MITSUBISHI Lancer Ralliart Review

From the comfort point of view, Mitsubishi Lancer is the living example of how to achieve a superior level with minimum effort. The sporty seats' bolsters "hug" you gently every time you press the throttle pedal, while maintaining a perfect driving position. Both the driver and the front passenger's seats can be adjusted for optimal height.

The two front seats are heated and yes, this is indeed a great feature, but only during the cold season. Since the seats are both covered by leather and not offered with a cooling system, driving the car during a hot and sunny summer day might be a little bit... let's say, unpleasant.

But it's not all about the seats. The car comes with automatic climate control that can be easily controlled through the center console-mounted buttons. However, for a better view on the air conditioning system, you can always use the LCD screen that shows the current settings in real time.

Although the seats are probably holding the lion's share, the SST transmission plays a key role in the overall level of comfort providing by the Lancer Ralliart. If you're the type of driver that prefers to press the throttle pedal gently, the ride will be the smoothest you can get. Obviously, all these can change in a second, as soon as you turn to Sport mode, but remember that you're going to lose some comfort in favor of performance and adrenaline.

Other features that could make you feel more comfortable inside the Lancer Ralliart is the great audio system with hard-disk and LCD screen with touchscreen support. This gadget not only allows you to play music from various sources, but it also allows DVD playback.

At first look, Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart seems to be a successful combination of great looks with advanced technology and power.

We won't insist too much on the engine because we already covered it in the City and On the Road chapters, but it's worth mentioning that it helps the car sprint from naught to 100 km/h in just 7 seconds. Obviously, such a figure is the result of the engine - transmission collaboration, but there are several things to be clarified here.

Since we're dealing with a Twin Clutch-SST gearbox, it's almost impossible not make a comparison between Mitsubishi's very own contraption and the rest of the units on the market. People generally say that the 6-speed Twin-Clutch Sportronic Shift Transmission developed by Mitsubishi is far from achieving the same performance as Volkswagen's DSG or an advanced automatic configuration. Furthermore, critics claim that Lancer Ralliart could achieve even better figures with a manual transmission.

Lancer Ralliart however isn't available with a manual transmission, but the difference between the SST and a manual unit can be easily noticed on the Evolution X series. The manual transmission helps the Lancer Evo X do the 0-100 km/h sprint in 5.4 seconds, while the SST gearbox increases the time to 6.3 seconds. Given these facts, it appears that the SST configuration is indeed slowing down the Lancer, regardless if we're talking about the Evo or the Ralliart.

Leaving the engine the transmission configuration and the engine aside, the next thing in line is the AWD system. Coming straight from Evo IX, the full-time all-wheel drive system actually uses Mitsubishi's very own Active Center Differential (ACD) that uses an electronically controlled multi-plate clutch center differential. In plain English, this means that the driver can adjust the car's settings depending on the road conditions. There are three modes available, Tarmac, Gravel and Snow.

Furthermore, Lancer Ralliart comes as standard with front helical limited slip differential and a rear differential mechanical limited slip differential.

Although it indeed inherits the racing spirit of its Evolution donor, Lancer Ralliart is first of all a street car. This means that the Japanese guys over at Mitsubishi had to combine high performance with the systems customers are looking for, without altering either of them.

The first thing you'll notice when stepping inside the Lancer Ralliart is the large LCD screen mounted on the center console. This is actually the "brain" of the whole gadget department, as it controls both the audio system and the navigation features, but it also provides information such as fuel consumption, emissions level and other types of data usually displayed by the on-board computer.

The Rockford Fosgate audio system comprises a total of 9 speakers, with the subwoofer mounted inside the trunk. Besides the fact that it supports audio CDs (MP3s, WMA) and even DVDs, it comes with a so-called "music server" that's actually a 30-gigabyte hard drive. Volume can be controlled either through the controls placed on the edges of the display or through the steering-wheel buttons.

The hard drive also stores data for the navigation system, which directs you on the route using both visual and audio warnings. In case the audio system is turned on, the navigation system automatically reduces the volume to provide route directions.

Besides the somewhat usual audio and navigation systems, the Lancer Ralliart comes with steering wheel-mounted paddles for those who are looking to experience a sportier driving. Using the shift paddles is indeed a thrilling experience that could bring you a bit of WRC feeling, albeit it's not as much fun on public roads.

Driving such a car without safety systems would be just dangerous. There are several safety features available on Lancer Ralliant, such as frontal airbags for driver and the right passenger, knee driver airbag, side airbags and side curtain airbags for driver and front passenger.

Additionally, the car features AWD with Active Center Differential (ACD), Front Helical Limited Slip Differential (LSD), Rear Mechanical Limited Slip Differential (LSD), ABS with EBD, Active Stability Control (ASC) with Traction Control (TCL) and Hill Start Assist (HSA).

Euro NCAP hasn't tested the sedan flavor of the Lancer, but the Sportback variant achieved the maximum 5-star rating. IIHS on the other hand tested only the sedan, giving a "Good" rating, with only driver pelvis/leg protection being awarded an "Acceptable" rating in the side impact test with standard side airbags. The rest of the tests brought the Lancer the maximum "Good" rating.

Dummy movement was well controlled in the frontal offset test conducted by the IIHS. There were only low risks of injuries, the Institute wrote in the official papers.

Lancer Sportback was awarded a five-star rating in Euro NCAP crash tests and, although providing good protection in almost every area, no points were received for pedestrians' legs protection. Euro NCAP mentioned that "the bonnet provided poor protection in most of the areas likely to hit by an adult's head."

After a few days spent behind the wheel of the Lancer Ralliart, there's only one conclusion that comes in our minds: the car is worth every single penny.

Just as expected, the first thing that caught our eye is the powertrain which feel just great, especially if you get the chance to fully test its potential. Although it has been proved that the dual-clutch transmission increases acceleration times by almost a second, the difference could be easily ignored unless you're planning to buy one for street racing.

Although it's a detuned version of the Evo X, Lancer Ralliart continues to look gorgeous, at least from the point of view of a sports car. Aggressive front styling, air intakes, large alloy wheels and "Jet Fighter" grille are all contributing to the sporty stance of the car.

As for the interior, it comes packed with all kinds of goodies, which made it difficult to choose the best one. We really can't decide which of the hard-disk navigation and audio system, the sporty seats or the large touchscreen display deserves the grand prize. But we do know that cooled seats are a must...

As for mileage, don't forget that we're talking about a high-performance oriented model with 240 horsepower. After all, if you really plan to purchase a sports car that'll be able to jump from a standstill to sixty in just a few seconds, do you really think that fuel consumption is an issue?