2009 Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart

On Sale: SeptemberBase Price: Less than $30,000 (est)Drivetrain: 2.0-liter, 237-hp, 253-lb-ft turbocharged I4; awd, six-speed dual-clutch transmissionCurb weight: 3462 lb0-60 mph: 6.0 sec (est)Fuel Economy (EPA): 21 mpg
The biggest problem with our drive in the coming Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart was that immediately before it, they had put us in an Evolution GSR.
You just can't go from an Evo anything to a non-Evo anything else and find it nearly as inspiring. It was like dating Pamela Anderson for a while and then going out with Pamela Anderson's lesser-known half-sister, Gladys. Gladys is reliable and roomy, if a little soft. But she's no Pamela.
Maybe if the half-sister, like the Ralliart, was made from parts taken off the higher-end model? That is the case with the Ralliart, which shares parts with both the current Evolution (known as the Evo X to most) and the recent Evo IX.
The Ralliart has the Evo X's aluminum hood and dual exhaust, along with detuned versions of its twin-clutch SST transmission and 2.0-liter 4B11 engine block. Both the Evolution GSR and the coming MR have bigger turbos and bigger intercoolers than the Ralliart, and they give a bigger thrill when stepped on. So the Evolution makes 291 hp and 300 lb-ft of torque, while the Lancer Ralliart makes "only" 237 hp and 253 lb-ft. That's still a good slice more than the 168 hp and 167 lb-ft of the 2.4-liter GTS.
The Ralliart's TC-SST transmission has two modes, normal and sport, calibrated specifically for it, but it does not offer the Evolution's Super Sports mode. Super Sports is a high-performance track mode that goes all the way to redline at shifts, with commensurate shift shocks.
Like the Evolution, the Ralliart is also all-wheel drive, with Active Center Differential (ACD) and mechanical differentials front and rear taken from the Evo IX.
And while the Ralliart's chassis is not as stiff as that of the Evolution, it is considerably stiffer than the Evo IX's, which allows the Ralliart to get the most out of unique tuning of the front struts and rear multilink setup. The Evo's track is almost two inches wider than the Ralliart's, too.
That should mean the Ralliart is at least twice the performer of the regular old Lancer GTS and half that of the Evo X, right? Well, we drove through familiar mountains all day in a number of Lancers, and during the best section with the least traffic, we were in the Ralliart, so we were really able to open it up and toss it around. And while the extra power is appreciated, there seemed to be way too much roll, dive and squat for this to be a serious contender for performance buyers.
The improvements to the engine were markedly better than in the GTS but far off the Evo. Yes, it's obviously halfway between the two, you say, or it "bridges the gap," as Mitsubishi says. That will create a very thin sliver of buyers, no doubt, looking for Evo Lite. But we can't see too many people buying a Ralliart because they didn't have enough credit cards to buy an Evo. We'd save up and get one of the Evos, either GSR or MR. Or save money, get the GTS, and just live in longing. Though probably not suffering too terribly much.
Ralliart sales are expected to start in September, priced somewhere between the $18,640 Lancer GTS and the $33,615 Evolution GSR, probably a little less than $30,000 for a well-equipped example.