Ask It: 2009 Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart
Seyth Miersma
The folks at our Austin, Texas office have just taken delivery of a silver 2009 Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart. Got questions about the hilarious Lancer middle-child? Ask away below and we’ll do our best to put your minds to rest.
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Anonymous
Does the transmission shift smoothly when driving around town in automatic mode?
Tom Martin
Shift Smoothness
The Ralliart is standard with Mitsubishi's Sportronic dual-clutch automated manual (AMT) setup. Mitsubishi calls this Sportronic SST. It shifts with admiral smoothness in "Normal" auto mode, though on 1-2 and 2-3 upshifts we noticed a very slight timing difference between the first clutch disengaging and the second clutch engaging. I didn't consider this bothersome at all nor did Chris, and I thnk most people would say the transmission itself is very smooth.
What isn't smooth on the Ralliart is the torque curve. Begining at 2500 rpm, the Ralliart squirts forward as the turbos come on. Both Chris and I found this to be great fun, and easy to modulate. But if your goal in buying an AMT is to get completely seamless shifts, this won't be the transmission for you.
Launching the car from a stop is quite smooth, and when we tried it on steeper hills (an AMT litmus test) it worked fine.The only thing that caught the Mitsubishi SST box out in our drive was backing of the throttle slightly at low speed and then accelerating again. This is accompanied by a slight stumble in the transmission. Most AMTs have some area where they can mind read and get confused.
Overall one of the smoothest AMTs we've driven (transmission, not engine).
"Sport" mode is not as smooth, perhaps on purpose. Sport likes to shift beyond 4000 rpm in urban street driving, and does lots of throttle blips and downshifts as you decelerate to keep the revs above 3k. This is fun, but not smooth.
Tom Martin
Log Book
Chris has the car for the first part of the week, but I drove it up to my Lotus tech to pick up my car. That's about a 15 mile drive, which isn't much and is mostly urban. Even so, I'd say at first blush that Mitsubishi has really done a fine job with this car. The engine is punchy, the suspension well calibrated for the real world, and the steering is communicative. Tentative thought: an Evo minus the rough edges and better for it.
Seyth Miersma
Better to live with, day-to-day, than the Evo for sure.
I continue to be impressed by the level of subtlety in the Ralliart (transmission, real-world handling, steering feel) every time I drive it. This is a car that I think I could enjoy over a long period of time.
Seyth Miersma
Managing Editor
Winding Road//NextAutos
Tom Martin
Vs. Evo X
A few early thoughts on why the Ralliart might be better for many people, and not just day-to-day:
The Ralliart has a little more roll (i.e. more than ~zero), which sounds bad but gives you more sense at street speeds of what the car is doing.
The extra compliance in the Ralliart suspension is likely to work better at a fast pace on imperfect roads
The Ralliart has less quick steering -- the Evo's very quick steering, though impressive at first, is twitchy and lacks the weight to make its setup really usable; the Ralliart mix makes the car easier to place and gives better feedback
The Ralliart engine doesn't seem as peaky, which is less impressive initially but seems more well rounded (requires and encurages a little more finesse to deliver its goodies)
The Ralliart engin/exhaust sound is richer and lacks the raspy shredding sound of the Evo
The ride on the Ralliart is less brittle on real world surfaces than the Evo, though at the same time the Ralliart remains pretty firm and well damped.
Don't get me wrong, if you want hard core, you want the Evo -- but you may really want an Evo VIII or Evo IX. If you want a great new street driver's car, the Ralliart could be the choice. If you want something in between, the Evo X with dual clutch may smooth things out just a bit to make the Evo more livable, while retaining its impressive handling.
What is great is that the Ralliart and Evo are two very complete, but different cars (rather than one good one and one dumbed down).
smoverstreet1
I have a MkV GTI now and am looking for a replacement in about a year. One of my raves about my current car is the interior fit and finish. I'm guessing that the Ralliart would be step down in interior quality, but I would really like an unbiased opinion. Would someone looking for interior livability (not perfection, mind you) really be satisfied with the Ralliart? I would appreciate any other comments you might have that would help me compare this and my current car. Thanks in advance.
Tom Martin
Vs. VW GTI
I'd say the interior is a step down, though not a giant step. Part of the step is that the Mitsu plastics aren't quite as good overall, and Mitsu chose faux carbon fiber (rarely convincing) over faux aluminum (the industry has perfected this stuff) as in the GTI. Part of the step is in design, not actually fit and finish. The GTI design is more conservative. The Lancer has pretty good seats (our tester has the Recaro package), but in my book the GTI seats are exceptional. Room in back is good on both. The GTI is a hatch, but Mitsu will match that late this summer with the Ralliart Sportback.
When it comes to drivetrain, the Mitsu feels more explosive than the GTI. If you have DSG on your GTI, I think the Mitsu Sportronic system is much more fun. The GTI normal shift pattern is a total buzzkill, and sport mode is bizzare unless you're hammering it. The Mitsu shifter and paddles are better. If you have a standard manual, well, Mitsu doesn't offer one on the Ralliart so you're down to manual vs. AMT. More on that later.
