Never really had the spare cash to do much with it anyway

 

can't the ralliart just get spare parts of the latest gen eclipse?
i've been debating about getting a ralliart as a daily driver since there is one at a dealership near me for $10k and only has 32k on the dial so far.

 

damn snap that deal up!!!..you'll end up loving the ra

 

These are older posts and I dunno if it's been explained, but there are a few reasons;

1. Weaker dollar. Though the Canadian dollar is now worth more than the American dollar, most of the market has not changed to reflect that. Not long ago it was 70 cents USD to 1 dollar CAD, or worse. The lowest it got was the low 60s.

2. Higher taxes. In all Canada, it's now 5% GST (federal sales tax) and in my province it's, I think 6 or 7% PST (provincial tax). Not all provinces have PST, but most do. The GST used to be 7%. So at least 11% MORE than the dealer's price. That brings a $24,000 car to almost $27,000. In that sense, we aren't really being raped by the dealer. We are being raped by Canada's previously poor dollar and raped by the taxation.
Remember, the dealer's price is maybe $24,000 or so because Canadian car prices still reflect the Canadian dollar as it was 2 or 3 years ago.

Even so, cars in Canada are cheaper than cars in Europe. Neglecting the USA, cars in Canada are remarkably cheap. Tells you something about car prices in the USA.

There may be other reasons for the higher price, differing market situations or something, I don't know.

 

Thats nuts how much you have to pay for a card in canada.

I bought my RA used at $9 w/ only 50k miles on it. The car had been babied by an older gentlemen who didn't do much with it. 2004. Not a scratch on it. Interior was brand new. it was an amazing deal. I didn't know to terribly much about them but I'm so happy I bought one. Whether it's expensive to mod or not. I'm not going to dump huge amounts of money into it, but will change some stuff out. I'm super happy with it though.

 

so is finding trany parts this hard to find? if its gonna be that difficult should i opt for a different car? i dont want to love this car so much and then endup not being able to find the parts for it..naw mean, kinda sucks really, oh and for this thread
-Flip

is this correct? our tranny is from an evoVIII?

 

where at in PA?

 

what's with the parts thing?..looks like you can get everything from clutch plate to a turbo from rrm..all u need is to mod the air, fuel, exhaust and if u want throw in a turbo (all from rrm) and u got the fastest tuner...never understood why dude's are complaining about finding parts?? u don't need to mess with the suspension or trans...

 

This statment is so false it's almost funny. The RA suspension is alright but it has its downfalls. And if you have been around the forums for a while you would know that the control arms have a tendency to just snap. As for the transmission, If you plan on making any real power with this car you will need to change some or most of the transmission. The few people who have made decent power with the RA have gone through numerous trannys and most of the long term RRM turbo guys have had to replace their tranny (I'm not saying this is true for all people, I know there are some people who haven't had any tranny problems). And if you don't put in an LSD you will almost certainly have major traction problems with this car. Basically, this is a very expensive car to make fast, It's great for what it is but far from perfect.

 

It's laughable to say that our suspension doesn't need to be messed with, and I'm confident that I don't need to elaborate on that point.

As for the trans, has anyone tried calling one of the better known Evo/DSM tranny rebuilders? IMO, if you blow a trans, they'd have the best chance of figuring out what aftermarket parts can be used in a rebuild.

 

well i haven't modded mine for strip racing..i guess i was referring to mods just for street cruising or cred...i don't race or launch hard so i haven't had any problems with trans...and i live in a mountain region with plenty of curves and love the suspension..but then again, i don't race the curves...

 

that's good to know about the turbo/trans thing..i didn't know if u threw in a turbo u'd have to change the trans..i admit i'm not experienced in the mod dept..just done a few minor ones..but was considering a turbo at 60k miles...but not so sure now...i think i'll trade my spyder in on a new RA and keep my 05 ra like it is..hopefully won't have to mod anything on the new RA...

 

Dead is a pretty strong word....But I will say it isn't going to get any more lively. Thankfully there were groups like RRM and if youre outside of the US RPW to help out, but the R/A was a niche product to begin with IMO. It did well against quite a few other cars in the same categories but for whatever reason just didn't gain traction the same way the se-R spec V and TC did. I prefer the RA to either of those cars but its all what you like. I liked that the car was a little more rare than most others, but that became a double edged blade too (aftermarket support).

I will say that I chose to trade in the RA before the new one dropped to get a little more out of it. But thats not necessarily an option for everyone.

 

IMO, the '04-'06 RA market has been replaced by the GTS. Both have similar horsepower (152 GTS & 162 RA). Both are in the same price range when new, as well. The GTS has a stiffer chassis, but the seats aren't as nice as the RA. It seemed to me like the RA would have been the WRX equivalent for those years, but Mitsu slacked off in the HP department for this to be true. Now, w/the new RA, there is a true competition w/the WRX.

 

No We Are All Still Here.