RallingAround

I picked up a 2010 Lancer Ralliart Sportback way back in June here in New Jersey. It was a tough find; AWD cars don’t seem too popular around here. I have to admit that I am a not at all a car person. Sure, I know the absolute basics, higher HP generally means faster and what not, but that’s about it. I guess I got a little bit more excited about this car because it’s my first car that I am buying it myself. I’ve been driving hand me downs my whole life, sure it’s been cheap, but I didn’t really have any say in what I get. Nonetheless, how I arrive at the Ralliart Sportback is a cumulation of what I come to like about all the cars I’ve driven in the past.

Past Experiences:

My first car: 1989 Lincoln Town Car Cartier with a V8

The freakin’ boat! Total old school mafia car. What I love about this car is the fact that it’s so damn comfortable and spacious. Sure there is no acceleration whatsoever and once it’s gets a little beyond safe highway speed the cars start to feel as if it’s being controlled by a whole different set of rules in physics but damn is it bad ***. I can cram so many of my friends in the car and there is still room to spare. I seriously love this car. If it weren’t for the fact that this car is starting to rust and that it’s getting ridiculously expensive to maintain, I would still be driving it. I fought pretty hard with my folks when they wanted to sell it and I won. It is in storage and one day I may come around to restore it.

My second car: 1994 Ford Taurus (base) with a V6

It is a bland and generic car with nothing interesting to write about whatsoever. Comparatively speaking though, I did learn to appreciate having better acceleration and handling over the Lincoln for sure.

My third car: 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited with a V8

With this car, I definitely learned to appreciate having basic advanced drivetrain technology like 4x4 and traction control. With the Lincoln’s RWD and no traction control, Canadian winter was definitely interesting to say the least. A simple drive to school becomes the most exciting part of the day. Nonetheless I got spoiled by the jeep. I no longer have to put myself into a zen like state of mind for a simple trip to the groceries in the dead of winter. Oh yeah, having a freakin’ huge trunk space is great! Sure it’s not great for stuffing people into it but everything from skiis and snowboards to motorcycles just disappears into the trunk. I did miss the handling of the sedan though.

Shopping Phase:

When I was accepted into business school here in NJ the past spring I quit my job and moved out of Canada. While I am here I figured, hey, why not pick up a new car for a new beginning and thus my hunt for a personal car starts. I know I wanted an automatic 4x4 or an AWD station wagon, something that’s a compromise between the jeep and the sedan, something with the cargo space of the jeep and the handling of the sedan while hopefully still cheap since I am a broke student all over again.
I end up putting together a list of cars the Ralliart Sportback end up competing with (In the order of want):

2011 BMW 328i xDrive
2011 Audi A3 Wagon 2.0T Premium Quattro
2011 Jeep Compass Limited 4WD
2011 Honda Accord Crosstour Hatchback EX-L
2011 Subaru Outback Wagon 3.6R
2011 Toyota Matrix S AWD
2011 Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart Sportback
2011 Ford Fusion Sport AWD
2011 Ford Taurus SEL AWD
2011 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport
2011 Suzuki SX4 Crossover Premium

As you can see, in my initial list, the Ralliart is pretty damn low on the list. The Fords didn’t quite belong but what the heck, they are Fords and I am pretty used to them. If they offered the Fusion in wagon form, I gotta admit, I most likely would’ve just bought that and called it a day.

The Test Drives:

Apparently AWD cars are simply not popular around central Jersey. Hunting for the cars in the list here is apparently harder than finding the proverbial needle in a haystack. Arranging for test drive turned out to be harder work than I would’ve imagined. I ended up arranging this section in the order of which car got tested first instead of want because each test ends up influencing my opinion over the subsequent cars.

2011 Jeep Compass Limited 4WD: It is much smaller than the regular Jeep Grand Cherokee but it still handles like a Jeep. I guess that’s the point and at the same time it’s really anemic. It’s like driving my old Jeep but without the power. It’s not the cars fault. It’s supposed to be an off roader anyway and it’s not what I am looking for at this time.

2011 Honda Accord Crosstour Hatchback EX-L: This car pretty much set the benchmark for the subsequent cars. It handles like a car, it’s pretty fast, the trunk area is big, it’s got all the latest doohickey and gizmos, and it’s one of a kind in the lot and the region and that’s the problem. It’s too damn expensive and because it’s rare, the dealership simply refused to budge on the price. Oh well, at this point, I’ve still got plenty of cars to look at so I just walked away.

2011 Subaru Outback Wagon 3.6R/Impreza Outback Sport: Things are starting to look up. Outback Sport definitely handled better than the Accord, but it was weak. The Outback Wagon got me my first taste of the paddle shifters. It was ok, it seems cool at first but it didn’t really do anything (I’ll get back to this after I talk about the Ralliart). Nonetheless, the Outback Wagon is my top choice at this point; it’s got everything I am looking for at the right price. It is also at the Subaru dealership where I realize that I suck at life not knowing how to drive a stick. I would’ve loved to try out the WRX at least. Alas, it was not meant to be.

