In what way did they underrate it?

 

SI 0-60 6.7 15.1@94 0-100 17.0 24 MPG
GTI 0-60 6.1 14.7@96 0-100 16.2 GTI is very quiet.
SS 0-60 5.5 14.2@102 0-100 13.3


I agree, most walk in and buy a car. Uninformed and indifferent. Whats the payment. It just gets them from A-B and they like how it looks or they think Honda is good or whatever they hear in general. People on this forum obviously take more time and thought into a purchase.

 

They're rated for 237 crank horsepower, and the first two dyno charts I've seen are showing 220+. That would be, what, like 9% drivetrain loss? Unlikely, given the way the MR dynos in comparison with the GSR.

 

well i dont think now is a good time to 'underrate power'... most buyers of sports cars look at the Hp # as if it was the 11th commandment. they dont care about chassis calibration, shifting (they buy manumatics anyway), steering feel, or cornering & road-holding ability. its all about the *****...ooops, i mean Hp size. you know, the ol' "I got 250hp, and you got only 245, so my car is better". even the ads on tv or billboards, even for minivans or pickup trucks now advertise mainly HP... they know what people look for... so then why would Mitsu underrate the power of the RA??
and again, Im sure they knew exactly what they were doing. had the power rating been any higher than 237 +/- 5, it would intrude on the X territory. i know there are more differences between a RA and an Evo X, but again, i think people look at the HP first and foremost, and wouldnt care about all the other diff, if the power was similar. think about it, similar power, similar AWd, similar SST tran... people would say "the heck with all the other differences, just go for the RA, and pay $5000 less". at least this way, Mitsu can say there is a 60Hp diff

 

Well, in some marketing strategies, companies can and underrated products so that when a consumer is 'testing' it out, it performs beyond their 'programmed' expectations.
it is a proven and very well used method.
You just keep within the confinements of protocol.

we are not talking a large margin but a good marketer knows what the public is looking for, as you said, and knows where to hold back just in case they need to bring something else to entice the customer.

So a car as well as anything else that can be sold, can be underrated. It's has been done. Think about it.
How do you think vendors that hype up a product in which you buy and find out that it's crap?

The Art of Marketing cuts both ways.
You can do it either way.

 

I was speaking more about the general forum mentality that says something is personal preference while at the same time attacking everyone who doesn't have the same preference as them.

 

That doesn't mean the car is overrated, it means the dyno is messed up.

 

The way in which HP is rated has changed, that's why the STI went from 300 HP to like 293 HP despite the engine remaining untouched.

 

True that can work and has done in the past (like the SRT-4 or the SS) but in this case, the Ralliart doesn't exactly perform stunning for a 230 HP car.

 

Having a big, fat *** will do that to you, but that's the trend in modern vehicles.

 

I still find it quite unlikely that Mitsubishi would underrate the car when trying to compete with the WRX, the MS3, the SS, etc. It's like going to a bar and telling a chick you have a 5 inch *****.

 

How did that work out?

 

Did anyone see picks of the new MS3. The rear end is terribly ugly.

 

^ in some countries that would give you bragging rights

 

About as well as you'd expect.
Post the pics of the new MS3 if possible. It is the 2010 model?