fair compensation.
The clutch is similarly excellent, with light (but not too light) effort and a take-up that is both intuitive and millimeter-precise. In my experience, only the Acura TSX has come close to matching the feel and accuracy of the Ralliart's transmission.
Steering/Handling
The Ralliart's handling is also among the best you can get for under $20,000, which came as a bit of a surprise to me--I drove a base Lancer ES not too long ago, and its back-road behavior was a little clumsy. But it seems that the Ralliart's performance tweaks have transformed its character in this area too.
Where the base Lancer's steering felt a bit slow and disjointed on-center, the Ralliart's steering felt firm and connected, with a sense of precision and immediacy that's all but impossible to find in this price range. Its ratio isn't the quickest I've experienced--the Mazda 3's, for example, is quicker--but the Ralliart's steering has a pure, un-insulated feel that even that car lacks. The Ralliart's chassis and suspension are equally competent, with minimal body lean and an alert eagerness at turn-in. Once in a corner, the chassis feels balanced and composed--when I gave the Ralliart hard throttle on curving freeway on-ramps, it understeered a little, but held its line obediently.
The only thing the Ralliart could use more of, in the handling department, is contact patch. The 205/50R-16 tires are on par for the class, and the Ralliart has enough grip for serious cornering speeds, but its capabilities would be higher if it were shod with the 215/50R-17 rubber that comes standard on the Mazda 3s and Sentra SE-R Spec V. In the Car and Driver review of the Ralliart that I mentioned earlier, they measured just 0.78g of grip on the skidpad, versus 0.87g for the Mazda 3s--and while the difference didn't feel quite that obvious on my test drive, the Ralliart's grip limits did seem somewhat lower.
Overall though, the Ralliart's handling is superb--how easily you can use all the available grip is more important than the amount of grip itself--and a more aggressive set of tires would likley improve the Ralliart's skidpad performance greatly.
Ride
The Ralliart's ride was considerably firmer than that of the base Lancer, but sport-compact buyers should find it well within the range of acceptability. While the Ralliart bobs stiffly over uneven pavement, it swallows bumps and potholes without undue harshness, and it never got crashy, even over the broken pavement that covered the streets near the dealership.
Contributing to this relative composure is the Ralliart's stiff body structure. The base Lancer was already quite a tight-feeling little car, and the strut tower brace fitted to Ralliarts enhances the feeling of solidity even further. Buyers looking for a Civic or Corolla alternative might find the Ralliart's ride a bit too firm for comfort, but the Ralliart makes its sporting mission fairly clear, and so I think its prospective buyers will be pleased with the tied-down suspension and all-of-a-piece bodyshell.
Interior
The Ralliart's interior isn't as stellar as its driving dynamics, but it's on par for the class. The only things its really missing are style and class--its appearance is about what you'd expect from a good-quality economy car. The steering wheel is a bland four-spoke design, the secondary controls are unimaginative in appearance, and the dashboard itself is no paragon of style, with its flat face and angular detailing. Materials quality is a little above average, but there are still some hard plastics and clunky controls in evidence.
But while the look may be uninspired, the Lancer's interior excels in terms of function--and this may be more important to many sport-minded buyers. The Lancer's gauges and controls, while unexciting to look at, are very well laid-out and easy to use. The radio is mounted fairly high on the dash, where it can be adjusted without long stares away from the road ahead. The driving position is ideal, and the front seats, which are taken directly from the cushier, Japan-only Evolution GT-A, are nothing short of excellent--big and comfortable, but firm enough for long trips and supportive in the turns. Visibility is superb as well, due to the Lancer's low cowl, large glass area, and thin pillars. The Ralliart even has decent rear seats, with space and comfort that are appreciably above the small-car norm.
There are also a few trim details to give the Ralliart's cabin a little sporting flavor. The aforementioned sport seats are flecked with red cloth, the gauges are white-faced, there's some nice aluminum-look plastic on the center stack and shifter surround, and a strip of very fake carbon-fiber that at least looks semi-sporty running across the span of the dashboard.