The Mitsu suspension feels a little more agile and the steering is more communicative. The GTI feels a little stiffer, though the bushings might be softer (which leads to a slightly dead feel). The GTI has a bit worse ride as a result, but a little better turn-in and less understeer at moderate velocities.
Otto
1). How is the grip level? Handling characteristics? With it's weight and narrow tires I fear it would understeer like mad.
2). What kind of fuel economy are you getting? Was it better or worse than you expected?
3). How does it stack up against the WRX? Which is more fun to drive? More practical? More comfortable?
Tom Martin
Handling
Tires on the Ralliart are 215. Evo has 245. Grip is bound therefore to be lower on the Ralliart, and you can feel this when you push it. You'd have to say the Ralliart is under-tired, especially at the front.
But understeer is not an obvious problem at moderate street speeds. The suspension and AWD torque bias makes this feel more like a rear-driver than an FWD car at those speeds.
However, as the speed rises, the weight bias of the Ralliart becomes more obvious (it has more weight on the front than the rear) and the front end starts to push. Because the chassis is pretty well balanced, and you have AWD, you can power out of corners much more easily than you can with pure FWD.
We'll try to get it out to the track for more on how it works at the limit.
Tom Martin
Vs. WRX
Chris and I have limited WRX (2009 modified version) experience, but I'd say right off that the Ralliart seems more fun because of three things:
1. Suspension calibration is tighter (less roll, harder bushings) on Ralliart
2. Steering seems quicker and more communicative on Ralliart
3. Engine torque curve is more exciting on Ralliart (might not be a big deal in long run)
That said, the WRX has more practical hatch config (neutralized by late summer arrival of Lancer Sportback), better engine sound, and traditional manual (plus for some, minus for others). Ride quality is probably a bit better on the WRX.
Tom Martin
Fuel Economy
We've been getting about 24 mpg (given where we've driven, I'd view that as a suburban combined rating). The EPA combined is 20 mpg, so what we've seen is better than expected.
Nathan
What do you think of the tires?
Tom Martin
Tires
As mentioned above, the Ralliart like most cars, understeers as you push it. The Ralliart does so more than the best rear drive (especially mid-engined) cars. Some of that may be chassis tuning, but it does feel like the Ralliart could use more tire up front because the basic feeling left by the car is that it is well-balanced.
Whether the Yokohamas on our test car could be replaced by a different tire to good effect, we can't really say. But given that Mitsubishi puts 245s on the Evo and the Ralliart has 215s, we'd like to look for more meat rather than different meat. Unfortunately, changing wheel and tire sizes on the Ralliart seems to be difficult (limited room), so changing tires and maybe dialing in a bit more rear stiffness may be the only (easy) options.
Trinks
Is there any news about a regular manual in the future?
Tom Martin
Manual vs. AMT Transmission
We haven't heard about it. But...
As the office curmudgeon on AMTs (i.e. a strong supporter of conventional manuals), let me say that the Ralliart AMT surprised me. This is one car where I'm not sure the missing manual is a big miss. As I mention above, this engine (and the Evo's) have plenty of non-linearity so an AMT is really fun in these cars. Second, Mitsubishi's AMT has as good an interface as we've seen on an AMT. Third, the Mitsubishi 5 speed manual is not particularly charming, especially with these engines. I might go so far as to say that if you're committed to traditional manuals (a reasonable stance), you might just want a different car.
Tom Martin
Log Book
This is just plain a really fun car to drive on the street. It has ample and immediate power, so you can squirt around traffic with impunity. The handling and ride are nicely balanced -- the sort of thing BMW used a a foundation for the 3 Series' strong reputation. The transmission works brilliantly with the engine. And, unlike some cars that sound good when analyzed but don't capture your heart, this one is the opposite: it is better than the sum of its parts.
Tom Martin
Track Notes
While the understeer and limited grip noted above are out in full force on the track, we found the Ralliart to be a real hoot when we were there.
Why?
Several reasons. First, the Ralliart is incredibly easy to place and control on the track. Although the suspension is far from rock hard, and the anti-roll bars aren't that big, the damping and balance are well-judged so that the car isn't too sloppy. Said differently, the body movements are predictable. And because of the slight softness in the setup, you really feel what the car is doing, e.g. tucking the nose in by rolling off the throttle. You also begin to realize that coming off of corners, the AWD setup is in its element. As you roll into the power, the chassis hooks up and you can launch really well out of corners. You do slide around in this car, but all the slides are predictable and easily controlled. That can be fun, if not terribly fast.
The other nice thing is that the Ralliart has a pretty wide power band. This coupled with the AMT transmission makes being in the right gear pretty easy. The engine has good but not great power (for the weight), but you can use everything that is there.
Our test track isn't especially hard on brakes, but it was nice that we didn't notice any fade. We did heat the front tires up pretty well, though, and if you did track days very often a dedicated set of tires would be wise.
Summary: A car to enjoy on the track, not to race.
Xerty
In [D] Sport mode, do you have to upshift and downshift yourself or the computer do it automatically for you?