2009 Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart

[William Yunck]

Mitsubishi has made up for the crimes it perpetrated on enthusiasts with the last two generations of the Lancer Ralliart. In atonement for its sins, it's fitted the new Ralliart with a detuned version of the 4B11T pulled from the Evolution X, producing 235 hp and an unknown amount of torque. Additionally, Mitsubishi has decided to fit the Twin Clutch-SST transmission, pulled from the high-power and high-priced Evo X MR. The TC-SST clicks off the shifts through a set of steering wheel mounted paddles and sends power to a full-time all-wheel-drive system equipped with Mitsubishi's Active Center Differential (ACD).

The exterior is so reminiscent of the Ralliart's big Evolved brother that we're sure it'll be mistaken for the X and in addition to the absolutely boss Recaro buckets, the interior materials and amenities seem several notches above its base brethren.

On a personal note: As the guy that berated the Lancer ES in our recent Garage review, when the Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart goes on sale this summer, I'll be one of the first ones in line. It's obvious that the Ralliart is aimed squarely at Subaru's WRX and if they can keep the price around the Subie's (about $25k), the Ralliart stands as one of the performance bargains of the decade. And just think of the mods....
(autoblog.com)