If it wore a Mitsubishi badge and needed to go fast on tarmac, dirt or even snow, Ralliart is who you went to.
The brand had been fairly active in Mitsubishi’s lineup until the early 2000s, with the seventh-gen Lancer being one of the last models to wear a Ralliart badge here in the United States.
Now, however, the brand …
Mitsubishi still makes cars?
In reply to CyberEric :
Yeah that make the electric golf cart, errrr.....iMEV. And the Eclipse which is now a crossover.
edit: The iMEV has been dead for a while now
So I'm guessing "Ralliart" will be an ev sedan with zero sporting intentions.
If I had to take my best guess, Mitsubishi will probably try to go the TRD Tacoma/Tundra/Sequoia or Ridgeline HPD route.
With that being said, I'm totally on board with seeing some kind of performance added back into the lineup. I might not first in line to buy a Ralliart version of the Eclipse Cross, but it'll at least pique my interest more than what Mitsubishi is currently offering.
Alright, just spitballin' here, but what if Mitsu does what Toyota is too scared to do and brings a hot little AWD car with a MT to the states!? Idk, name or something synonymous with constant change, maybe "progress", "agile sprint", "evolution"? Idk, just me over here with silly ideas.
Looks like their US line is down to the Outlander (which is now a rebadged Nissan?), Outlander Sport, Eclipse Cross, and Mirage.
A boosted to the moon Mirage with a sport suspension package could be interesting. Add AWD and you might have yourself a worthy Lancer EVO successor, although it appears Mitsubishi is bound and determined to build one that is as unworthy as possible.
I hink the last Ralliart in the US if I remember was the Ralliart Galant which had approximately zero performance parts and was a FWD auto v6. As a GVR4 owner at the time, I was hoping for a reboot and then we got that garbage.
In reply to crankwalk (Forum Supporter) :
The forum handle speaks to the commitment and loyalty to the brand.
In reply to MadScientistMatt :
Wasn't the first Evo basically an extra spicy Mirage?
crankwalk (Forum Supporter) said:I hink the last Ralliart in the US if I remember was the Ralliart Galant which had approximately zero performance parts and was a FWD auto v6. As a GVR4 owner at the time, I was hoping for a reboot and then we got that garbage.
Was that before or after the Lancer Ralliart in the early 00s?
thatsnowinnebago said:In reply to MadScientistMatt :
Wasn't the first Evo basically an extra spicy Mirage?
Moderately spicy.... similar drivetrain as the Eclipse GSX. From all I could gather, the interior was laughably bad because the cars were intended to have all of that stripped out for a roll cage, anyway. The engine tuning was also pretty crappy, I've seen footage of early Evos (Evo II?) laying a cloud of sooty exhaust under full acceleration. Might have been necessary to keep the engines alive.
I kind of like the current Mirage, and think it'd be neat with more sporting intentions. It's nice and small.
I wouldn't get too excited. I think this is for Dakar, which would be a big crossover thing. If they do go to WRC though, it would likely also be a crossover thanks to the new rules. The next M-Sport Ford World Rally Car is likely a scaled down version of the crossover Ford Puma, for example. Good to see more manufacturer involvment, but I don't expect to see any exciting new enthusisast cars out of it.
Pete. (l33t FS) said:crankwalk (Forum Supporter) said:I hink the last Ralliart in the US if I remember was the Ralliart Galant which had approximately zero performance parts and was a FWD auto v6. As a GVR4 owner at the time, I was hoping for a reboot and then we got that garbage.
Was that before or after the Lancer Ralliart in the early 00s?
Well after. It was like 2007-2009ish.
Pete. (l33t FS) said:thatsnowinnebago said:In reply to MadScientistMatt :
Wasn't the first Evo basically an extra spicy Mirage?
Moderately spicy.... similar drivetrain as the Eclipse GSX. From all I could gather, the interior was laughably bad because the cars were intended to have all of that stripped out for a roll cage, anyway. The engine tuning was also pretty crappy, I've seen footage of early Evos (Evo II?) laying a cloud of sooty exhaust under full acceleration. Might have been necessary to keep the engines alive.
I kind of like the current Mirage, and think it'd be neat with more sporting intentions. It's nice and small.
The interiors were spartan but not laughably bad. They were comfortable 4 door race cars with Recaros for 4 people and 90s styling. Factory tuning was fine on early Evo's. Not sure what footage you watched but 97% of these cars were immediately modified so any sooty exhaust footage you saw was likely an early Evo with a manual boost controller and an EPROM chip at minimum. Sooty tunes aren't necessary to keep the engines alive. A 4g63 is extremely hard to kill no matter what under 300 hp.
In reply to Colin Wood :
This post triggers a fond memory for Marlboro's, even though I dont/never have smoked. I put a TRD roots supercharger on my 99' 4x4 Tacoma 20 years ago, and that thing was quick (for the 2000's).
I feel like we are in a good Era for cars again. The WRX/STI is still alive, the FRS/BRZ is still in production and getting improvements. Hopefully Ford is baited by Dodge into a horsepower battle, giving us alternatives to GM truck motor Swaps.
I've always been a fan of the 4G63 Eclipse/Talon and was thinking the other day about what one would cost. I always wanted an EVO too, because of the STI shootout article.
One can hope that Mitsubishi will put another great car onto the market, but I've been disappointed since I saw that mid 2000s generation of the Eclipse, so I won't hold my breath. Sidenote: I'm disappointed in you too Toyota!
Didn't most street Ralliart packages do little for performance?
In reply to GCrites80s :
The Ralliart Lancer had the same bolt pattern, and I suspect actual wheels, as the Evo III. (Or maybe it was called the OZ Rally, I forget) According to Rock Auto, regular Lancers got 4x100. I suspect the brakes were thus different. Also IIRC they got a 2 liter engine vs. the 1.5.
The wheels look a-verra-nass on an early RX-7 or Volvo S40 
12 years with my 04 Ralliart wagon. It's my daily, but I have used it for a backup for autocross. Reliable, fun car.
I am really skeptical about Mitsubishi coming up with anything appealing, and having it come here. I don't ever expect to own another one.
In the 90s, when I started driving, Mitsubishi was very, very cool.
I test drove an Eclipse and my friend, who had a first gen CRX was jealous.
You had the 3000GT, Galant VR4, Eclipse, and stories from abroad drifted to my ears about the Evo.
I remember my friend saying “I want a Mitsu more than my Honda.”
Now Mitsubishi is a dumpster fire. Nissan isn’t far behind. Similar riches to rags story. Sad.
Big boost and AWD would be cool, but the resulting Mirage Ralliart would cost $30K and no one would buy it. What about a Mirage Ralliart with the 148hp 2.0 and 5-sp from the Outlander Sport? Seems like they could bring that to market for $20K. The whole car is a throwback to the early 1990s anyway...2150 lbs + 148 normally aspirated hp = early 90s hot hatch. Trouble is, the only people nostalgic for those cars are me and about 30 other people on this board, so they'd sell 31 of them.
Pete. (l33t FS) said:thatsnowinnebago said:In reply to MadScientistMatt :
Wasn't the first Evo basically an extra spicy Mirage?
Moderately spicy.... similar drivetrain as the Eclipse GSX. From all I could gather, the interior was laughably bad because the cars were intended to have all of that stripped out for a roll cage, anyway. The engine tuning was also pretty crappy, I've seen footage of early Evos (Evo II?) laying a cloud of sooty exhaust under full acceleration. Might have been necessary to keep the engines alive.
I kind of like the current Mirage, and think it'd be neat with more sporting intentions. It's nice and small.
I didn't realize they start at $14,200.
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