i was talkin about the EVO's S-AWD complements the SST transmission, so losing that in the RA means you lose a lot of the benefits that COULD come along with said transmission. While theres a lot of potential in power, handling won't even be close.
as u said haha

I drive a GLI right now and it has th DSG dual clutch tranny with only 200 hp and i love it..

It won't handle like the X, but I expect the Ralliart should definitely handle better than most cars...I'd be surprised if it didn't...

I agree. Same handling, alot less power.

But we all know the aftermarket will catch up quickly.

i agree the aftermarket should be huge for this car as it is the economy evo

With the Evo IX drivetrain, an already rigid chasis that is stiffer than the IX, the RA should handle pretty damn well out of the box. Just need to ditch the All-Season tires for good sticky rubber. Perhaps even get the OEM shocks and springs from a X owner who goes aftermarket.

If i got the RA it seems all u need is new springs and it should handle very close to wat the X does... next new wheels some new breaks and tires bigger turbo and intercooler and u got a stealth X

^^^^ Repost

don't really understand why they'd bring out the ralliart which is basically the same as the evo but detuned a bit to give the lower hp numbers. just doesn't make sense to me. a 'good' idea would have been to turbo the lancer so that those wishing not to have awd can still have a lancer with *****. I've always thought that mitsu should go this way, but hey

Are you kidding me? ^

Mitsu has hit a homerun here with the new Ralliart!

I was starting to get psyched about the RA, then I read that the evo weighs about 3500 pounds. If the RA weighs similar with 235 hp, then it will have almost the exact power to weight ratio as my spec with only I/E/H due to it weighing nearly 600 pounds less. From a roll both cars would be pretty close, but of course from a dig, the RA would have a big advantage. So really the only benefit would be slightly better handling and awd safety and fun in bad weather, snow ect. But I guess I am comparing my car with after market part to a stock one. I'm sure it would'nt take too much to get another 50 or so hp out of the RA and to be at least real close to a stock evo or sti...

So you like torque-steer and traction issues then?

Dr Crash: 3 letters - WRX

The difference between the evo and RA is a lot more than we're giving credit for. People keep saying its a detuned evo and can just be 'tuned' back up to EVO spec. NO! We already know its got a less aggressive cam profile, smaller turbo, and smaller intercooler. If you want to buy a RA, replace the entire turbo setup, replace components in the head, get a new standalone engine management system, and get it tuned to EVO power, you may as well buy an evo for the same or lower price (financed over x years, warranty in tact). Do we know if the engine internals are the same? I'd be surprised if they were.

And even if you did go that route and eventually built up a 300hp ralliart, it still wont handle as well as the evo. the 'slightly poorer handling' is a lot more than I think we're giving it credit for. It'll be a heck of a lot poorer. Despite the difference in the chassis and suspension, your going from a car thats able to adjust power and breaking to each wheel independently on the fly, to a car thats able to shift power between the front and back... That is something that you simply cant swap in through aftermarket.

The new RA is a huge improvement over the old one. I'm saying that as a proud owner of 2004 RA I'm considering the 2009 when it comes out. However, its no comparison to the EVO X, which is why I'll probably pony up and get an X Its closer to the EVO than the old RA by a long shot, but as far as I'm concerned, it shares similar styling and the same base engine, but thats about it.

I don't mean to be harsh or negative. I mean, its a HUGE improvement and really fills a missing market spot wonderfully. just trying to keep the discussion down to earth

Edit: Just another thought. When I say Evo, I'm thinking the new Evo X. However, come to think of it, this is a very similar setup to the EVO VI, plus an ACD like the EVO VII (but minus a handful of powers). I'm gonna go out on a limb and call the 2009 Ralliart the Tommi Makinen Evo 6.5 v2

RA won't handle like X but that is the point. Who'd by an X if RA would be the same? Mitsubishi has taken the same concept as Subaru by offering two similar but similar cars. One for people who want a fast 4WD and one for hardcore drivers.

With some tuning I believe the RA handles better than most of us would need.