ClubRalliart.com review for 2009 Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart

[CarGuy]

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Mitsubishi recently had the U.S. press launch for the new Ralliart in the Seattle, Washington area where we were allowed to sample the sporty side of the entire Mitsubishi Lancer family. They had the new 2.4-liter equipped GTS, the new Ralliart and Evo X’s GSR and MR for us to sample on three distinct driving venues. Going into this launch I had read the U.S. buff books reviews for the Lancer Ralliart where each and every one of them compared it to the Evolution. So, to many, myself included it seemed like the new Ralliart was basically going to be an Evo-lite or a baby-Evo.

After driving one on the street and track, I’d have to say I don’t really think it’s going to be the same type of owner that will consider an Evolution. If you are looking to purchase an Evo, you'll buy an Evo. I don’t think you’ll see potential Evo buyers who can’t afford the Evolution going into a Ralliart. Those purchasers would likely then consider a used Evolution instead.

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The Ralliart has too much differentiating it from the Evo that I think most of the sales for the car will be conquest sales. Either someone who's already looking at a Lancer GTS and wants more performance or from someone cross shopping say a Dodge Caliber SRT-4, Mazdaspeed3 or Honda Civic Si and would prefer the additional benefits of all-wheel drive.
The new Ralliart is base priced at $26,490, whereas the Evolution GSR starts at $32,990. And although the two cars share many components a large amount of the Ralliart parts are unique and dedicated to that model only. Let’s look at the similarities and differences to try and sort this out.

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[CarGuy]

Continued from the front page:

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From the outside you can see that the Lancer Ralliart will have its own dedicated front and rear fascias, more aggressive than GTS, but less so than Evo. I like the clean look of the Ralliart and I’m a big fan of the curved fenders that were present, albeit more pronounced, on the original Concept X. The Ralliart and Evolution models get new blacked-out rear tail lamps for ’09 and also share the same hood design for heat ventilation and extraction from the turbochargers fury. Ralliart shares the same body in white as the rest of the Lancer line meaning that it does not share the Evolutions extra welds and reinforcement, but does allow it to have the 60/40 fold down rear seats that the Evolution doesn’t have. It also has the battery mounted under the hood instead of in the trunk where it’s mounted in the Evo.

They also share one very important key ingredient though, the same 4B11 engine that powers the Evolution to 291 hp in U.S. trim. With some external differences such as different intake, intercooler and turbocharger the Lancer Ralliart will produce 237 hp and 253 lb.-ft. of torque compared to the 300 lb.-ft. in the Evo. It also has reduced rev capability compared to it big brother with redline occurring at 6500 rpms versus the Evo’s 7000 and the limiter cutting in at 6800 compared to 7600 for the Evo.
On paper this sounds like a huge difference but on the road the drivability of the Ralliart was better than the Evo. I noted less lag on initial takeoff and that can be directly traced to the smaller intercooler and single scroll turbocharger versus twin scroll on the Evo. So while it doesn’t breathe as deeply as the Evo, it does offer quicker initial response.

The transmission is also shared with the Evolution MR model and is the Twin Clutch – SST, but where the Evolution has 3-modes, normal, sport and super sport the Ralliart has just normal and sport. The gear ratios on 5th and 6th gears are also changed from the MR’s version of this transmission. Instead of the Evo’s 1.008 5th gear the Ralliart gets a 0.983 ratio and instead of 0.775 for 6th it gets 0.731 with both sharing the same final drive ratio. On the street drive I played with the 2 modes and it left me with the impression that you’ll likely never miss super sport mode on the street.

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The suspension setup is shared with the GTS but comes with unique spring dampening and shock tuning for the Ralliart. The steering also gets its own tuning unique to Ralliart with tweaks to the flow pump and the smaller steering wheel borrowed from the Evolution MR complete with its Bluetooth controls. The rear suspension is a multi-link, similar to the GTS but with unique rear trailing arms to accommodate the addition of all-wheel drive. The drivetrain is from the Evolution IX with an Active Center Differential with settings for tarmac, gravel and snow, but without the Active Yaw Control that highlights the Evo’s Super All Wheel Control.

The front brakes are sourced from Mitsubishi’s Outlander SUV with its 2-piston calipers and large 294mm ventilated discs. Single-pistons rear disc brakes are standard. The wheels are the same as the Lancer GTS but with a summer, performance-rated tire instead of the GTS all-season treads. The only option for the Ralliart includes Recaro front seats, HID headlamps and a Rockford Fosgate sound system for $2750. There are plenty of port or dealer installed options and the Navigation System has a 40 gig hard drive that can store plenty of your music.

With only 2400 or so Ralliart’s available for 2009 in the U.S. it’s actually going to be rarer than the Evolution model. But like I said at the beginning I don’t think that that will matter because I believe they are two completely different buyers. Anyway you look at it the new Lancer Ralliart is a nice addition to the Lancer family giving buyers another level of performance at an affordable price.

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[CarGuy]

It seems to be a popular read.

[johnson kuo]

Is lancer ralliart recaro seat same as lancer GTS regular seat????????????
cuz i m going to buy a ralliart but my dad doesnt like the recaro seat too sporty.
so i wonder is recaro seat same as lancer GTS regular seat if yes than i can change it.

[zeRep85]

They sell non-recaro Ralliarts...i own one :)

[bertybrate]

yes they sell non recaro i own one too hehehe:D

[MTZL]

I own Non-Recaro Seats too.
Our regular seats has height adjustable feature. ;)
I have to keep it at the lowest setting to clear my helmet when Im on the track, so I drive it at the lowest setting.

Stock Seats doesnt hold you in place like Recaros I have sat in one & Wish I would have opted for Recaros..but recaros are expensive!