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Ok, I need help on this topic from other ralli-art members or oz/es/ls/evo member aswell if they like. IMO I will explain why mitsu brought the ralli-art over and its intentions for it, than I would like others to explain it themselfs.

First off, I think mitsu had a plan in mind to be ontop (not claiming #1) but be ontop of the sports compact world in the US. There is 3 classes they looked at is as:

1. Sports Compact
2. Sub-Sports Compact
3. Sedan

We wont go into #3 and I wont go full into #1, but the 1 & 2 I will mention. brought the EVO, and cheered by many reviewers, owners, mags and etc., mitsu vision was set in stone. This was there #1 class-goal and it was acheived. Now #2, the sub-compact, that stands for: SpecV, Celica GTS, Civic Si, Focus SVT, Neon R/T, Mazda 3s, Subaru 2.5rs, than our Mitsubishi Ralli-Art. Well its not hard for mitsubishi to give this car, 185hp and 185trq and have it top the sub-sports compact world, but mitsu wasnt thinking about topping the SSC world, they where thinking about taking out one company, HONDA.

We all know thru the years honda and there civic Si product is the most popular, widely use sub-sports tuned car in the US. There are more civic Si owners than any other SSC owner, period (im guessing more than integra owners). Mitsubishi needed a product to step there name up in that class. They didnt want to do anything to there oz rally line, but they wanted to bring a new look, a new motor, a new vision for its mitsu line. As the evo took place as there high-end sports car, they need something below it to still make a buzz in that SSC class, something to have people look at mitsu and its other cars.

The ralli-art came thru, with improved motor... 162/162, that deads hondas 160/132. Mitsu really wanted to bring a car over that could take the sI, they didnt worry to much abou the nissans and toyota because the sI was the car to takeout. I mean you have to admit, if there was an sI or a gts, who you rather smoke? Id rather the sI, cuz those honda boys need a whoopin! Still, even with lower hp and trq, the ralli-art gives specV and with lower hp but more trq, gives the gts a run aswell. So the ralli-art still fits well in the SSC scene while taking out the enemy it focused on and giving others a beating and the top 2 a run for there money. Honestly other cars besides the specV, gts, sI are nothing mitsu really focused on. As my order goes:

1. SpecV
2. Celica GTS
3. Mitsubishi Ralli-Art
4. Civic Si
5. Focus SVT
6. Impreza 2.5rs
7. Mazda 3s
8. Neon R/T

Also, im pretty sure they didnt want add to much HP to the car because they don't wan it to outsell other vehicles like 'eclipse, evo, oz'. Giving the ralli-art 40hp+ can tap into eclipse sales. Giving the es/ls/oz an extra 40hp+ can tap into the ralli-art sales, and give an extra 40hp+ for the eclipse can tap the evo sales, you look at it like:

EVO: 271(MR: 276)
ECLIPSE: 210
RALLI-ART: 162
ES/LS/OZ: 120

There pretty much about 40hp from each other, keeping the HP balanced between each car without over-riding sells ( like that would happen at a mitsu dealership ). Anyways, im happy where our car stands, great product mitsu, now just bring over some of that JDM version ralli-art stuff .

 

good post :-)

one thing i wish they would have done is combine the power of eclipse with the class of ralliart, PLUS some luxury, and made a sedan/coupe model with 210-220 HP, to go against lexus IS, bmw 330, acura tsx and so on. right now, mitsu is not thought of as a luxury brand, and im not saying it should be, but i know that if mitsu made a ralliart-type sedan with leather, GPS, and a nice strong v6, there would be a market for it jsut because it would be a lot cheaper than the closest neighbour.

but then again, i also enjoy the fact that mitsu is more focused on performance than its image. look at bmw, theyve gone to hell with the new cars. mercedes is barely even trying, theyre doing the same thing theyve been doing 10 years ago: selling their brand name. lexus and acura are actually doing something interesting in the luxury car market, with the new TL and IS/GS. innovation is a huge factor in the auto market, and mitsu can definitely take advantage of that, with the european carmakers being all 'meh, just buy our car cause people will think you're cool, we dont actually care enough to make it a better car than a year ago'.

 

my main point was: i think they should have made the OZrally/Ralliart the same thing, with a 160ish HP engine, and added another model to go in between the eclipse and EVO, with decent power and decent day-to-day driveability.

 

Wouldn't a luxury sedan fall onto the shoulders of the Galant?

Good post, though, and I agree. Mitsu was definitely targeting a specific group of cars, and I think they did it well. Now if they could just fix their corporate problems...

 

Galant is too tame though. not much muscle, and definitely not enough niceness to compete with a beemer. it would go against camry and accord, but thats about it.

 

All the cars you mentioned are actually compacts, not sub-compacts. But your post makes good sense. The Lancer is Mitsu's bread and butter, having a sporty model that wasn't 40,000 dollars (Canadian) was a good idea. I love how people look at my car and think it is a typical Lancer with some Euro tail lights. Then they ask again what the car is called if I drive hard. "You said this is a Lancer?" "yeah, a Lancer ralliart"
Then they are suprised, where-as if you tell someone you have a Civic, most people will just scoff at you "It's a Civic Si" "Oh God you own a Civic?"
The ralliart doesn't win the sports compact market, but it does very well for the price bracket it is in. It certainly has enough power for me. Of course 271 horsepower would be nice lol.

 

in a nutshell my opinion of my RA is:

great, economical, and fun to drive, get where you need to go... and be badass if you have had a rough day at work

 

You need no help ...EXELENT post good JOB!!!

 

I allways droped the word Lancer , I said I drive a RALLIART

 

I do that, too. Annoying thing though is when I call the dealership, and they ask what car i'm bringing in, I say "Ralliart". I just get silence... then "Huh?" Pretty bad that they don't know what I'm talking about.

 

lol... and usually the first thing evo buyers do is to rip the lancer badge off back lol

 

I always drop the "lancer part" too, when people ask me what I drive.

 

I wish they had the Ralliart when I bought my OZ... I would have definatly bought the Ralliart. Good post, I totally agree.

Fox

 

Are we sounding like evo owners?

 

heck yeah