Hot Hatch – RALLIART Mitsubishi Lancer Sportback
July 12, 2008
Lancer, it’s a name that car fans love to conjure with and one that reared its head again this year when Mitsubishi’s Evolution X was launched. The Evolution X is lightning quick, powerful and has huge levels of grip. The Lancer on which the Evolution X is based is a lot cheaper but it’s nowhere near as engaging or involving to drive.
So Mitsubishi has hit upon a rather clever yet purposeful plan: launch a car largely based on the new Sportback-bodied Lancer, but with some of the mechanicals from the latest Evo and the last generation. Say hello to the Lancer Sportback RALLIART.
To Mitsubishi what STI is to Subaru, Ralliart is the in-house competition and tuning department. And its name doesn’t only carry hype.
The Ralliart reflects the glory of its Evo brother, sharing the bonnet scoops and aggressive face and pairing it with the new hatchback Lancer body. It might not be the most beautiful hatchback, but it certainly has presence.
The Ralliart has some significant advantages. Its Evo pedigree means four-wheel drive being put into it. And although it runs a de-tuned version of the Evo’s turbocharged 2.0-litre engine it’s still got 237bhp and will break 100km/h in just seven seconds. But the big news is the gearbox, the Ralliart comes standard with Mitsubishi’s SST dual-clutch transmission.
Is their any chance that Mitsubishi would reenter the WRC bringing back the late 90s glory?
if they do..they lagged behind.
oh what a nice car. Way better than the sedan and the new Impreza
what??..u call this a nice car???..you are kidding right??…LOL…evo10 is the ugliest evo among all evo in the opinion of all evo fanatic
i like the front, the angry look… its a masterpiece in car design.
reminds me of the ford focus for some reason…
haha the front end is vigorously fierce..which i think that is why the the galant cant be made fiercer than the lancer..but ended up the same as the lancer..lol
looks great and like a monster at the front but at the back looks like gurly.
square at the front and round shape at the back, not match at all.
2 star for the appearance.
OWH MY GOD….. >.<
It look good. Definitely a contender to be put in WRC. The new Impreza is also making waves in WRC now. The problem is all the fast WRC cars now are hatches. If they put the sedan inside, i’m sure they would get killed yet again.
But this car seems to be a hint of Colt or Mirage.