^^ i agree

the best guesses out there are probably around 25k base and then up to 5k more in options

 

Its just a educated guess based on the gap between the standard lancer top end and the Evo X base price, and the competitors comparable prices, and then adding the cost of known options for the X

 

The issue being that the options on the X don't match up at all against the options of the RA.

One could reasonably expect a pair of Recaros to be more expensive than installing a bigger spoiler in place of an already-sizable spoiler, and the Evo has no sun/nav package to compare against.

I'd never suggest that an opinion or guesstimate doesn't have a place on this board, but present it as such...

 

i'd rather see somebody pull the fenders and see how far you can go with the stock bodywork first. of course there will be people with deep pockets who can afford a widebody kit, but that's not realistic for most of us.

 

The Canadian Evo X MR premium package runs Cdn$4000 for the following (see http://www.mitsubishi-motors.ca):

Rockford-Fosgate 650W + 9 speaker package
HDD Nav, bluetooth, Sirius satellite
sunroof

Sounds an awful lot like a sun/nav option package to me, and it sounds absolutely identical to the Ralliart sun/nav package we're likely to get up here.

[to convert the above to US prices, consider that the Outlander sun+sound package is Cdn$2250 versus US$1610 -- so the sun/nav package for the Ralliart will probably be about US$3000]

 

You're probably right. I was talking about the USDM Evo not offering that package though, which you'll find to be the case. Read what I wrote -- he was comparing the X's SSS package to the RA's Sport package (a bad match), and trying to match the RA's nav/sun package up against....who knows what. Currently, no USDM Evo X offers a sunroof.

 

It's all good Hibby, no worries.

And to address the widebody kit, it actually has a narrower track than the X, so it would be a lot more involved than just body work to make your RA as "wide" as the X.

 

it sounds good but its gonna be hard deciding between a fully loaded RA and a base GSR if its only a few grand

 

Yeah, of course. You also need wider wheels and tires, lower offsets for the wheels, ride height adjustment, and adjustments to alignment to get as wide or wider than the X with a wide body. Without those a wide body is useless. It's possible that the differences between suspension components among the Lancer lineup will affect how much tire you can fit in the wider fenders.

When they measure track width they measure the distance between the centerline of the left and right tires. Lower offsets will increase the centerline width. It's possible that the X will have wider axles, so even with a lower offset the X will always be "wider".

 

It think it's fair to say a widebody RA would be a waste of effort.

 

^Yes.

 

I may end up in a Lancer GTS instead of a Ralliart because of cost

 

I feel like I am in the same boat as you but just wait another year or so and save up some money for a bigger down. I see that you drive an RX-8 so your operating costs might even be lower (we have to wait till real world MPG numbers come out for the RA). A car is such a major purchase that if the difference is just going to be around 5k or so just wait a year or so and save. Trust me you don't want to settle. I almost did for my rsx type s. You don't want to be disappointed for the next 5 years or however long you own your car.

Plus from the sound of this first review, the RA sounds like it is firing on all cylinders.

 

Hey all,
I was on Road and Track and they have their first impressions of the RA. All in all very favorable but I hate how the article was written. They keep referring it to the Evo X MR which is a beast in its own category. In essence it sounds like a slightly positive article but with some negative comments with no referance to its nemesis the WRX which it only says should steal sales. Well, see for yourself.

http://www.roadandtrack.com/article....rticle_id=6887

edited for clarity

 

+1000000

You are so right. I did that just recently....back in August I bought a MazdaSpeed3 instead of my dream car and Evo. At the time I couldn't afford the Evo but could the Mazda. So I got the Mazda modded the hell out of it and then realized the FWD couldn't handle the numbers I wanted to archive. So I got an Evo a few months ago and lost tons of money on trade in and the parts. Trust me if you are looking at the RA but settle for the GTS you will be happy at first but then realize settling was a huge mistake. TRUST ME. I lost thousands!