uhh.. I think ya got the order a lil wrong.. The RA should be #2.. It can easily beat a GTS.. The Spec-v poses a bit of a challenge.. Honda ain anything for us other than a snack.Spec-v and some V-6 cars(Bonneville,Grand Am,Grand Prix) are meals..Seriously.I was at the track and ran those 3 and ate them with a lil bit of effort and some skillz.A Civic owner asked me to race him and I killed him.Thats just my opinion.And they brought the RA over to Aid in sales because they had no SSC really.The lancer wasnt pullin in much and the OZ was not much better.Now they brought the RA and because its like an Evo W/O the AWD and Turbo.. It gives people a good idea of what it feel like handling wise to own one.THats why they are often refered to as "The Poor/Cheap Mans Evo".I love mine no doubt.. But thats just as it is.Most people cant qualify for an Evo so they get the RA.Older people like base Lancers/Diamantes/Galants because :
1.Its Cheap
2.Its Economical
3.Its nice
4.Best bang for buck.
5.Easier qualification
6.FAMILY CAR is written all over it.they can get the kids/grandkids in and out easily.
7.Lots of trunk space which Mitsu is known for recently
8.Warranty is great

That was a general consensus done a while ago.The Eclipse(red headded step child)OZ,RA,and Evo are geared toward a younger market.If they would make a FWD Turbo like they did with the 1g & 2g Eclipses ( Not the redheadded step child refered to as 3g by some )Then I would have gotten that.But oh well.I am pleased with the RA.

 

I bought it because there aren't many of the 04+ body style on the road.

 

That was a draw for me, even if only a minor one. I've still seen more Evos around than '04 Lancers.

 

All the more reason to buy a RA. Personally I like not being part of the crowd. I usually try my damndest to keep myself away from the rest of the sheep. I'd never make my RA look like an evo. It may have some EVO similarities, but there is no way around that; they both are Lancers.

 

^^^^ Great point.I am debating if I want to trade the RA for the Evo MR since there wont be many of those on the road.But I think I want to keep it and Still get the MR in addition.I hate being like everyone else.I am just going by statistics.

 

I got my RA because it was something you would hardly ever see in my town and its the step down below the EVO and I'm inlove with EVO's pluse the RA kicks ***. I'm with bigdoggy dog and Illicitralliart about being out of the crowd.

 

mivecspeed16, is your car pretty fast now with all the tuff you have.

 

I'm not too concerned about being part of a crowed or not. I am kinda glad that my car isn't part of a mob, though (read: a civic )

 

yeah, dude I've noticed a big diffrence and I'm getting a ECU here pretty soon, I'm gong to post my car on the dyno here soon, once I get it dynoed. RRM is awesome.

 

I still don't buy the whole 30 hp gain thing, but yeah I like RRM too.

 

they got the dynos posted for the ralliart just with the ECU,CAI,and Axel back exhaust. http://www.roadracemotorsports.com/Ralliartdyno.htm

 

that would put the car @ almost 200 chp, hmmm... i like that, say about 170-175whp? Thats pretty good with about a $650 mod(s)

 

The GTS doesn't exit in the market anymore since the introduction of the Scion.

The RA better hold the flagship, besides the eclipse GT or GTS in NA performance. As with all those Evo owners *****ing with aabout their warranty issues, I'm expecting Mitsu to pull the plug for the Evos in America. Hell, I don't think 3KGT VR4 and DSM combined-owners ***** as much as those Evo owners. Toasting their clutch under 5K miles, ya right, non-issue from driver skill. Remember who is the new Mitsu CEO for Mitsu America. That's right . . . a former Hyundai CEO who has battled and brought his former company to be in the top 10 in JD Powers' survey.

 

are you sure? I heard that once "lift" kicks in... its all over, somebody correct me if im wrong?