hibby

No Chrysler Group Lifetime Powertrain warranty on SRT products.

ambystom01

iTrader: (7)

True it's not lifetime but they still offer a warranty with SRT products as Chevrolet does/did with their Cobalt modifications.

aestival

Check out Consumer Reports -- one of the few unbiased sources -- most guides and magazines accept commercial sponsors left and right. Chevrolet models have had consistently crappy ratings for years -- sure, the Corvette is different, but that's a bit like saying all Toyotas are Lexuses (or, in performance terms, that all Mitsubishis are Evos).

Mitsubishi definitely has had issues over the years, but most of the issues in North America are due to the dealer network being much newer, and often a lot more sparse than their competitors. They actually rate very high on reliability.

I didn't mean to say that Americans build terrible cars -- a lot of the Japanese and European models built in the US are excellent (and a lot of the 'American' cars built in Canada and Mexico are crappy) -- it's more a matter of how badly the big three US manufacturers have been run over the years. Maybe a better way to put it would be that the big US car companies design crappy cars.

aestival

If warranty was my main guide, I'd run out and buy a Kia -- not exactly the hallmark of a top brand (Mitsubishi offers very good warranties, but my guess is that's to offset their lack of dealer network, at least here in North America, and the Evo warranties are terrible, of course).

Most cars are fairly cheap to repair for their first five or six years, even with no warranty. As evidence, consider the tens of thousands of US cars that have been bought cross-border recently by Canadians who received no domestic warranty coverage, due to sleazy wording of US warranties (some apply in Canada, but many or most don't).

detroitmuscle

name one time when mitsu offered stage kits for any of their vehicles which retains the factory warrenty(hint: cobalt ss)

Cow town racer

Mitsu has one of the crappiest warranties for the majority of people on this thread (individuals looking to mod). However, Mitsu still allows their dealerships to make warranty decisions. I dread the day Mitsu's warranty (or anyone elses for that matter) becomes like BMW, and every thing that is done on your car is sent to the head office and they make all the decisions, Yikes!!

But if you're looking to do some major mods the used evo is probably a better choice. Personally however, I'd go with the RA.

LuDa

that may be true about FWD cars..but the cobalt SS is surprisingly ahead of the RA

the car runs the 1/4 mile not even a sec slower than a Vette.

and on the track finished only 8 secs behind a vett.


as far as performance i think the SS would win this category followed by the RA,then the WRX and then the MS3

hibby

EDIT: Nevermind. I do disagree with the post above me, but screw it.

aestival

So just bite the bullet and have the dealer install the mods -- sure it costs a bit extra, but what's the big issue if you care so much about the warranty? I had no problems at all getting my Mazda dealer to do a variety of mods, and since they did all of the work, there were absolutely no problems with warranty later on. Obviously a dealer will balk at installing mods that void the warranty, and only the sleaziest of dealers wouldn't tell you the warranty implications up front.

You cut the dealer out of the loop and then go crying when something breaks, then the size and maturity of the dealer enters directly into the equation -- Mitsubishi just doesn't have the market share for really high-volume dealers. For example, Mazda has three dealers in Calgary, while Mitsubishi has two, but the car sales volume must make your Mitsubishi dealers a lot smaller -- down in Lethbridge, as here in Fredericton, there is one dealer for each, so that the Mitsubishi dealers are far smaller (note to confused Americans and others: Mazda is a much more significant brand in Canada, especially compared to Mitsubishi, which has been selling cars here for less than a decade).

desperado-c

I know the WRX is the target and it would be disappointing if the RA didn't match it and the SS. But without launch control on the SST and with a 300/400 weight penalty compared to the WRX/SS, it would be surprising if it does match the 0-60. Maybe it can catch up in the 1/4 with the faster shifts.

But 0-60 and 1/4 mile times aren't gonna be the right metrics for this car. Just like the MR (http://www.edmunds.com/apps/vdpconta...=4#performance with launch control/super-sport mode), it's not going a dragstrip king even in it's class. At least with the SST, It's gonna be more of a driver's car / occasional track car.

09GTS

It's too bad that the TS-SSC transmission in the Ralliart will only handle around 315hp before it shuts itself down. The CVT's in the 09 GTS are the same way. Self preservation technology to keep the transmission from blowing once the power reaches a certain level.

Sport Compact Car did an article on the new Ralliart, look there for the 315hp cutoff. Also, there -will- be a manual version released either in late '09 or in 2010.

RRM calls it 'limp/gimp' mode. They're looking for a way around it at the moment.

aestival

Heck, I'd say we'll be lucky to see the TC-SST Ralliart in late 2009, though apparently they are gearing up for a Fall release (note that Fall ends officially on Dec. 22 or so).

Cow town racer

I never said I have had any warranty issues, but lots of individuals have had issues, and the dealers here say they will sell and install parts (such as a CAI), but won't warranty them. I am in a bit of a different situation then most people as I know the owner of the dealership on a personal level, outside the transaction of the cars. But most people will not have this priviledge.

JDMLUDE35

True that American car companies have been designing some crappy cars

aestival

Wait, you expect dealers to give the same warranty on aftermarket parts? I don't ever expect anything on parts aside from the original car... well, except maybe for a 90 day or one year warranty against manufacturing defects.

I just meant to get the dealer to install parts (that you provide), to ensure that the warranty remains on the original car (i.e. all the parts you don't replace) -- obviously if you install, say, custom brakes, then the original warranty on the brakes flies out the window along with the original brakes.