Don't forget we also live in Canada, land of snow and ice.

 

Come on man. There aren't that many WRX's in Calgary. 2.5RS's make up that majority of Impreza sales. There are tonnes of lancers in this city 08's and below.

 

FEMALES RULE THE CONSUMER WIORLD NOW ...

 

The '08 STI is a World Rally homologized car...? Heck, ALL the cars in the WRC are hatchbacks. SOFT?

 

Actually there are a lot of WRXs in town, I probably park by or see 5 a day. Moreover, you said Ralliarts, not lancers. If you are going to count the entire lancer lineup, you might as well count the entire Impreza lineup which would absolutely destroy the lancer in terms of sales.

 

Exactly, the cars have not become softer, they're just as fast if not faster than before, they've just become more user friendly.

 

I think its more about the taste of the individual anyway. Plenty of people can argue the looks of something and never win since its all about the persons perspective on those types of cars. Personally I would love to get the RA Hatch if its atleast close to what they shown as the show car release. I hope it will since the RA was really close on the exterior looks of what they said. Plus they are releasing the manny next year. I am all in.

 

Not that it really contributes anything to this thread, but got another nice and close look at the Ralliart yesterday at the Motown MOD. Definitely very nice. Also, one of the miEVO club members stuck around after the event and one of the Mitsu R&D folks took him for a ride, seemed to really like it.

 

Like most other cars do except maybe suzukis...

 

Not in Canada.

 

Any proof of that? I would find it very odd that a car like the lancer which is new to the market and FWD would outsell an AWD car made by a more trusted and well known manufacturer like Subaru.

 

Even Kia outsells Subaru in Canada. Subaru is not well known and trusted. They were relatively obscure until the late 90's. Subaru owners are much like Mac owners. They are a small but fiercely devoted group that think that they own something special that is better than anything else out there which in reality isn't true. Once Subaru starts selling cars in numbers like Kia, Hyundai, Mazda or Nissan then they will be known as trusted and well known.

I find it particularily funny when I see posts at NASIOC and see posters talk about Subaru's as very high quality. Compared to a Dodge maybe but not even close to Honda or Toyota.

 

Subaru regularly ranks high in reliability comparisons, far above Mitsubishi. I passed several Subarus on the way to work yet I only passed maybe 2 lancers. Again, where is this proof that the lancer outsold the Impreza? Are we including rental cars?

 

Dont bother to argue about that...

 

Please post what you think of the new RalliArt based off of your test drive in this thread. Please do not start another thread about your test drive. It will be deleted.

Thanks, and now on with the show.

Kurt


My local dealer Kelly mitsu in Allentown Pa. just got one GG base model 2009 rallieart. I have been waiting to test drive it for 6 months to see if I wanted it or a SSS GSR.

Thanks Norris!

I already have a 2008 lancer GTS and 2007 Outlander.

The Rallieart is nice, it feels just like my GTS inside and out. It had the same seats as my GTS but with a cool diamond pattern on it, the back seats too. The gear shifter is really small, the photo's don't show just how small the boot really is. it took me a minuet to figure out that you have to pull up on the ring under the shifter grip to put it in gear.

The toggle switch on the steering column switches between the sport and normal mode for the tranny, and of course we know it has the tarmac, gravel, and snow settings.

I drove it up a steep highway and then back to the dealer through a twisty mountain road. I took some of the twistys harder than I wanted but the car shook it off. It has good acceleration but nothing special. It did make my GTS feel like a old neon off the line. The dual clutch auto felt good although I missed the feeling of the clutch when when I wanted to fly out of a corner. The handling felt just like my GTS, maybe a little tighter but I couldn't push the car. I floored the gas from stop sign making a right on gravel and it pulled out hard without a hint of wheel spin.

All and all I love the car! This is the best stock non-Evo Mitsu I have ever driven.

With that said I set up negotiations with the dealer to get a silver SSS GSR. I love the ralliart but its not an Evo and never will be. The evo just feels sleeker, faster, and sexier to me.

Thanks and sorry for the long post!