The Ralliart's interior isn't very special as far as aesthetics are concerned, but it's comfortable, functional, and ergonomically brilliant, and that's what matters most. Of course, the Mazda 3s offers most of this plus styling that's straight out of a Sharper Image catalog... but I'll leave the significance of that up to you.
Practicality
In terms of practicality, the Ralliart is above-average for the sport compact class. Unlike sports coupes like the Toyota Celica, the Ralliart has a real back seat and a big, roomy trunk. And unlike the Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec V, the Ralliart has a split-folding rear seat that allows you to expand the cargo area when needed. Some of the Ralliart's trunk space is eaten up by a subwoofer if you order the optional premium stereo (which my test car had), but otherwise, the Ralliart's trunk is unexpectedly spacious.
The only thing the Ralliart doesn't offer is the cargo space and flexibility provided by sports hatchbacks like the Mazda 3s, and the now-discontinued Ford SVT Focus 5-door. The Ralliart does offer a wagon body style, but perplexingly, it's only available with an automatic. I honestly don't know what Mitsubishi was smoking on that one--if I could get the wagon with a 5-speed, I wouldn't be debating whether to buy the Ralliart or the Mazda 3s hatchback, or a couple other alternatives... there'd be a Ralliart wagon in my driveway right now.
Reliability
Here's the only unknown about the Ralliart. Consumer Reports has no reliability data on the Ralliart, or any Lancers, as of yet. Every other Mitsubishi they have data on has scored between Average and Much Better Than Average, and the Mitsubishi Eclipse I've owned for the last year has run flawlessly--so it seems unlikely that the Ralliart's reliability would be below average, much less catastrophic. But since there's no hard data, it's impossible to say for sure. More insight in this department should be available in the owner's reviews of other Lancers, available on this website.
Overall
Taken as a whole, the Ralliart strikes me as one of the best performance deals going. It's fast in a straight line, precise in the corners, comfortable on the highway, and even fairly practical in terms of passenger and cargo room. With a very-reasonable base price of $17,997 ($16,497 after the current $1,500 rebate) and dealers ready to discount due to the slow sales of base Lancers, it's quite a bargain as well.
In fact, I can't think of any other car in this price range that has the Ralliart beaten. For the money, the only sports coupes you could get into would be the base models of the Celica, RSX, and Eclipse--none of which offer the Ralliart's performance--and the Hyundai Tiburon GT V6, which is powerful but doesn't deliver the tactile pleasures of the Ralliart.
Then there are the compact sport sedans. The Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec V is just as quick and grippier on a track, but its aging design, torque steer, and beam-axle rear suspension make it a far less enjoyable drive on the street. Then there's the Subaru Impreza 2.5RS, which is considerably slower and less sporting--more of a solid daily driver than anything else. The Ford Focus ST and Toyota Corolla XRS are also worthy competitors, but their high-chair driving positions and mild personalities limit their appeal for enthusiasts.
The Ralliart's strongest competitor, in my opinion, is the Mazda 3s hatchback. While it's not as fast or immediately thrilling as the Ralliart, it's quieter and has a rich, stylish interior that puts the Ralliart to shame. Its handling is similarly sharp, if a shade more insulated, and it also has the advantage of hatchback versatility. It's hard to say which is the better car, partly because it depends on one's priorities, and partly because I'm still working on that decision myself--these are the two cars I'd most like to replace my soon-to-be-sold Eclipse.
In any case, the Ralliart is a seriously amazing product from Mitsubishi, a fun car that does everything well at a very reasonable price--if it weren't for the undistinguished styling, this would easily be the most immediately desirable car in its class. I wouldn't hesitate recommending it to anyone, and I very well may end up owning one myself!
Feel free to check out my reviews of some of the Ralliart's competitors:
Honda Civic Si
Hyundai Tiburon GT V6
Mazda 3s
Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec V
Scion tC
Scion xB
Subaru Impreza 2.5RS
Toyota Celica GT-S
Volkswagen Jetta GLI VR6
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 18,600
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drive571
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Member: P.J. McCombs
Location: Berkeley, California
Reviews written: 138
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About Me:
New baby at home: a 1999 Mazda Miata in British Racing Green!
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