2011 Ford Fusion Sport AWD/2011 Taurus SEL AWD: They sure were hard to find! Found exactly 1 dealership in northern NJ that offered AWD for either of the cars. I have to admit that I am surprised Ford even offered AWD for their sedans. How non-conformist of them, the exec that came up with that one probably got fired for it. The cars scream, “I am freakin’ average and there is absolutely nothing special about me.” It’s cars for people that don’t really care for cars and is therefore perfect for a guy like me. The dealership was pretty aggressive about selling me the cars and even though it’s got all the latest gizmos they were willing to let the car go for stupid cheap. I have to admit I had a hard time walking away from the dealership but alas they didn’t offer it in wagon form.

2011 Suzuki SX4 Crossover Premium: It definitely handles much better than the Compass but man is this thing weak! It simply didn’t want to go anywhere. It’s the laziest car of the bunch so far. The show at the dealership is definitely stolen by the Kizashi Sport SLS. I didn’t even know about this car prior to visiting the dealership but since I tested out the Fusions and Taurus which are AWD sedans, I figure I might as well as give the Kizashi a try. Man was I glad that I tried it. What a fun car! It’s like an overpowered go-cart, the handling is amazing, I was throwing the car into all the U turns I can find without braking and man, it’s like its on rails. However it’s so anemic! If Suzuki shoves a V6 or even a turbo in this car they would definitely have a serious contender that would put them on the map. I am definitely keeping an eye out for this car in the future.

2011 BMW 328i xDrive: I gotta admit I only tested it so I can see what the entire hubbub was about with the exotic European cars. Surprising, it wasn’t that special, but I am not really a car enthusiast so I am probably not picking up on something and my expectation of it was probably too high. Maybe when I am out of school and have a nice job I’ll look into this line of cars more seriously. Oh well, moving on…

2011 Audi A3 Wagon 2.0T Premium Quattro: The same as BMW really though the price is closer to my range. However, I gotta admit the logistics to their distribution is incredible. The wagon version of the Quattro is found nowhere near me when I first browse the Audi’s main site. When I send them an email inquiry regarding the car, 2 of these bad boys popped up on the radar and I got an invite to try it out at the nearest dealership like 2 days later. The dealership treated me like an all star and I am just some dude off the street. The car itself drove fine but is not as special as I hoped for. The price, even after some concession, is still out of my reach. Though looking back in retrospect, I probably should’ve pushed the car a little harder the way I did with the Ralliart. I have to admit Audi left a pretty good impression on me.

2011 Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart Sportback: The dealership closest to me had only 1 of these cars and it was a 2010 but I figured that it was good enough since there didn’t seem to be too many differences so I checked it out anyways. I was kind of expecting this car to be like the Subarus but man, am I wrong! This car handled the U turns way better than the Outback wagon and is stronger than the Outback Sport. However, at the price they were offering for the 2010, I was not impressed. I also find it annoying that when you take the foot off the gas pedal, the car would drop in speed so quickly that you would get this stupid lurch. That’s when I decided to try out the paddle shifters. I have to admit, I was doing it at this point to look like I was still testing it because I’ve driven the car out pretty far from the dealership and have to justify it. That’s when the car surprised the crap out of me. I downshifted and the RPM spiked to somewhere around 4K and the car just took off! I was so surprised and was slammed back so quickly into my seat that I nearly lost grip of the wheel. The Outback wagon didn’t do this when I downshifted; it just made a lot of noise. That’s also when I decided to test out the sport mode. Holy crap! Talk about Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Power seemingly came out of nowhere and it became a different car entirely. When I got back to the dealership I definitely had a big grin on my face.

However the price tag was just nonsense. Over $30k for this car is simply not reasonable, if it had the Recaros and all the trimmings maybe but not for stock. $30k plus is Audi territory even Ford offered cars with better interior and at a much lower price. Don’t get me wrong, the performance is definitely there and if they give it a more leathery interior and license it to one of the European manufacturers they can most likely charge up to $40K for this car and people would gobble it up thinking that they’ve got a good deal. The car, in my opinion is just that good of a performer. Fortunately the dealership was nice enough to match the price offered by Ford for their Fusion and now I am one of you guys. Hooray.

2011 Toyota Matrix S AWD: I didn’t test it since I end up buying the Ralliart Sportback. Though maybe I should check it out just to see what I am missing.

More to come…

Including:

-3 months down the road impressions.
-Why I decide to mod the car and modding plans.
-Pictures, though it’s still stock no it’s not really exciting.